How to Install a 2.5 KW Solar System on the Roof

Lay out the plan for your solar panel array before you begin installation. Draw a scaled drawing of your roof on a piece of graph paper and note the size and location of any obstructions, such as chimneys or vents. Make scaled representations of your solar panels on another piece of paper and cut them out. Move them around on the picture of your roof to determine the configuration that will steer clear of other rooftop obstructions and require the least amount of wiring to reach the main service panel of the house.

Install the bases for the solar panel brackets. The details of solar panel attachment systems vary, but most will involve bases that are bolted to the rooftop using lag bolts. Locate the rafters underneath the roof using a stud finder and make absolutely certain that the bases are bolted into the rafters and not just into the roofing. Go into the attic and confirm this. If you see lag bolts sticking through your roofing, you missed.

Apply roofing tar to the heads of the bolts and anywhere else that the roofing may have been compromised.

Attach the solar panel brackets to the bases. These will connect to the bases using a system of nuts and bolts.

Mount the solar panels onto their brackets. Connect the wiring on the backs of the solar panels to each other and run the main connector wire to the main service box. Do this by drilling a hole in the roof, running the wire through it, and then waterproofing the hole with tar, or by attaching a conduit to the roof and feeding the wire through it.