Roof Preparation
for Solar
Get the Roof Right Before the Panels Go On
Roof Preparation for Solar Installations South Africa – Industrial & Commercial Experts
Solar panels are expected to stay on a roof for 20 to 25 years, and taking an array off to repair the roof underneath costs considerably more than the repair itself. Preparing a roof beforehand means fixing what is already failing, confirming the structure can carry the additional load, and sealing every point the mounting system passes through the sheeting.
Sicon Group carries out that work on industrial, commercial and retail buildings across South Africa: locating existing leaks, treating rust and corrosion, renewing failed fixings and flashings, replacing sheets that will not outlast the array, and waterproofing the mounting points. The roof is assessed against the load the installation will impose, and where that assessment needs an engineer, it is said so rather than assumed.
Call now on 083 345 4649 to receive your FREE roof inspection, which includes a full photographic analysis and a problem identification report, accompanied by a no-obligation FREE quotation tailored to suit your specific requirements and budgetary needs.
Does My Roof Need Work Before Solar Panels Go On?
It comes down to two things: how many years the roof has left, and whether it can carry the array. A roof with fewer years in it than the panels will have to be lifted later, which costs more than doing the work now. A sound roof may need nothing beyond sealing the mounting points properly.
What Has to Be Right Before an Array Goes On?
Five things decide whether a roof is ready for solar. A survey checks each of them, and any one of them can change the scope of the work.
- Remaining Roof Life: The sheeting should have at least as many years left in it as the panels, or the array comes off before the roof does.
- Load Capacity: Purlins and structure carry the weight of the array plus the wind forces it catches. Where that is in doubt, an engineer's assessment is the right answer rather than an assumption.
- Sound Fixing Points: Mounting brackets have to land on structure that will hold them, not on corroded sheeting or fasteners already working loose.
- Watertight Penetrations: Every bracket is a hole through a waterproof surface, and an array has hundreds of them. Each one needs sealing to last as long as the panels.
- Drainage and Access After Installation: Gutters, valleys and outlets must stay reachable once the array is on, and there still has to be a safe way to walk the roof.
Why Choose Sicon Group for Solar Roof Preparation?
Sicon Group works on the roof, not on the array. That separation is the point of using a roofing contractor for this stage.
- An Independent View of the Roof: Sicon Group does not sell solar, so the assessment of the roof is not shaped by a panel sale waiting behind it.
- 25+ Years on Industrial Roofs: The condition assessment comes from decades of building, repairing and maintaining the roofs in question.
- Work Sequenced With the Installer: Preparation is programmed so the array follows straight on, rather than the roof holding up the installation.
- A Photographic Before-and-After Record: Documentation the solar provider, the insurer and the building maintenance file can all use.
- Backed by Sicon Group Guarantees: Roofing work is guaranteed for up to 20 years depending on the system, separately from any solar warranty.
What Is Included in Roof Preparation for Solar?
Roof Inspection and Condition Report:
Existing damage, leaks, corrosion and worn fixings are identified and photographed, together with an assessment of how many years the roof realistically has left.
Structural Reinforcement Where Specified:
Where an engineer specifies additional support for the weight of panels, rails and mounting hardware, Sicon Group carries out that work as part of the preparation.
Waterproofing at the Mounting Points:
Sealing and flashing at every penetration, joint and bracket, which is where leaks from a solar installation almost always start.
Rust and Corrosion Treatment:
On metal roofs, existing rust is treated and protective coatings applied, so brackets are not fixed onto steel that is already failing.
Cleaning and Protective Coating:
The roof is cleaned and, where appropriate, a protective coating applied. Doing this before the array goes on is far simpler than working around it afterwards.
When Should the Roof Work Happen?
As early as possible, and ideally while the solar quotes are still being compared. Knowing the roof's condition before the installation contract is signed means the roof scope is a line in the budget rather than a variation once the crew is on site.
The most expensive point to discover a roof problem is after the array is on it. At that stage the panels have to be removed, stored, refitted and recommissioned around work that would have taken days on an open roof, and the building loses generation throughout.
Book a Free Roof Inspection
Sicon Group will assess the site and set out what the roof needs, if anything, before the panels go on.
What Happens During Roof Preparation for Solar?
Roof Assessment and Inspection
The survey establishes two things: what is wrong with the roof now, and how many years it has left. Sheeting, laps, fasteners, flashings, gutters and the supporting structure are examined and photographed, and moisture readings are taken wherever trapped water is suspected. The output is a scope of work, and sometimes that scope is short. A roof in good condition with years left may need nothing beyond sealing at the fixing positions, and saying so is more useful to a client than finding work.
Removal of Existing Defects
Repairs come before everything else, because cleaning or coating over a defect only conceals it. Damaged sheets are replaced, corroded sections cut out or treated, joints resealed and loose fasteners renewed, using materials matched to the existing profile and colour. The test applied to each element is whether it will outlast the array, not whether it will survive the installation. A fastener with ten years left in it is a problem on a roof that has to carry panels for twenty-five.
