Roofing Installation, Solar Critter Guard and Solar Panel Installation in Summit, NJ by Green Sun Energy Services.
Katherine Bonnington has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since September of 2024, when the roof and the solar array were bought on the same day. The roof was finished on 10 January 2025 and the array a week later.
1,700 square feet, and the garage left out of it
The old shingles came off down to the sheathing and left with the dumpster. Deck protection went over the exposed sheathing, then a GAF Timberline HDZ system in Pewter carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 194 feet of rakes and eaves, and a ridge vent along the peak. The contract says in plain words that the roof covers the main structure only and does not include the detached garage — the right way to write it, so nobody discovers the disagreement on the morning the crew arrives.
12 panels, 5.52 kW and a battery
Twelve REC 460 watt panels came to 5.52 kW on Snap-N-Rack mounting, finished on 17 January 2025, running into a SolarEdge SE3800H Energy Hub inverter with an optimizer on every panel. A battery went in with it — the Energy Hub is the version of the inverter built to run one. JCP&L is the utility and the first year was designed for about 6,929 kWh.
What a battery changes and what it does not
A battery is often assumed to be about making more electricity. It is not; the panels decide that. What it changes is when the electricity is available. Solar produces in the middle of the day, when many households use least, and produces nothing at all in the evening, when they use most. Without storage the surplus goes out to the grid and the evening comes back off it. With storage, the afternoon’s surplus is still there at seven o’clock. On a twelve-panel array the battery is not there to run the house for days — it is there so that what the roof makes gets used by the house that made it.
An attic fan, fitted by one crew and wired by the other
The installation notes carry a small instruction: reconnect the attic fan the roofer installed. Two trades, one house, a week apart, and a piece of equipment that one crew fitted and the other had to wire back up. It is the kind of handover that simply does not happen when a roof and an array come from two companies who have never spoken — the fan gets fitted, nobody reconnects it, and it is discovered the following August.
100 feet of critter guard, fitted with the array
Mesh around the array perimeter, closing the gap where squirrels and birds nest under the panels. Fitting it during the installation is less expensive than fitting it later, because the crew, the ladders and the roof access are already there and no panel has to come off to reach the edge.
Project Facts
- Location
- Summit, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Critter Guard, Solar Panel Installation
- Client since
- September 2024
Solar
- Panels
- REC Model # 460AA-PURE-RX-DC
- Panels
- 12
- System size
- 5.52 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE3800H-USNBBL14 HD Wave Energy Hub
- Mounting system
- Snap-N-Rack
- Estimated first-year production
- 6,929 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 100%
- Electric utility
- JCP&L
- Critter guard fitted
- 100 ft
Roof
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 1,700 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Questions from Summit homeowners
RoofingWhat should a Summit homeowner look for in a roofing contractor?
One that treats the roof, its flashings, its ventilation and its drainage as connected parts rather than as shingles with extras. That means the age and condition of the existing roof, the decking, how many layers are on it, the slope, the manufacturer's installation requirements, ice and water protection, underlayment, starter strips, drip edge, valleys, chimney and step flashing, pipe boots, skylights, ridge caps, attic ventilation and soffit intake, low-slope sections, sheathing replacement, the code requirements and permits, which warranties actually apply and what they cover, gutter size, pitch, downspout capacity and discharge, the fascia, gutter protection, whether solar is coming later, protecting the landscaping, the cleanup and proof of insurance. The wrong question is the price per square. The right one is exactly what is being installed, from the deck up, and what written protection stands behind it.
SolarCan the old mounting hardware be reused after a reroof?
It depends on the manufacturer's requirements, the condition of the components and the warranty. The roof penetrations and weatherproofing components matter most, and a reroof is often the moment to replace the attachment and flashing rather than reinstall ageing roof-interface hardware.
RoofingCan new gutters be color matched to my house?
Aluminum gutter systems are available in multiple factory-finished colors, so homeowners can coordinate them with fascia, trim, siding or roof color. Exact color availability depends on the supplied product line.