What Solar Installers Won't Tell You About Your Roof

Solar panels are a great investment - until they're covering up a problem nobody caught. This is something we run into more often than you'd think. The panels go up, everything looks fine from the ground, and meanwhile there's serious damage hiding right underneath them.

Here's what we were working with on this one. Squirrels had chewed straight through the shingles and decking, leaving a gaping hole in the roof - sitting right beneath a solar array. Debris had packed in around the damaged area, and the rot had already started spreading. This isn't a small patch job situation. This is the kind of damage that gets into your attic, your insulation, and eventually your ceiling if it goes unaddressed.

That's exactly why a thorough inspection matters - both before solar panels are installed and after. Squirrels are drawn to the warmth and shelter that solar arrays create on a rooftop. They nest up there, chew through materials, and the panels make it nearly impossible to spot from below. By the time a homeowner notices a leak or a stain on the ceiling, the damage is already well beyond surface level.

Our roof repair process doesn't just address what's visible. We pull back what needs to come off, assess the full extent of the damage, and make sure the fix is solid - not just cosmetic. Whether it's animal damage, weather damage, or both at once, the approach is the same: find everything, fix it right.

If you have solar panels on your roof and they've never been pulled back for a proper inspection, it's worth thinking about. What's underneath matters just as much as what's on top.