An inspection from someone with no workmanship to defend.

Done right — no. Solar penetrations are flashed and sealed with materials rated for 25 years, exactly like any vent or skylight on your roof right now. If a leak from solar ever happens, it happens fast — usually within the first two years, from workmanship error — which is what the standard 10-year roof penetration warranty exists for.

Red flags worth knowing: repeated roof-leak complaints in an installer's reviews (one-offs happen; patterns don't lie), and paradoxically, a 25-year roof penetration warranty — that's a flashy sales gimmick from companies that won't exist long enough to honor it. And if your roof is old, replace it with the solar project: one crew coordination, one financing, and the roof portion can ride your program benefits. Roof + solar is one of the smartest combos in home improvement.

Deep breath — no. I've lived this from the inside (the company I worked with, KOTA, collapsed in 2024 despite doing right by customers). Here's what survives: all equipment warranties — panels (25-30yr), inverters (10-25yr), batteries (10-15yr) are held by manufacturers, not your installer. On a PPA or lease, the agreement itself is an asset that gets bought by another provider, warranties intact — you might not even notice the change beyond a new logo on the bill.

What you lose is the workmanship warranty — the free labor. Manufacturers will replace failed parts but may charge for the truck roll. Thousands of San Diego homes are "orphaned" like this right now, and it's exactly why I built my audit and service business: someone has to take care of these systems for the next 20 years. If that's you, reach out — you're not stranded.

Your app (Enphase, Tesla, SolarEdge, or your PPA provider's) shows production and, with a battery, storage behavior. The one metric that matters: production versus the same period last year. Weather varies, seasons swing — but if production drops significantly in a short window or year-over-year with similar weather, a panel or inverter likely needs service. That's genuinely the only failure mode solar-only systems really have.

Battery acting weird? Check the mode first — standby/backup (saves for emergencies), self-consumption (drains nightly), and time-of-use (follows rate schedules) behave completely differently, and a mode switch is the #1 "my battery is broken" false alarm. Not charging fully or dumping too fast on the right mode? Something's pulling more power than it can serve, or it needs service. Then you call — and if your installer is gone, that's what I'm here for.

If your home is 15+ years old, your electrical panel may cap your solar before you start. Utilities limit "backfeed" by your panel's rating — the formula: (120% × service rating) − main breaker = allowable backfeed, and max system size ≈ a quarter of that in kW. A typical old 100A/100A panel allows only a 4-5kW system. Upgrading to 200A typically runs $3,000-$4,000 — cheap if your service comes in overhead, potentially $12,000+ if underground trenching is required.

Escape hatches exist: 125A upgrades without trenching, renewable meter adapters (RMA) that feed solar behind the meter, and batteries that circumvent backfeed limits. Some old panels (Zinsco, Sylvania, Stab-Lok) are fire hazards that must be replaced regardless. Here's the tell: if your home is older and a rep never mentions your electrical panel, that's a red flag the size of a billboard. Included with solar, the upgrade rides your financing.

Shockingly little — this is one place the sales guys undersell. Panels have no moving parts and run 25-30+ years. The honest maintenance list: watch your monitoring app (5 minutes a month), clean the panels once a year in low-rain areas like ours (before summer, after pollen season — de-ionized water and regular soap, never when panels are hot, or just hire a cleaner), and a system health check every 5-10 years.

The components that can actually need service over decades: inverters (that's why warranty length matters — 12.5 vs 25 years is a real difference) and batteries (10-15 year warranties). The panels themselves? They'll likely outlive your roof.

In San Diego's low-rain climate, once a year is right — ideally before summer and after pollen season. The efficiency gain from cleaning is modest; the real benefit is keeping oxidizers and organic growth from degrading the glass over decades. Think of it like washing a car: skip it forever and the paint pays.

DIY is fine: de-ionized water, regular soap, soft brush, and never when panels are hot (thermal shock cracks glass). If your roof is steep or two stories, hire a cleaner — no efficiency gain is worth a ladder fall. Bundling cleaning with a periodic system inspection is the smart move; you're paying for the trip anyway.

An audit answers the question most solar owners can't: "Is this thing actually working for me?" Six data points tell the whole story: year-over-year consumption, year-over-year production, install date, current utility rates, your solar payment, and any true-up costs.

From those, the math falls out: yearly consumption × current utility rate = what you'd pay without solar. Subtract your annualized solar payments and true-ups = your real savings. Compare production to consumption = whether you're over- or under-producing, and whether usage changes (new EV? teenager with a gaming rig?) have outgrown your design. My audit also reviews your agreement terms against what's fair and flags rebates you're leaving unclaimed — SDCP funds, VPP enrollment, the works. If you've had solar 2+ years and never checked, you're overdue.