Usually, no. When you need to remove solar panels for a new roof, the safer path is a solar crew that shuts the system down, takes the array off, and puts it back on and producing after the roof is done, while your roofer sticks to the roof.
Phoenix Solar Removal is that solar crew for homeowners and roofing companies across Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, and Scottsdale. Here is why the split makes sense and how to set it up without slowing your roof job.
Why the panels are not just another roof obstacle
A solar array looks like hardware bolted to the roof. It is really a live DC electrical system until it is properly shut down. The modules are glass. The mounting feet are what kept water out of the roof under them for years.
That is why detach and reset is best thought of as an electrical job running on a roofing schedule. Shingles and tile are rarely where these jobs go wrong. The panels are.
Three things that go wrong when the wrong crew handles it
Most problems show up weeks after the crew leaves, not on removal day.
- Shutdown. An array that is not properly isolated is a live circuit on a hot roof. The inverter has to be powered down and the DC side opened and locked out before anything comes loose.
- Remount. New feet in the wrong place, or old holes left unflashed, and the roof you just paid for can leak under equipment nobody wants to lift twice.
- Reconnection. Panels go back up and nobody checks production. A month later the monitoring shows a string down, and the roofer and the solar company each point at the other.
A roofing crew's tools and training are built around roofing. That is not a knock on the crew. It is a different trade with different failure points.
What the solar crew owns and what the roofer owns
Drawing the line once keeps everyone off the phone during tear-off week.
Solar side (Phoenix Solar Removal): DC shutdown and lockout, panel and racking removal, labeling and staging, remount with new feet and flashing, reconnection, and a production check.
Roof side (your roofer): tear-off, decking, the roofing material, and detailing the old mounting penetrations into the new roof.
You can read the full removal sequence on the solar panel removal page and the remount steps on the solar panel reinstallation page.
Do you have to bring your own roofer?
No. The job works either way.
Some homeowners hire Phoenix Solar Removal directly and hand their roofer a clear deck. Some roofing companies bring the solar crew in as a sub and keep the roof job. If you found us first, we reach out to your roofer and work out the schedule between us, so you are not relaying dates back and forth.
Either way, the solar work is priced and invoiced as its own line. That keeps the roof bid readable and makes it obvious who to call if something on the solar side needs attention later.
How to set it up before the roof starts
A few steps at the start save idle days in the middle.
- Ask your roofer whether solar is in their scope or handed to a solar sub. Get the answer in writing.
- Get the target deck-clear date from the roofer.
- Send the solar crew your address, a rough panel count, and that date.
- Say whether the work is a full replacement or a repair under part of the array.
- Mention any panel that was already cracked or a system that was not producing. It gets photographed before anything comes off.
Roofing companies can set up the solar side of their jobs through the for roofing companies page.
What "done" should look like
The job is not finished when the panels are back on the roof. It is finished when the array is remounted on new feet and flashing, reconnected, and confirmed producing at the inverter. Before-and-after photos go to you.
The house stays on utility power the whole time. What you lose during the job is solar production, not electricity.
FAQ
My roofer offered to handle the panels. What should I ask? Ask how they shut down and lock out the DC side, who sets new feet and flashing on remount, and how they confirm production afterward. Clear answers to those three questions matter more than who holds the wrench.
Will the solar crew work on my roofer's schedule? Yes. Removal is booked before tear-off and reset is booked once the new roof is ready. If the roof date moves, tell us and the solar dates move with it.
Is the solar work a separate line on the bill? Yes. Solar is its own line whether you hire Phoenix Solar Removal directly or through your roofer.
Next step
Tell us the address, roughly how many panels are up there, and when the roofer wants the deck clear through the contact page. Phoenix Solar Removal will come back with what the solar side of the job takes.