Reseda, CA · July 2024 · LADWP / LADBS

The installer was gone. The warranty was not.

The owners of a Reseda house had a new roof booked and an array on the old one. The company that installed it had stopped answering. What they needed was not a solar company; it was a solar company the module manufacturer recognized.

A module warranty belongs to the panels, not to the company that installed them, so it does not die when the installer does. What it does carry is a condition: a removal and reinstallation generally has to be performed by an installer the manufacturer authorizes, and letting the roofing crew lift the array off can void it. The owner's task, before the roofers arrive, is to find someone on the manufacturer's own authorized list. That list is how these owners found Cali Energy, which took the array down in a day, stored it through the re-roof, and set it back on new flashings when the roof was finished.

At a glance

Work

Detach and reset for a re-roof

Array

18 REC modules, already on the roof

Removal

One day

Reinstallation

One day, after the roof was finished

Flashings

All new

Storage

On site, in the owner's garage

Original installer

No longer answering

Roofing permit

Held by the owners' roofing contractor

The story

The message that started this came from the owners themselves, at the beginning of July. They had a new roof scheduled. On the old one sat an array of REC modules. The company that had installed it no longer answered, and they had read enough to know that letting just anyone take the panels off could cost them their warranty. So they went to the manufacturer's website, looked up who it authorized in Los Angeles, and wrote to one of them.

That instinct was the right one, and it is the whole point of this project. A module warranty is a promise from the manufacturer about the modules. It survives the contractor who installed them and it transfers with the house. But it comes with conditions, and one of the standard conditions is that removal and reinstallation be carried out by an installer the manufacturer recognizes. A roofing crew lifting panels off to get at the deck is exactly the scenario those terms are written for.

The work itself is not complicated, and we quoted it the way it is actually done: per module, one day to take the array off, one day to put it back. What mattered more was the sequencing, because a detach and reset only works if the two trades do not collide. We took the system down on a Tuesday. The modules, rails and hardware went into the owners' garage, out of the weather and out of the roofers' way. The roofing contractor had a clear deck from that afternoon.

Six days later the roof was finished and the owners told us they were ready. We came back and reset the array on the new roof, with new flashings throughout. That last point is not a detail. Flashings are the waterproofing at every point where a mount penetrates the roof, they are sized and seated into the specific course of shingle they sit in, and they are the one component you never reuse. A new roof gets new flashings, every time, or you have put a fresh roof underneath a set of old holes.

One correction along the way, and it is worth recording because it went in the owners' favor. The array had been described to us as twenty modules. On the roof it was eighteen. We re-priced the job to the count we actually handled and told them so before the invoice went out.

The whole thing took three weeks from the first email to the final payment, most of which was the roof. The array is back up on a new deck, the flashings are new, and the warranty the owners were worried about is intact, because the work was done by hands the manufacturer accepts.

If you are planning a re-roof and you have solar on the house, do this in order. Check who made your modules. Look up that manufacturer's authorized installer list before you book the roofer. Get the detach and the reset quoted as one job with the roofing schedule in it, and confirm the flashings are new. If your original installer is unreachable, that is an inconvenience, not a loss.

How it ran

This timeline reflects a detach and reset around a roofing contractor's own schedule. The solar side was two working days; the gap between them belongs to the roof.

What we did

• Quoted the detach and reset per module, with the roofing schedule built into the plan (C-10).
• Removed the array in a single day and stored the modules and hardware on site, out of the roofing crew's way.
• Reset the array on the new roof with new flashings at every penetration.
• Corrected the module count from the number quoted to the number actually on the roof, and reduced the price to match.
• Kept the work inside the module manufacturer's authorized-installer requirement, which is what preserved the owners' warranty.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• You are replacing a roof that already has solar on it.
• Your original solar installer has closed or stopped responding.
• You want your module warranty to survive the roofing work.
• Your roofer has asked who is taking the panels off.
• Your Reseda house is due for a new roof and the array is staying.

Cali Energy in Reseda

Frequently asked questions

What happens to my solar warranty if the installer goes out of business?

The module warranty is unaffected. It is a promise from the manufacturer about the product, it runs for its full term, and it transfers with the house. What you lose is the installer's own workmanship warranty and whoever would have serviced the system. For anything that involves taking the array off and putting it back, the manufacturer still needs the work done by an installer it authorizes, and its website lists them.

Can my roofing crew take the panels off?

Do not assume so. Most module warranties require removal and reinstallation by an authorized installer, and a roofing company is rarely one. There is also a practical reason beyond the paperwork. Modules, rails, flashings and the wiring between them come apart in an order, the connectors are easy to damage, and the array has to be de-energized before anything is touched. The cost of doing it properly is small next to the cost of a voided warranty.

How long does a detach and reset take?

Two working days on a residential array of this size, one to remove and one to reinstall, with the roofing work in between. On this project the array came off on a Tuesday and the roof was finished six days later. The schedule is set by the roofer, not by the solar crew, so book the two together and agree who tells whom the deck is clear.

Do the flashings have to be new?

Yes. A flashing is the waterproofing at each point where a mount penetrates the roof, and it is seated into a specific course of shingle. Once it has been lifted it cannot be trusted again, and a new roof with old flashings is a new roof with old leaks waiting in it. New flashings throughout should be written into the quote for any detach and reset.

Does Cali Energy do detach and reset work for roofing jobs?

Yes, as a job of its own. The array comes off in a day, the modules and hardware are stored on site out of the roofing crew's way, and the system goes back on new flashings once the deck is finished. Check that whoever does it appears on your module manufacturer's authorized installer list, because that is the condition most product warranties attach to removal and reinstallation. That list is how the owners on this project found Cali Energy.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

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This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.