Solar in Columbus starts with hail and an inland roof, not with a picture taken from the sky. Snow slides off many slopes and lingers only on low porches that should not carry an array. It is not a lake snow load, and ice still tugs at mounts when a melt refreezes. Older streets bring tired valleys, chimney flashing, and shade from mature trees. Newer roofs may have a clearer south face and a hot attic underneath. If the shingles are failing, they come first.
Someone needs to stand on the roof. Aerial images miss soft deck and flashing that has pulled out of mortar. Ask who answers for a leak at a mount and how the array comes off when hail ends the covering. Tight older lots limit how materials reach the slope. One remaining tree on a new lot can own the southern sun. Say whether the basement electrical service is as old as the house.
Name the actual modules and inverters. One shaded corner from a street tree or a chimney is a different inland layout if the gear can isolate that corner instead of dragging down a whole string. Know who answers when it goes quiet in January. Say if the equipment should be yours. Hail often scars the garage and spares the house, and those are not the same roof.
The building permit and the utility permission to operate belong in the job. Ask who files, and what moves if hail already scarred the only clean inland slope. A bright midsummer hour is not a gray week when snow melts off and refreezes. Say that before a mount goes down. Ice leaving a valley can hit whatever sits below. Do not cover a roof you already plan to strip.
Say how old the covering is and whether the south slope is actually clear of trees. Mention hail marks you can see from the yard without climbing. An attic that bakes all summer sits under whatever you mount, and a low porch is not a spare rack. Call the number on this page.