Solar Panels on Your Roof: Tile, Metal, Flat and Condo

What Your Roof Decides

Your roof decides three things: how many panels fit, how they are fixed, and how much sun they get. The material matters for the fixing. Shade matters for everything.

A 4 kW system is 8 to 10 panels, and an 8 kW system 16 to 20. The site visit measures whether they fit, and where.

Tile Roofs

Most terrace houses, semi-detached houses and bungalows in Malaysia have clay or concrete tiles. For these, the installer lifts tiles, screws hooks into the battens or rafters, seals the fixing, and puts the tiles back. Aluminium rails are fixed to the hooks and the panels to the rails.

It is the most common installation and also the most work, because every hook means a tile out and back. That is why a tile roof costs a little more to install than a metal roof. Our guide to installation costs explains the difference.

Metal Roofs

Newer houses, extensions and most commercial buildings have metal sheet roofs. Brackets clamp to the seams, or screws go through the sheet with a sealing washer, and the rails sit on the brackets. It is the quickest installation.

Flat Concrete Roofs

Some bungalows and shophouses have a flat concrete roof. Panels go on tilted frames so that rain runs off and dust does not settle. The frames are either anchored to the concrete or held down by weight. The waterproofing membrane is checked first, because a leak under a frame is hard to reach later.

Condominiums and Apartments

On a condominium, the roof is common property. A single owner cannot put panels on it. A system needs the agreement of the management body, and it then usually serves the building's common areas rather than one unit.

Solar ATAP also needs a TNB domestic account for the home the system serves. For most apartment owners, solar is something to ask the management about rather than to install alone. On a landed house you own, none of this applies.

Solar Roof Tiles

Solar roof tiles replace the roof covering with tiles that generate electricity. They look like a plain roof, which is their point. They also cost more per watt than panels on rails, and few installers in Malaysia work with them.

SolarKita installs standard panels on a rail system, which keeps the price down and makes a faulty panel easy to swap. If looks are the concern, all-black panels sit flat and quiet on a dark tile roof.

Shade, Direction and the Age of the Roof

Shade is the first thing we look for. A tree or a taller building that shadows the roof for part of the day cuts output. On a string inverter, one shaded panel pulls down its whole row. Our inverter guide explains why.

Malaysia sits near the equator, so a roof facing east or west still gets strong sun; the site visit measures what each face can produce.

Check the roof before, not after. Panels last 25 years, and the roof under them has to last as long. Fix leaks and replace worn tiles first.

What the Site Visit Checks

1. Roof material and how the panels will be fixed
2. The roof structure and its condition
3. Shade through the day, from trees and buildings
4. The roof faces that get sun, and how many panels fit
5. Where the inverter goes, and the cable run to the switchboard
6. Whether the supply is single-phase or three-phase

Ask Whether Your Roof Is Ready

WhatsApp SolarKita with a photo of your roof and your TNB bill. We will tell you how the panels would be fixed, how many fit, and what to repair first.