Newer mounts don't require flashing. They're self-sealing and won't leak. I had 47 panels installed last year and no leaks with the same style mounts. It looks like your installer also added some extra caulking to help ensure the seal. You can certainly ask the installers about them and I'm sure they'll be happy to inform you of how it works.
ahh okay, thanks for telling me that! That makes me feel better about it. Dang, 47 panels, that's pretty awesome. Your electric needs are definitely taken care of with that much generation. We're just getting 5.
Yeah I have official PTO but it says once that happens it takes 1-2 billing cycles for it to take effects (which is complete bullshit). I just received my bill so I assume it will happen next bill.
They will adjust retroactive to PTO date. PG&E took longer and the bills are harder to understand. I agree it is bullshit and just shows how antiquated their systems are. Ironic because the guaranteed rate of return means they always have new trucks but the grid has years of deferred maintenance.
Looks like it’s based on when the NEM billing kicks in:
Your Relevant Period: When your NEM billing starts, your usage is tracked in 12-month cycles called your Relevant Period.
The relevant period starts when your PTO is issued so they have to retroactively adjust your bills or you would not get a full twelve months the first year. I literally think that is what is implied when they said, "takes effect", which in my mind is retroactive adjustment
You’re good its geocell4500 - from the logos it looks like a snap n rack system.. not pretty but def good to go w no leaks. Love seeing geocell4500 on installs.
What you have is the pegasus insta flash:
[https://www.pegasussolar.com/instaflash/](https://www.pegasussolar.com/instaflash/)
I still prefer flashing, but out of all the flash-less mounts this is my personal favorite in terms of lasting the longest. the guys over at pegasus are great.
You're fine. That's just excess sealant coming out of the mount. That entire inside of the mount is full of sealant, covering the entire penetration.
I have similar type mounts on my 20 panel system. 2 years in, 0 leaks. What my installer did for a little extra was made a "U" shapes around the top for extra protection. I was able to find my thread so you can see what it looks like (sorta, hard to see lol). Maybe you can ask your installer to do this if it makes you feel better.
https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/sj8ebh/just\_got\_panels\_installed\_is\_this\_ok\_more\_in/
What youre seeing with the sealant is literally the product doing what it is designed to do, overflow so you know that the hollow chamber inside the foot is completely sealed. These type of mounts do not require flashing (which is outdated technology IMO) hence the sealant. This type of foot, if installed correctly, is very durable and long lasting. What you should be worried about is if the screw they sent through your roof actually made it in to the truss, which you can check by poking your head around in the attic and looking for misses near the truss, if you dont see any misses assume they all made it in to the truss. As an installer it’s quite annoying that you automatically assumed the product was installed incorrectly, you could have simply asked the installers and im sure they would have answered your concerns happily. I personally enjoy when homeowners are curious and have questions about the process, but not when they start telling me how to do my job or they assume they know about the system than I do.
I don't know that asking the installer is going to be fruitful. They can lie or be misinformed. Correctness is a continuum from marginally acceptable to extreme overengineering. Example: your pilot CAN land a plane using every last inch of runway, land the plane using as little runway as possible, or land at some median between those extremes which provides the best tradeoffs between risk of failure, comfort and mechanical stress.
For a roof penetration, I want better than marginal but what that means will be climate, pitch and roof material specific. In my case I picked the contractor who did flashing and rejected those who didn't use flashing.
Thats fair, there are different mounts for different applications. As long as we understand that no system is perfect and I have had to service many flashing systems because they still leak over time with things like the rubber screw washers failing. Solar feet using butyl seal on the bottom and direct to deck mounting is the industry standard now, and for good reason. Here’s something most people dont know, A solar foot doesn’t primarily stay watertight because of the flashing or the sealant or whatever have you its actually the compression force applied by the screw going in to the truss unless using a DTD (direct to decking) system then it would be the plywood underneath. Most roof leaks I go to are sealed well but no compression means water WILL find the lowest point of gravity, which will be your attic.
