Certified Solar Panel Removal and Reinstallation in Fort Walton Beach, FL: How a Detach and Reset Works
A detach and reset is the job of taking a solar array off a roof, replacing the roof underneath it, and putting the array back so it produces the way it did before. In Fort Walton Beach, Florida it involves two separate trades and two separate licenses, which is the real reason homeowners find it hard to price. A&M Construction of NW Fla holds both: Florida Certified Roofing Contractor CCC1326077 and Florida Certified Solar Contractor CVC57246. That means one company, one schedule, and one point of responsibility if something on the roof and something on the array disagree. Here is how the work actually goes.
Why the licensing question comes first
Florida defines contractor categories by scope of work. A roofing contractor's scope covers the roof covering, the deck, the attachments, and related work. A solar contractor's scope covers the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance, relocation, or replacement of solar panels and the equipment that goes with them. Those are two different definitions in the same statute, and the state's own rule is that a contractor certified under that chapter is not required to bring in a separate solar contractor for work that falls within the scope of the services they are already licensed to render.
The practical upshot for a homeowner is simple: ask to see the license that covers the part of the job you are hiring for, and then check it yourself. Both definitions are written out in section 489.105 of the Florida Statutes, and any Florida license number, including both of ours, can be confirmed in about thirty seconds through the DBPR license verification tool. A company that cannot produce a number is telling you something.
The seven steps of a detach and reset
Document the array before anything is touched. Photographs of every row, the racking layout, the wire runs, the inverter, and the current production figures. This is the record that proves the system went back the way it came off.
Shut the system down properly. Panels generate voltage whenever there is daylight on them, so the array is de-energized and isolated in sequence before any hardware comes loose.
Remove panels, then racking, and store both. Panels are stored flat, off the ground, and out of the weather. Racking is labeled by row so it goes back in the same places rather than wherever it fits.
Reroof the whole plane, not just around the array. Tear off, inspect and refasten the deck, seal the seams, new underlayment, new flashing and boots, new covering. The old mount penetrations are permanently sealed as part of this, not reused.
Set new mounts into the new roof. Every mount is a new penetration through a brand new roof, landed on rafters and flashed. This is the step that separates a reset that lasts from one that leaks in two years.
Reinstall racking and panels and reconnect. Back to the documented layout, with connectors inspected rather than assumed, and damaged or corroded hardware replaced instead of reused.
Bring the system back up and confirm production. Compare output against the pre-removal baseline from step one. If a string is down, it gets found now, while everyone is still on site.
Permits, and the part that catches people out
Putting an array back on a roof is not treated as a continuation of the old installation. It is work that gets permitted and inspected in its own right, separately from the reroof permit, and requirements differ by jurisdiction. In Okaloosa County, roof and reroof permits run through the Fast Lane and are issued next day, applications go through the online Customer Service Support portal, and the county builds to the 2023 Florida Building Code, 8th Edition with ASCE 7-22 wind criteria. Current requirements are posted on the Okaloosa County permitting page.
The thing that catches homeowners out is sequencing. If the roofer finishes on a Friday and nobody is scheduled to reset the array, the panels sit in a garage for weeks while two companies wait on each other, and the homeowner pays full retail for power the whole time. Booking the roof and the reset as one job with one schedule is the entire practical argument for using a contractor who is licensed for both.
Frequently asked questions
How long are my panels off the roof?
On a typical single-family home with the roof and the reset booked together, it is usually a matter of days rather than weeks. The variables are the size of the array, the size and complexity of the roof, how much decking needs replacing, and inspection timing. Summer storms move schedules here more than anything else does.
Will taking the panels off void my solar warranty?
It depends on the terms you signed, and this is worth reading before the job. Some solar warranties and monitoring agreements require that work on the array be done by a licensed party or that the company be notified in advance. Call your solar provider, ask what their agreement requires, and get the answer in writing. We can work to whatever their documentation specifies.
My panels are leased. Does that change anything?
Yes, and it is the first thing to sort out. On a lease or power purchase agreement the equipment is not yours, so the leasing company usually has its own rules about who may touch it and may want notice or approval. Start that conversation early, because it can add weeks before any work begins.
Can you just roof around the panels and leave them up?
We do not recommend it and we will not quote it that way. Roofing around an array leaves old material and old penetrations under the panels, which is the one area of the roof nobody can inspect afterward, and it puts the oldest section directly beneath the heaviest equipment. If the roof is worth replacing, the part under the array is worth replacing too.
What happens to the old mounting holes?
They are sealed as part of the new roof assembly and abandoned. The new racking gets new mounts on rafters, flashed into the new roof. Reusing an existing penetration through fresh underlayment is exactly the shortcut that produces a leak under a panel, where it is hardest to find.
Is this covered by insurance after a storm?
Sometimes the detach and reset is treated as a necessary cost of replacing a storm-damaged roof, and sometimes it is not. It depends on your policy language and your carrier, so ask the adjuster about it specifically rather than assuming it rides along with the roof. Get it addressed in the estimate before work starts.
One company, both licenses, one schedule
If your roof is due and there is an array on it, we will walk it, photograph it, and quote the roof and the detach and reset together so there is no gap between two contractors and no argument about who owns a problem. See our solar roofing services, read more on roof replacement with solar panel removal, or check what the permit process looks like here. Family owned in Mary Esther since 1994.
Contact A&M Construction or call 850-803-0650.
CONTACT US
2225 W Highway 98, Mary Esther, FL
850-803-0650
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