Solar in North Dakota has to live with a long heating season and snow that can sit on a slope for weeks. That is a site fact. It is not a harvest you can promise, and it is not a way to run the burner. If someone talks as if the array will carry the cold months, stop and bring the conversation back to the roof, the mounts, and the electrical service. Those are the parts a visit can actually see.
The order is the covering and the structure first. Snow load and an attic that already runs warm enough to dam ice are roof problems. Attaching to a failing slope, or to a roof that dams every winter, locks you into a tear-off under the rails. Ask how the feet are flashed and what happens to the array when the roof is replaced. Ask whether those attachments make the eave harder to keep clear. A picture from above has not been in the attic.
Put the inverter where it can be reached in January, not in an unheated corner that becomes a guess. Older town services and farm services may be small. Ask what is in the panel now. Ask for the module and inverter models by name, who owns the equipment, and who you call when the inverter is quiet. Shade from a windbreak on the south side is common and fatal to the pretty drawing. Say if that row exists.
Wind uplift on open lots is real, and so is hail on the plains. Talk about mounts and glass as hardware questions. Do not turn them into a forecast of clear days. The heating season is why people get curious about the roof, and it is also why a careless promise does the most harm. You want a look at structure, flashing, and the service. You do not want a story about the meter in the dark months.
Say the town, the age of the roof, and whether ice dams or snow are already a fight. Mention the electrical panel and any south-side trees. If the covering needs work, do that before rails. Bring ownership questions and leave the winter fantasy at home. Call the number on this page.