Solar in Minneapolis has to sit on bungalow and rambler roofs that already ice-dam, under snow that lingers and cold that makes a clear day useful only when the surface is bare. Tight lots and tall neighbors cut the south slope. An array changes where snow sits and where melt refreezes at the eave, which is the last place this city needs a new dam. Ask that before modules. The deck comes first. If the shingles are tired from ice, say so.
Say which way the ridge runs. One slope often faces the neighbor. Low winter sun dies behind a two-story wall and may still clear a bare boulevard tree. Look at midday and late, from the yard, not from a guess. A hip on a corner is not a simple gable. Rails have to fasten into structure on roofs that have been brittle from ice. Penetrations must survive thaw water, not a dry week. Squirrels in these soffits will use the gap under the array.
If the attic is already warm and damming, an array will not excuse bypasses, fans dumped above the bath, or a hatch that leaks air. Say whether you have been up there. Snow that will not shed on a low porch roof will sit on modules too. If the roof is due, open the covering once, not twice. Marked glass is worth a mention, and it is not the lead the way hail is farther south. Uplift on a windy open block is the fastening question.
Output falls under snow and lake cloud, and the bright half of the year is the shorter one. Gear still lives through both. An inverter needs air. A sealed attic is a poor closet in July and a cold lid in January. Say if the electrical panel is old or full. Say how snow will be cleared, or say that it will not. Do not put the array on the north wall that is already freezing your plumbing and call that a plan.
Lead with the roof, the neighbor shade, and whether ice already owns the eaves. Name bungalow or rambler. Minneapolis cold and snow will test whatever you fasten down. Call the number on this page.