June 19, 2023 Stone-coated metal roof instance.
Expanding product strains is a scorching subject amongst solar installers nowadays, and it’s normally in reference to including battery storage and/or EV charging installs. But perhaps you possibly can develop your core rooftop solar set up enterprise by overlaying extra roof varieties.
Stone-coated metal roofs, particularly, are an untapped area of interest for solar installers, says Mike Wiener, advertising supervisor of QuickBOLT, on a latest episode of The Pitch, a YouTube sequence in Solar Builder’s Editor-in-Chief chats awkwardly with producers about new merchandise so that you don’t should. In this episode, Crowell and Wiener talk about QuickBOLT’s new Butyl Bottom Deck-Mounting Kit (and the overall development of deck-mounting), earlier than chatting concerning the stone-coated metal roof alternative.
If you’d prefer to study extra about stone-coated metal roofs, the challenges for solar installers (or lack thereof), and why solar goes so nicely with metal rooftops, hit the play button or learn the transcript under.
Crowell: A product line that I really feel QuickBOLT has pioneered, or a minimum of you’re the one one which I’ve seen actually put it up for sale, is an attachment for stone-coated metal roofs. I admit I’d by no means even heard of this roof sort previous to your selling this product line. What ought to I find out about this area of interest?
Wiener: This roof has adopted an identical development for us with high mounting, by way of serving to to push and develop this market, and a part of that’s working with the roof producers themselves. We labored with Westlake Royal Roofing, they was once Boral, after which Decra — so these are two the 2 largest producers within the United States — after which we’ve labored with a few of their different companions Tilcor, and Cal-Pac … so we’ve labored with virtually each producer, ensuring that the solar mounts we make are designed to work with their roofs.
And it’s an excellent roof. It’s like 50-year roof, a minimum of, and it’s metal, so it’s extraordinarily sturdy. What makes it nice is, you possibly can consider it like a steel tile, and they also overlap. Part of what we’ve carried out with our tile line is attempt to come out with merchandise that don’t should be drilled by means of the roof materials. We adopted the identical precise thought course of with stone-coated metal the place you don’t wish to put a giant gap in your roof, however in case you can go between the roof panels, then that is sensible.
This is what the hooks appear like, and this [rise in the middle] is what we name the batten bridge.
Most stone-coated metal roofs are put in with battens on the roof in order that they will form of overlap or relaxation in an organized, degree method. We needed to give you this type of funky design to come back up over the batten and over the overlap of the panel, after which again out for it to work in a method that doesn’t injury the roofing materials on high — as a result of you’ve gotten such an superior, sturdy metal roof, why would you wish to put screws by means of that or reduce a gap by means of that? It didn’t make any sense, so we labored with producers to essentially give you this. This is our adjustable hook, however now we have mounted hooks as nicely.
Crowell: Metal roofs go nicely with solar in a pair other ways as a result of they’re lifetimes are higher aligned, and so they’re not an oil-based product, so that they’re extra environmentally pleasant in that sure method.
Wiener: Yea, in an environmentally aware method, these roofs are nice, and one of many issues they do with the way in which they’re designed with the air hole, they permit insulation and warmth retention on the roof. It really retains the home cooler as a result of their skinny, however their steel, after which the stone coating on high will assist replicate the warmth away, nevertheless it’ll let the air circulate below the roof.
Crowell: What are the completely different challenges on the roof itself? Why would possibly an installer have a studying curve approaching this phase?
Wiener: The challenges to beat with the stone-coated metal roof in our expertise are counter-intuitive. Customers don’t know learn how to stroll on the roof or they’re afraid they’re going to dent it or crumple it in the event that they don’t stroll on it appropriately, and it’s a ache to work with and to open up. That’s type of the mysteries that individuals discuss. They’re not all in favour of approaching or studying about overcoming these obstacles.
To us, it’s just a little counterintuitive as a result of the roofs are basically tiles. So, in case you’re somebody who’s aware of strolling on a tile, whether or not it’s concrete or flat or curved, and particularly clay, in case you’re somebody who’s expert at strolling on clay tiles — everybody talks about the way you have a look at them unsuitable and so they break– then you definitely’ll don’t have any drawback strolling on a stone-coated metal roof.
The technique is straightforward. You simply stroll on the overlap such as you would some other tile. Even when you’ve got a careless installer who isn’t paying consideration and so they’re strolling on the center of a panel, then you definitely’re not going to do any injury to those roofs that may’t be undone.
Crowell: So, total much less … scary than a tile roof by way of potential for issues breaking?
Wiener: Far much less susceptible to break.
For extra info on stone-coated metal roofs and the QuickBOLT product line, head to their web site. For extra from this episode of The Pitch, watch the total 13-min episode under.
The Pitch video included footage from an set up video QuickBOLT shot with Westlake. Here is that full video too:
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Tags: QuickBolt, gross sales and advertising, The Pitch