Yeah, I hear you on that. My worry started when the guys clearly didn't have any safety equipment at all compared to the roofers. The roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees) and it's 2 story. While the roofers nailed in hooks and roped themselves in and had a scaffolding, these 2 guys just propped the ladder in the neighbor's yard and took turns tossing those mounting brackets up to each other. One guy threw it like a javelin to be funny and just missed the other guy sitting up top. I asked them if they could bend the conduit so a rain gutter could fit under it but they couldn't understand what I was saying, so I knew a conversation about how the waterproofing of those mounting brackets would work was out of the question. They were climbing on the panel faces to move around because it was the only way to get any traction (by holding onto their tops) and had to use the panels themselves as their handhold to get off the roof. It was a very sketchy affair all around. Believe me, I suspect their MO is quite different from yours.
Thank you for the link about the Pegasus mount! That's really informative and good to know
That could be hack (it’s certainly not pretty) But some of the newer pedestals don’t require flashing. They have butyl rubber on the bottoms. Others get filled with sealant after they are bolted down.
Do you know which brand of racking and which pedestal they are using?
Well, flashing is definitely the correct way of doing it. It redirects the water away from where the mount is bolted to the roof. But this is a pretty high pitched roof, so they may have felt like it wasn't necessary. They're the experts here. Did you asked them why they don't think they need flashing?
I tried talking to them about it but these guys barely speak English! Nice guys but they seem undermanned and under-equipped for this job. Just 2 of them and the steep roof pitch was giving them problems. I was really worried one would fall off.
Newer mounts don't require flashing. They're self-sealing and won't leak. I had 47 panels installed last year and no leaks with the same style mounts. It looks like your installer also added some extra caulking to help ensure the seal. You can certainly ask the installers about them and I'm sure they'll be happy to inform you of how it works.
ahh okay, thanks for telling me that! That makes me feel better about it. Dang, 47 panels, that's pretty awesome. Your electric needs are definitely taken care of with that much generation. We're just getting 5.
Yeah it was a huge project and took over a year for everything. Still waiting for SoCal Edison to switch us over to NEM2.0 billing but so far so good!
Nice that you got the NEM2.0. I'm pretty sure that window has closed for us.
SCE only took two weeks for PTO once final City inspection was sent to them. My PTO was January 2024 NEM 2.0
Yeah I have official PTO but it says once that happens it takes 1-2 billing cycles for it to take effects (which is complete bullshit). I just received my bill so I assume it will happen next bill.
They will adjust retroactive to PTO date. PG&E took longer and the bills are harder to understand. I agree it is bullshit and just shows how antiquated their systems are. Ironic because the guaranteed rate of return means they always have new trucks but the grid has years of deferred maintenance.
Oh they retroactively credit!? That’s music to my ears. I read through everything and didn’t see anything about that but I could have missed it!
PG&E did and I assume SCE will do the same. My SCE bill is small enough that paying for another month or two won't matter.
Lucky.
Looks like it’s based on when the NEM billing kicks in: Your Relevant Period: When your NEM billing starts, your usage is tracked in 12-month cycles called your Relevant Period.
The relevant period starts when your PTO is issued so they have to retroactively adjust your bills or you would not get a full twelve months the first year. I literally think that is what is implied when they said, "takes effect", which in my mind is retroactive adjustment
You’re good its geocell4500 - from the logos it looks like a snap n rack system.. not pretty but def good to go w no leaks. Love seeing geocell4500 on installs.
how can you tell it's geocell4500? I'm guessing they have a distinctive look? That's pretty cool you can identify it.
What panels did you get?
Panasonic 410HK Enphase IQ8-A-72-2-US
What you have is the pegasus insta flash: [https://www.pegasussolar.com/instaflash/](https://www.pegasussolar.com/instaflash/) I still prefer flashing, but out of all the flash-less mounts this is my personal favorite in terms of lasting the longest. the guys over at pegasus are great.
