I was quoted roughly $3,000 to remove and reinstall the solar panels for a new roof so I decided to put on a new roof before installing the racking for the solar panels. Fortunately the best roofing company in my area is also the best solar installer who does residential as well as commercial installations. The company incorporated the cost of the roof and the racking with the cost for the panels and the inverter so we had one invoice and used it for our tax credits.

A second advantage for us was that at the time Sunpower only sold their high output panels through commerial dealers and the companies that only did residential systems could not get them. The roofer was able to buy the "commercial" panels and put them on my house.

Solar installers are not terribly concerned about roof leaks and there is a great deal of variation on how racks are mounted to roofs and how waterproof the penetrations will be for a period of 20 years.