A citizen who cited concerns about roof leaks related to a solar panel installation on the metal roof of the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center prompted the county to make repairs.
A man named John Hudson emailed the County Commission in March regarding leaks in the roof of the collection center at the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station, according to a March email from county employee John Mousa. Hudson said the way the solar photovoltaic panels were attached to the roof may have caused the leaking.
Hudson’s March 11 email read:
“Today I visited the Hazardous Waste Collection Center at the Levida [sic] Brown Park and found that whomever installed the solar panels on the roof did so by drilling holes in the steel roof panels. The roof is now leaking into the fiberglass insulation beneath it and is held there by the vinyl vapor barrier. This will destroy the roof that should have lasted 50 years in a few years.”
The metal roof was installed in 1999 and has had a few minor leaks both before and after the solar panels were installed in 2009 that were repaired, according to Mousa’s email. Mousa wrote that the manager of the hazardous waste center, Kurt Seaburg, said the leaks to date haven’t negatively impacted the center’s operations.
“We appreciate Mr. Hudson bringing these concerns to our attention as we had not observed significant leaks in the metal roof of the HWCC building that appeared to be related to (the) Solar PV installation,” Mousa wrote.
The county hired a roofing contractor to evaluate the roof’s condition, according to a May email from Mousa to county staff . The contractor reported that the roof’s structural integrity was solid but stated leaks around the solar panel system might have resulted from “inadequate sealing around the installation supports for the Solar PV panels,” he wrote. The contractor’s recommendation: Use foam sealant around the system’s structural supports to prevent future leaks.
The roof’s repair and sealing cost $1,800 and was completed by the contractor at the end of April, according to Mousa’s email.
County Commissioner Susan Baird, who previously requested additional information addressing Hudson’s concerns that staff later provided, said in an interview with The Sun this week that she still has some questions regarding the hazardous waste center’s roof.
She is worried the damage has already been done since moisture got through the solar panel system and is uncertain whether these repairs will protect the roof from further problems years from now.
“I guess it’s two-fold,” she said of her concerns. She wants to know more about county oversight of systems like the rooftop solar panel setup as well as what protocols the county follows for installing solar projects and making repairs to government structures.
She said there should have been research into how other metal roof structures have fared with solar panels and emphasized the need to make sure these projects are done properly.
She plans to request more information from county staff that will address her questions.
Here’s more information on the rooftop solar system at the hazardous waste center.