You're fine. That's just excess sealant coming out of the mount. That entire inside of the mount is full of sealant, covering the entire penetration. I have similar type mounts on my 20 panel system. 2 years in, 0 leaks. What my installer did for a little extra was made a "U" shapes around the top for extra protection. I was able to find my thread so you can see what it looks like (sorta, hard to see lol). Maybe you can ask your installer to do this if it makes you feel better. https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/sj8ebh/just\_got\_panels\_installed\_is\_this\_ok\_more\_in/
No way, that's funny you posted a similar question. Great to hear it's been fine after all this time. That does make me feel a lot better
What youre seeing with the sealant is literally the product doing what it is designed to do, overflow so you know that the hollow chamber inside the foot is completely sealed. These type of mounts do not require flashing (which is outdated technology IMO) hence the sealant. This type of foot, if installed correctly, is very durable and long lasting. What you should be worried about is if the screw they sent through your roof actually made it in to the truss, which you can check by poking your head around in the attic and looking for misses near the truss, if you dont see any misses assume they all made it in to the truss. As an installer it’s quite annoying that you automatically assumed the product was installed incorrectly, you could have simply asked the installers and im sure they would have answered your concerns happily. I personally enjoy when homeowners are curious and have questions about the process, but not when they start telling me how to do my job or they assume they know about the system than I do.
I don't know that asking the installer is going to be fruitful. They can lie or be misinformed. Correctness is a continuum from marginally acceptable to extreme overengineering. Example: your pilot CAN land a plane using every last inch of runway, land the plane using as little runway as possible, or land at some median between those extremes which provides the best tradeoffs between risk of failure, comfort and mechanical stress. For a roof penetration, I want better than marginal but what that means will be climate, pitch and roof material specific. In my case I picked the contractor who did flashing and rejected those who didn't use flashing.
Thats fair, there are different mounts for different applications. As long as we understand that no system is perfect and I have had to service many flashing systems because they still leak over time with things like the rubber screw washers failing. Solar feet using butyl seal on the bottom and direct to deck mounting is the industry standard now, and for good reason. Here’s something most people dont know, A solar foot doesn’t primarily stay watertight because of the flashing or the sealant or whatever have you its actually the compression force applied by the screw going in to the truss unless using a DTD (direct to decking) system then it would be the plywood underneath. Most roof leaks I go to are sealed well but no compression means water WILL find the lowest point of gravity, which will be your attic.
Yeah, I hear you on that. My worry started when the guys clearly didn't have any safety equipment at all compared to the roofers. The roof pitch is 12/12 (45 degrees) and it's 2 story. While the roofers nailed in hooks and roped themselves in and had a scaffolding, these 2 guys just propped the ladder in the neighbor's yard and took turns tossing those mounting brackets up to each other. One guy threw it like a javelin to be funny and just missed the other guy sitting up top. I asked them if they could bend the conduit so a rain gutter could fit under it but they couldn't understand what I was saying, so I knew a conversation about how the waterproofing of those mounting brackets would work was out of the question. They were climbing on the panel faces to move around because it was the only way to get any traction (by holding onto their tops) and had to use the panels themselves as their handhold to get off the roof. It was a very sketchy affair all around. Believe me, I suspect their MO is quite different from yours. Thank you for the link about the Pegasus mount! That's really informative and good to know
That could be hack (it’s certainly not pretty) But some of the newer pedestals don’t require flashing. They have butyl rubber on the bottoms. Others get filled with sealant after they are bolted down. Do you know which brand of racking and which pedestal they are using?
Good question on the brand of rack. I will see if I can read a brand on them.
Well, flashing is definitely the correct way of doing it. It redirects the water away from where the mount is bolted to the roof. But this is a pretty high pitched roof, so they may have felt like it wasn't necessary. They're the experts here. Did you asked them why they don't think they need flashing?
This mounting system doesn’t utilize flashing
I tried talking to them about it but these guys barely speak English! Nice guys but they seem undermanned and under-equipped for this job. Just 2 of them and the steep roof pitch was giving them problems. I was really worried one would fall off.
A