Manufactured homes are a large share of the housing in parts of Clark, Cowlitz and Clackamas counties, and the people living in them get some of the worst solar advice going, usually a quote built as though the roof were stick-framed, followed by a crew arriving and discovering it is not.
Can you put solar panels on a manufactured home?
Often yes, when the structure supports it, but it is a genuinely different engineering problem from a site-built house, and it has to be surveyed rather than assumed.
HUD-code manufactured homes are built light on purpose, because they were designed to travel down a highway. Roof structures are typically shallower and more widely spaced than site-built framing, and the covering is often metal or a low-slope membrane rather than composition shingle over plywood.
What is different about the roof?
- Attachment. You cannot lag into a rafter you have assumed is there. Fastening has to land on located, verified structure, and on a metal roof it may clamp to the seam without penetrating at all, which is the best outcome available.
- Load. Added weight is checked against what the home was built to carry rather than a rule of thumb. Sometimes the honest answer is a smaller array or a different section of roof.
- Sequencing. Many of these roofs have been coated more than once. If yours is near the end of its life, that gets dealt with before an array goes on top of it.
Who owns the ground underneath?
This question decides as much as the roof does. In manufactured-home communities the home and the land are frequently owned separately. If you own the home but lease the space, an array is a permanent improvement to something you own, fixed to something you do not.
That is workable, but it needs the park’s written permission and a clear understanding of what happens if the home is ever sold or moved, settled before design, not after installation. Where you own both home and land, it is a much simpler project.
What about the electrical service?
Older manufactured homes commonly run 100-amp service, sometimes fed from a pedestal meter set apart from the home rather than a panel on the wall. That affects where the inverter and disconnect can go, and occasionally means a service upgrade before anything can be interconnected.
It is all normal work. It just needs to be found during the site visit rather than on installation day, which is the difference between a firm price and a surprise.
Is a ground mount an option instead?
Sometimes, and it neatly avoids the roof question altogether, but only if you have ground you control. On a leased pad in a dense community there is usually nowhere to put one. On a manufactured home on its own acreage, a ground mount is often the better answer, particularly if the roof is nearing replacement.
What permits are involved?
Alterations to a manufactured dwelling are permitted through the local building department, and the requirements vary by jurisdiction. We confirm the review authority for your specific address and pull the permits ourselves rather than handing you a packet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you install solar panels on a manufactured home?
Usually, when the structure supports it. Manufactured homes use lighter roof framing than site-built houses, so the array must attach to located, verified structure and the load be checked against the home’s design. It needs surveying, not assuming.
I own my manufactured home but lease the space. Can I still go solar?
Often, with the park’s written permission. Because the array is fixed to a home sitting on land you do not own, that agreement and a plan for what happens if the home is sold or moved should be settled before design work begins.
Can solar be attached to a metal manufactured home roof?
Frequently, and it can be the best case, on a standing-seam roof, clamps grip the seam without penetrating it at all. Exposed-fastener roofing is also workable with properly gasketed mounts landing on real structure.
Will 100-amp service handle solar on a manufactured home?
Sometimes, depending on system size and how the interconnection is made. Where it will not, a service or panel upgrade is quoted up front as part of the project rather than discovered on installation day.
Is a ground mount better for a manufactured home?
If you control the ground, often yes. It avoids the roof structure question entirely and is easier to service. On a leased pad in a dense community there is usually no room, so the roof is the only option.
Want a straight answer about your home?
Call 360-313-7190 and we will survey the roof properly before quoting anything. Sunbridge Solar serves Camas, Washougal, Vancouver, Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.
