Finding the intersection of roofing and solar

By Jesse Sanchez. 

Anchor Products helps roofers and solar installers shift from conflict to collaboration with shared standards and coordination. 

Anchor Products is leaning into one of the biggest tensions in commercial construction today: who really owns the roof when solar enters the picture. In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Justin Smith, director of sales and solar at Anchor Products and a former customer of the company, has spent years working in that intersection of the two trades, and understands how easily roofing and solar teams can clash when their work overlaps. He focuses on the solar side of the business, working with racking companies and developers to help bridge the gap between the two industries and create a smoother path to collaboration. 

Justin said the relationship should feel more like a partnership than a turf war. “Yeah, I think it should be more of a handshake than a fist fight,” he said. He described three different interests that all converge on the roof: “You have the solar market that wants to put this solar system on an available roof space. You have a building owner that has a need, but then you have the roofing side that their whole purpose is providing a watertight seal protection of the building itself.” 

Historically, the two industries rarely planned together. Roofers would complete a roof, then months or years later solar would arrive with little or no consultation. Justin noted, “There wouldn't be any consultation of what it takes to do it correctly and keep the roof system uncompromised.” When leaks appeared, the roofing contractor was called back in and left wondering, “Who okayed this? Who told them how to do it? Who gave any kind of guidance?” 

Experience is starting to change that pattern. Justin acknowledged, “Now that we've got history on our side, I think a lot of people are starting to figure out, we need to make sure we're checking all the right boxes, that we're doing things with the building's interest in mind.” That shift is creating stronger ties between contractors and manufacturers. He added, “There's still a little bit of that fist bumping, head bumping, but it's becoming a little bit more of a handshake where there is consultation that's taking place.” 

At the core, everyone is trying to serve the same customer. Justin stated, “At the end of the day, both groups are actually trying to do something for the better of the building owner.” He continued, “One's trying to offset a power demand. One's trying to keep that watertight protection layer. It's just, they both can coexist.” 

Listen to the podcast to learn more about how contractors can start that collaboration earlier and where manufacturers are updating standards to support it!