Solar in Providence starts with a roof that already survives bay wind, wet snow, and tight shade. Triple-deckers stand close. A College Hill slope can be bright at noon and shadowed by the hill, a tree, or the next roof soon after. Flat mill roofs in Olneyville are a different mount from asphalt on a house in Elmwood. Salt air toward the water is hard on hardware. Say the neighborhood and the roof before anything else.
A soft deck, a ponding flat roof, or flashing that already failed in the last nor'easter is a reason to fix the roof first. New holes in a tired membrane become the next leak path when rain is driven uphill. Snow here is wet and then it slides onto a lower porch or a walk. Attachments have to live with uplift. None of that is a forecast of output, and a phone call should not pretend it is.
Panels and wiring meet old electrical gear. A full box in a damp basement, service split by floor, and a meter behind a later addition are common. Slate on an East Side roof is not a casual place to drill. Street fronts on older blocks raise a visibility question. Access is often a narrow yard with no driveway, so the path for materials is part of the plan. Mention a roof deck if people walk the same surface.
Shade you will not cut, including a tree the block cares about, belongs in the first conversation. So does a roof near the end of its life. Ask how each mount is flashed against wind-driven rain, not against a calm sunny day. A finished attic under the boards changes how the work is reached. Say what the top floor actually is.
Call with the exposure, the material, and what shades the roof. Mention slate, rubber, or a deck if that is the surface. Ask about structure and about the next coastal storm at those holes. Do not expect a production promise. Call the number on this page.