It’s clear as we meet with homeowners here in the Twin Cities to discuss exterior home improvements that Minnesotans are concerned with our natural environment and resources. One thing that makes that very clear is the rising interest in residential rooftop solar panels.  Minnesota has programs and incentives for solar installation, and as we look travel around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, here and there we see people taking advantage of those programs. But going green is nothing new for us.  We’ve been installing eco-friendly metal roofing and metal siding for over three decades.  And since there is no roofing that makes a better base for solar panels than metal, partnering with solar panel installers was just a natural fit.  We’ve done a number of this these projects together, and some of those projects have caught the attention of the media.

In 2012 we were proud to partner with both SustainMax (who put in additional insulation and helped seal up the home to cut down energy loss) and Powerfully Green (solar panel installers) on a project for a couple in Eden Prairie.  We all coordinated our schedules to make this project come together as efficiently as possible.

One particular benefit of this project – in addition to the reduction in energy use in this home – was addressing the issue they were having with ice dam formation.  Proper insulation as well as the metal roof should take care of that problem for good.

After the solar panel mounts were put in place, we installed flashing around them so there would be no leaks in the roof.  This is important, because any openings in a roof (such as those for solar panel mounts) can be a source of a roof leak, so putting the proper flashing in place beforehand ensures this won’t be an issue.

 

How did we do?  We can’t say it better than one of the homeowners did.  David Florenzano was interviewed by the Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) about the project.  David truly did his homework (and lots of research) before he settled on the contractors who would be involved.  This was his comment:
“First of all, we recommend that you work with people who have real expertise. We felt that with Powerfully Green, Quarve Contracting and SustainMax, we were dealing with real professionals. Their expertise, and the cooperation among all three really helped the project go smoothly and we were always able to get all of our questions answered.” – David Florenzano, Eden Prairie MN
(Click here to read the full article on the CERT website and get details more details about the project.)  We are so proud to have been a part of this installation.  If you are considering having solar panels installed on your home in the near future, we’d love to talk with you.  We work closely with solar panel installers and insulation contractors to design and install a complete rooftop solar package.