Solar in Portland has to start with a roof that can carry the array, and a lot of these roofs are mossy, shaded by firs, and tired. West-hills slopes take wind-driven rain at every penetration. East-side roofs see a little more sun and still grow moss where a tree keeps them wet. The visit is the covering, the rafters, and the service.
Do not set rails on a soft deck or across a valley that already dams with needles. Finish the covering first or the feet become an obstacle on the day the leak wins. Ask how the mounts are flashed for months of rain, not for a dry sketch. Older bungalow rafters are not a modern truss, and someone has to see whether they can carry the array. Say which roof you have.
Ask who owns the panels and who gets called when an inverter goes quiet. Name the modules and the inverter before the layout is treated as settled. Put the gear where you can reach it in the wet season, not in a crawl you already avoid. Shade from a fir or a neighbor gable still counts on a bright day. If those answers are fuzzy, do not let a patch of sky become the scope. Say what the electrical panel can already accept.
Wet penetrations and a mossed field are reasons to talk about flashing, glass, and whether the framing can carry the load. They are not reasons to skip the roof. If a roof claim is open, finish that covering before any attachment. A foot flashed in a hurry will be a leak with hardware on it. You want the load path named and a person to call when the inverter sits quiet. Do not pierce a deck you already distrust.
Say the part of Portland, whether the roof is mossed or soft, and whether firs own the sun. Mention who owns the equipment if it is already up. If the covering needs work, that is the first call. The array does not get a vote until the roof can carry it. Call the number on this page.