American Solar Repair (formerly NY Solar Maintenance) has a unique focus in the solar industry: rather than install new solar panels on customers’ homes, they remove existing panels on roofs that have leaks or other problems and reinstall the panels using new mounting hardware.
In 2017, Cesar Cruz, Director and Principal of Voltaic Solaire was searching for a way to install solar panels on a home where the roof had double shingles. “We knew we couldn’t use regular flashing on that project because it would entail lifting up the shingles,” he said. “We heard that CED Greentech in New Jersey was the only nearby source for Roof Tech products, so we decided to order a few.” After trying out RT-MINI, Cruz immediately realized that his installers would never again have to lift another shingle. Since then, Voltaic Solaire has used RT-MINI exclusively on more than 400 residential installations.
Nieves is so enthusiastic about the benefits of RT-MINI II he came up with a novel way to spread the word. “I wanted my customers to see the product up close for themselves, not just view an iPad demo,” he said. “So, I built a tiny house using plexiglass and mounted RT-MINI II on the roof.” The model home measures just 7 by 16 feet, and Nieves and his team load it onto a trailer and drive it around to show potential customers.
Ryan Loyer, Sales and Procurement Manager for CED Greentech, was already familiar with Roof Tech products before joining the company in early 2019. “When I first came to CED Greentech, we carried RT-MINI and the demand kept growing,” he said. “Now we also carry RT-APEX for customers who prefer...
Nagle first discovered Roof Tech products in 2018. “We use RT-MINI for all our residential installations that use conventional rail mounting systems,” he explained. “The MINI is ideal for steep-pitched roofs and any job where we need to install multiple arrays.” The RT-MINI II is engineered to withstand wind speeds up to 180mph and up to 90 PSF of ground snow, making it a great choice for cold weather environments like Michigan.
Annual temperatures in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, range from a high of 90°F in summer to a low of -40°F in mid-winter. With such extreme fluctuations in weather, solar installers in that region require mounting solutions that are impervious to these changes. Kevin Hartmetz, who joined BLDG Electric in 2015 and became a full partner in 2018, manages all estimating for the company’s projects. “We first got into solar in 2017 when one of our residential customers had been working with a solar contractor and asked us to take over the job,” he said. “Shortly after, we discovered that the RT-MINI was available at our wholesaler, and we decided to try it.”
In late 2018, Joe and Mike put their idea into action. They rented a U-Haul® truck and trailer and installed a demo roof on the trailer with four solar panels featuring RT-APEX, Roof Tech’s rail-less residential roof mount featuring AlphaSeal™ Technology. It was the launch of the first RT-APEX Roadshow.
What installers need to know about the impact of Ice dams and how to protect the roof. Because roofing is always exposed to the elements, winter weather varies with heating and cooling cycles that cause snow and ice to melt on sunny days and re-freeze at night, creating ice dams on the eaves and in roof “valleys”. Mike Dunlap explained that building codes require roofers to install a special ice and water shield in these areas to protect against ice dams.
