Solar-Ready Metal Roofs for Solar Panels in New Jersey

How it attaches

How do solar panels attach to a standing seam roof?

With clamps that grip the raised seams. Setscrews squeeze the clamp onto the seam, the solar rails bolt to the clamp, and no hole goes through the metal.

S-5!, a maker of standing seam attachments, says its clamps hold solar arrays, snow guards and other equipment with zero roof penetration (see the S-5! roof clamp page). The company also says the clamps leave roof warranties intact. That is the maker’s claim, so we still read the panel manufacturer’s warranty before anything is attached.

Clamp spacing is engineered, not guessed. S-5! notes that attachment spacing has to be designed for the specific roof and the loads on it. Your solar installer’s designer sets that spacing; our job is to make sure the seams are where the plan expects them.

Compare that with a shingle roof. There, solar mounts generally need holes through the roof covering, and each hole needs its own flashing to keep water out. A standing seam roof removes that step.

Who does what

How do we coordinate with your solar installer?

We share the roof plan early, they share the array plan, and both are settled before anything is ordered. We build the roof; they design and install the solar system on it.

1. Tell us at the estimate visit that solar is planned, and who your installer is if you have one.
2. We send the installer the panel profile, seam type, metal and gauge, so they can pick a clamp that fits the seam shape.
3. Where the plumbing and venting allow, we group vent pipes and other roof penetrations outside the planned array area.
4. We agree on snow guard placement, so snow sliding off the array is held above gutters, entries and lower roofs.
5. The roof is finished first. The solar crew then clamps on, runs the wiring and handles the electrical work.

In snowy northern counties we lean toward mechanically seamed panels. Sheffield Metals warns that snap-lock seams are more prone to disengaging as built-up snow and ice move, and suggests mechanical seams in snowy regions (Sheffield Metals). Both seam types can take clamps made for their shape.

Roof details

What makes a metal roof solar-ready?

Seams the clamps can grip, a clear area for the array, and every roof detail finished before the solar crew arrives. In practice, that means a short checklist.

• Standing seam panels on every roof plane that will carry the array.
• Vent pipes and exhaust caps grouped outside the array area wherever the house allows.
• Underlayment across the deck and an ice-and-water membrane at the eaves as our standard. Code requires that membrane only in Sussex County (DCA Bulletin 07-3).
• Snow guards laid out with the array. S-5! says the same kind of seam clamp can hold them.
• A wiring route agreed with the installer in advance, so nobody improvises a hole later.
• The roof warranty terms shared with your solar company before the array goes up.

Other metal roofs can carry solar too, just not with seam clamps. Metal shingles and exposed-fastener panels need different mounts, usually fastened through the roof covering. If solar is in your plans, standing seam is the roof we suggest.

Attaching anything to a roof raises warranty questions. Our warranty page explains our written workmanship warranty and how manufacturer warranties on panels and finishes work. We go over both with you and your installer.

Does the roof need a permit?

The roof itself usually does not. New Jersey’s Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7) puts a new roof covering on a detached one- or two-family home in its ordinary-maintenance category. Attached homes generally need a permit. The solar system is a separate project, and your solar company handles its own approvals.

Budgeting for both projects? Our metal roof cost guide shows national price ranges and what moves them. For the full range of roof systems, start at metal roofing.