Simon Skinner has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since October of 2017, when the solar array was signed and the roof followed a month later. The roof was finished on 22 November 2017 and the array on 15 December.
1,600 square feet, stripped to the deck
A single layer of 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 carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 132 feet of rakes and eaves, and a ridge vent along the peak.
What the contract says the roof will not do
There is a line in this contract that is unusual to find in writing, and it is the reason this page is worth reading. The household was advised, before the work began, that the cathedral ceiling will not vent properly — even with a ridge vent fitted. Where a ceiling follows the roof line there is no attic above it, so there is no volume of air for a ridge vent to draw through and very little space between the finished ceiling and the deck for air to move at all. Fitting the vent is still right; expecting it to ventilate the space the way it would over an ordinary attic is not.
Why saying so in advance is the point
A roofer who does not mention it fits the same ridge vent, takes the same money and leaves the household to discover the limitation on its own — most likely years later, and most likely blamed on the roof. Writing it into the contract turns an unavoidable characteristic of the building into something the owner knows about and can plan around. The same paragraph does the same job for the skylights: replacing them will need interior trim work, and that work is not in our scope. Neither statement makes the sale easier. Both are true.
26 panels and 7.54 kW
Twenty-six SolarWorld 290 watt panels came to 7.54 kW on Ecolibrium Solar mounting, finished on 15 December 2017, each with its own Enphase IQ6 microinverter rather than a shared central inverter. Atlantic City Electric is the utility and the first year was designed for about 9,539 kWh, close to 1,270 kWh for every kilowatt installed.
Why the roof went first
An array is bolted to a roof for twenty-five years and more, so shingles at the end of their life underneath one become a second job with a date already on them — panels off, roof on, panels back. Three weeks separated the two here, and the panels went onto a roof that was three weeks old.
Project Facts
- Location
- Ship Bottom, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Panel Installation
- Client since
- October 2017
Solar
- Panels
- SolarWorld Model # SW-290-5BB
- Panels
- 26
- System size
- 7.54 kW
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 9,539 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 99%
- Electric utility
- Atlantic City Electric
Roof
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 1,600 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Questions from Ship Bottom homeowners
SolarDoes Ship Bottom decide whether the installation is code-compliant?
The municipal construction department reviews and inspects the work under the Uniform Construction Code, but the substantive electrical requirements come from the statewide Electrical Subcode rather than from local preference. Municipalities may also administer zoning requirements where those apply.
RoofingWhy does using a complete system from one manufacturer matter to the warranty?
Because the enhanced warranties and the wind coverage generally require qualifying accessories alongside the shingles — the starter strips, the deck protection, the ridge caps and, depending on the warranty, the leak barrier or the ventilation. Buying the right shingle and substituting the accessories around it can leave the roof outside the coverage the homeowner thought was being bought.
SolarAre north-facing panels a bad idea?
They generally produce less annual energy in New Jersey than comparable south-facing panels, but they are not automatically unusable. Roof pitch, shading, the economics and the space available all matter, and a production model should show the expected output before north-facing modules go into a design.