Sunlight exposure, snow/ice, and things like hail are what cause your shingles to degrade. When they are sheltered by your solar panels, you've got a section of your roof where the shingles will live a very long life.
So basically you install your solar panels on a new set of shingles and 20 years later when you are replacing your roof, you shingle around your solar panels.
Regarding leaks, if you look at the mounts used, they are flashing mounts. So they are penetrations similar to your furnace flue pipe, turtle vents, etc. They don't just drill a hole and squirt sealer in place. They used to do that until the 80s or so and eventually the solar installers and rack mounting manufacturers got it right, I think they've done a great job at solving that problem with flash mounts.
|