Cleaning and Surface Preparation
Cleaning follows the repairs and precedes any sealing or coating, because both need a clean, sound surface to bond to. Dirt, moss, grease and debris are removed by methods that do not abrade the roof's own protective coating, since stripping that would create the corrosion problem the work exists to prevent. It is also the last straightforward opportunity to clean the roof, because once an array is installed much of the surface is no longer reachable.
Waterproofing and Protective Layers
Sealing is done at the positions the mounting system will actually occupy, which means it follows the installer's setting-out rather than preceding it. Where the layout is known in advance, penetrations can be prepared and flashed before the rails arrive. Systems used are compatible with IBR, corrugated and concealed-fix profiles and with the waterproofing already on the roof. This stage decides whether the array is a leak risk for the next twenty years or simply a load the roof carries.
Final Inspection and Handover
The completed work is inspected and photographed, and the client receives a report setting out what was found, what was done and what falls outside the scope. Where an engineer's assessment formed part of the job, it sits alongside that report. The document is written to be handed to the solar installer, so the mounting contractor knows what has been sealed, what has been replaced and where not to fix. Roofing work carries Sicon Group's guarantee, separately from any solar warranty.
What Are the Risks of Skipping Roof Preparation?
Leaks at the Mounting Points
Every mounting bracket is a deliberate penetration through a waterproof surface, and an array has hundreds of them. On a sound roof, sealed properly, that is entirely manageable. On a roof with existing corrosion, tired flashings or fasteners already working loose, each new hole is made in material that cannot hold a seal. Water then enters at points sitting underneath the panels, where they are difficult to reach and slow to find. Preparation is what separates hundreds of controlled penetrations from hundreds of leaks waiting to happen.
Load the Structure Was Not Designed For
An array adds permanent weight to a roof and changes the way wind acts on it. Panels catch uplift, and that force transfers through the rails into the brackets, the sheeting and the purlins beneath. A structure that has carried its own roof comfortably for twenty years is not automatically able to carry that as well, and corroded sheets or weakened fasteners reduce the margin further. Where there is any doubt, the load should be assessed by an engineer before the array is specified rather than after it is installed.
Higher Temperatures Under the Array
Solar panels produce less power as they get hotter. Every module carries a temperature coefficient on its datasheet, and output falls as cell temperature rises above rating conditions. The roof directly beneath the array is part of what sets that temperature, because a dark, weathered surface absorbs heat and radiates it back into the gap between the panels and the roof. A clean, reflective coating lowers the surface temperature under an array, and it can only be applied before the panels go on.
Repairs That Cost More Than They Should
The cost of a roof repair rises sharply once panels are over it. Work that would have been a morning on an open roof becomes a sequence of removing modules, storing them, carrying out the repair, refitting and recommissioning, with generation lost throughout. Some areas cannot be reached at all without lifting part of the array, and faults that routine maintenance would have caught go unseen because most of the roof surface is no longer visible. Preparation is cheaper than access.
Warranty and Insurance Consequences
Roof sheeting warranties commonly require the roof to remain unmodified, and an array is a modification: hundreds of penetrations made by a third party. If a leak appears later, the sheeting manufacturer may decline the claim, and an insurer may take a similar view where the roof was in known poor condition when the panels went on. Neither outcome is automatic and terms differ by product and policy, which is exactly why both are worth reading before installation rather than after.
Roof Preparation for Solar Projects Across South Africa
These are roofs prepared by Sicon Group before solar installations on industrial, commercial and retail buildings. They show surfaces cleaned and repaired, mounting rails and brackets set out and sealed, and completed arrays on roofs that were made ready first. Click any image to open it full size.
Roof Preparation for Solar FAQs
Can solar panels be installed on an asbestos roof?
In practice, no. Asbestos cement sheeting is brittle, cannot be walked on safely, and breaks without much warning. Drilling or cutting it releases fibres, so there is no safe way to fix mounting brackets through it. A building with an asbestos roof that wants solar needs the roof dealt with first, which means asbestos removal and new sheeting before an array is even specified.
Who is responsible if the roof leaks after the panels go on?
This is worth settling in writing before work starts, because it is the most common dispute after a solar installation. Broadly, the roofing contractor is responsible for the condition and waterproofing of the roof as handed over, and the solar installer is responsible for the fixings they make and how those are sealed. Where a roof has been prepared, photographed and handed over with a report, that boundary is documented rather than argued about a year later.
Does my roof need an engineer's assessment?
Sometimes, and a roofing contractor is not the one who should decide it. An array adds weight and changes how wind acts on the roof, and whether the existing structure can take that is a structural question rather than a roofing one. Where a building is older, has been altered, or the array is large relative to the roof, an engineer's assessment is the right route. Sicon Group will say when a survey has reached the limit of what a roofing contractor should sign off.
Does Sicon Group install the solar system as well?
No, and that is deliberate. Sicon Group prepares the roof and hands it over ready, and the array is installed by your solar contractor. It means the assessment of the roof is not attached to a panel sale, and it means the two pieces of work carry separate guarantees: the roofing from Sicon Group, the system from whoever installs it. Sicon Group works alongside the installer rather than competing with them.
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