Re-Roofing With Solar Panels: UK Removal & Refit Guide

If your roof needs re-covering and you already have solar panels installed, you don't need to choose between the two. Panels can be safely removed and refitted around re-roofing work — but it isn't a DIY weekend job, and it isn't free. Here's what the process actually involves, what it costs, and why the electrical side needs more than a re-registration.

The removal-and-refit process

A competent contractor isolates the system electrically at the inverter first, then removes the panels, the mounting rails and the roof-penetrating fixings before the roofer starts work. Once the new covering — tiles, slates or felt — is on, the mounting system goes back up, the panels are refitted, and the whole system is electrically tested and recommissioned before it's switched back on. A typical 10–16 panel residential system takes roughly a working day for the removal side alone, separate from the roofing work itself.

What it costs

Removal and refit for a typical UK residential system runs to a few hundred pounds up to around £1,500, depending on system size, roof access and whether scaffolding is already up for the roofing job. Scaffolding is usually the single biggest line item — and it's also the good news: if you know a roof will need replacing within the next decade or so, timing a new solar installation to follow re-roofing work means you share one scaffolding cost instead of paying for it twice, once now and once when the roof eventually needs doing.

Why recommissioning matters, not just re-registering

It's tempting to think of this as paperwork — update the MCS certificate and move on. It isn't. MCS-certified installers are expected to fully test and recommission a solar PV system after any work that involves disconnecting and reinstalling it, following the same electrical testing and commissioning standard as a new installation. That matters because a system that's been unbolted, moved, and rebolted has effectively had every connection remade, and a loose DC connector or damaged cable is a genuine fire and shock risk that only shows up under proper testing — not by eye.

This is a different question to whether re-roofing voids your roof warranty — that's about how the panels were originally fixed; recommissioning after removal and refit is about whether the electrical system is still safe and correctly certified once it's been put back.

Who should do the work

The removal and reinstallation should be carried out by an MCS-certified installer, not left to the roofing contractor alone, so the recommissioning and any updated documentation are handled correctly and any remaining manufacturer warranty on the panels or inverter isn't put at risk by unqualified handling. Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, this kind of work has to be properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent people — HSE guidance is explicit that rooftop solar work is not short-duration work and needs a proper boarded platform with edge protection, not just a ladder. That applies as much to removal and refit as it does to a first-time install.

Don't forget your export payments

If you receive Smart Export Guarantee payments or an older Feed-in Tariff, tell your supplier before the system goes offline for re-roofing. A short, planned outage for reinstallation and testing is normal and shouldn't affect your tariff, but an unexplained gap in generation or export data can trigger a query from your supplier — a quick heads-up before work starts avoids any confusion when your next statement arrives.

Practical checklist before you start

• Get quotes for the removal-and-refit specifically — not just the roofing job, so you can see the electrical recommissioning is included.
• Check who is MCS-certified — the roofer and the solar contractor are usually different companies, and the electrical side needs the MCS-certified one.
• If the roof is due within the next decade, ask about combining the jobs to share scaffolding costs, whether you're planning a first install or a refit of an existing system.
• Keep the updated commissioning certificate once the work is done — you'll want it for any future warranty claim or house sale.