Solar in New Mexico has strong sun at elevation and a roof that may be flat, parapeted, and already sharing space with a cooler. That combination is the project. A membrane or built-up flat roof does not take attachments the way a composition slope does. Tile and shingle roofs in newer towns and mountain houses add pitch, and the northern towns add snow. Wind will test whatever is bolted down. Shade from a parapet, a cottonwood, or a mountain slope can matter even when the sky looks endless. An aerial photo has not seen a soft spot, a ponding membrane, or a cooler curb.
Ask the age and the surface before any module count. Ask whether the roof is repaired first. Ask the attachment and flashing details, and who is responsible if a penetration leaks into a parlor with vigas you do not want opened. Ask how the array comes off later. Ask whether the cooler stays and how a person still reaches it. Ballast on a flat roof is a different conversation from lag bolts in a deck, and the wind in this state makes that conversation serious.
Open the electrical panel next. Older adobes may have a small service. Newer houses may already be full. Ask for the module and the inverter to be named, and ask where the electronics live. Ask who sees production and who you call when a section goes quiet. Dust films the glass. Snow covers it in the north. Cold nights are a fact of the equipment sitting outside, not a reason to skip the roof inspection.
Ask who pulls the permit and who files the interconnection, and whether the system waits for permission to operate. Ask whether you will own the equipment. Bring the town and the roof shape. Leave the bill pitch out. Call the number on this page.