After you’ve done making the Do It Yourself (DIY) solar panel, the next step is to mount it on the roof. There are a couple of ways to do this. The simplest way is to mount the solar panel on metal rails attached to the roof.
But what happens when you mount the metal rail to the roof?
In the process, a screw will be used to penetrate the shingles. The screw from the rail will go inside a stud in the roof cavity to hold the entire thing sturdy. A hole in the shingle is a potential for leakage when it rains.
To seal the hole on the roof shingle, it is best to use an asphalt based caulking that goes into a standard caulking gun.
If you have never done this before, don’t worry, the caulking gun is quite easy to use. You’ll get a hang of it after a few trail runs.
Use the caulking gun to fill the hole made by the screw of the metal rail. That will prevent rain water from getting into your house once the solar panel is mounted.
This method of securing the holes on the roof is one of the simplest approach. Another better method to prevent water leakage when installing the solar panel is roof flashing. This is done by using a metal sheet barrier at the base of the mount.
Roof flashing is normally done by professional contractor because it involves more work. Flashing provides better protection from water leakages. It is aesthetically more pleasing but costs more.
Homemade Solar Power Guide
Are you planning to install a home solar power system to reduce your household electricity consumption? If you are, check out the Earth4Energy e-book by Michael Harvey.
The manual comes with step by step High Definition (HD) instructional videos showing you how to make a DIY solar panel with minimal cost. For more information, check out the Earth 4 Energy review on this blog.