After reading Brentr's post and seeing his nice professional installation, I wanted to post a list of tips and lessons learned when I installed mine in hopes that it can help others.
1. I would not get the 20 foot long solar panels as they must be installed horizontally and it is difficult to get them to stay flat and not potato chip. They expand / contract over over 2 inches as the temp changes.
2. Get someone to help. I did the install myself and ended up with extra holes in the roof because of it.
3. Use only metal pipe clamps to attach pipe to roof. I first tried the pvc ones and they became too soft in the heat and shifted.
4. Try to find black PVC pipe. I did not search hard enough and ended up painting it which was a royal PITA.
5. Use chalk to mark out placement of the panels. This helps a lot because the panels kept sliding down the roof or trying to roll back up. I also used weights and rope to hold them in place, but that is mainly because I did the install alone which was not smart. See tip #2.
6. I cut 2" pvc couplings into 1/2" donuts, then cut those in half and placed them every couple feet along bottom of the pvc lines. This raises the pipes just a bit so that leaves and debris pass under and don't get stuck behind them on your roof.
7. At first I attached the pvc feed and return pipe to the wall of the house, but it caused too much vibration to the inside room. So I instead just attached the pipe to the soffit and placed a brick at the lower elbow to support the vertical run.
1. I would not get the 20 foot long solar panels as they must be installed horizontally and it is difficult to get them to stay flat and not potato chip. They expand / contract over over 2 inches as the temp changes.
2. Get someone to help. I did the install myself and ended up with extra holes in the roof because of it.
3. Use only metal pipe clamps to attach pipe to roof. I first tried the pvc ones and they became too soft in the heat and shifted.
4. Try to find black PVC pipe. I did not search hard enough and ended up painting it which was a royal PITA.
5. Use chalk to mark out placement of the panels. This helps a lot because the panels kept sliding down the roof or trying to roll back up. I also used weights and rope to hold them in place, but that is mainly because I did the install alone which was not smart. See tip #2.
6. I cut 2" pvc couplings into 1/2" donuts, then cut those in half and placed them every couple feet along bottom of the pvc lines. This raises the pipes just a bit so that leaves and debris pass under and don't get stuck behind them on your roof.
7. At first I attached the pvc feed and return pipe to the wall of the house, but it caused too much vibration to the inside room. So I instead just attached the pipe to the soffit and placed a brick at the lower elbow to support the vertical run.
).
