I'm looking at buying a ("used") house and an agent has been showing me some options. I realized that the type of house I like most often have those flat roof with stairs access from inside the house to be used for drying laundry, etc.
I was thinking about installing solar panels in the future and those roofs appear to be the cheapest ones for such installation, but of course I would lose the roof space. So I was wondering, how much of a headache would be installing the solar panels on an elevated frame above the roof area? This way I would not only keep the space, but also get some shadow over it, which is nice.
I realize there must be building height limitations for "structures" on top of the building proper, probably some extra documentation with the government, safety or house insurance issues (risk of it being damaged on a typhoon), etc… Plus finding a company that can make a reliable and safe installation.
Has anyone ever done anything similar? Maybe not with solar panels, but perhaps with a canopy or fixed awning? Any potential issues with the neighbors? Any guess as if the price would more than double from a regular solar panel installation?
"Ask your agent!". I did. He suggested requesting official quotations from the solar panel companies, which is too much trouble at such an early phase of house hunting. He doesn't want to risk giving me imprecise information about it and won't even try to guess.
I was in between "housing" and "bad idea" for the flair.
by nexflatline