Comparing the Best Roofing Material Options for Solar Panels

Comparing the Best Roofing Materials for Solar Panels in Texas

Not every roof is equally suited to solar, and in Texas specifically, the calculus is a little different than it is elsewhere — hail frequency, summer heat, and coastal wind all factor into which roofing material makes the most sense underneath your array. Here’s how the common options stack up.

Asphalt / Composition Shingle This is the most common roofing material in Texas by a wide margin, and it works well with solar. Installation is straightforward: mounting feet are secured to the rafters, panels are attached to the racking, and flashing seals each penetration point to keep water out. It’s typically the fastest and most economical roof type to install solar on.

The tradeoff in Texas specifically is hail exposure — asphalt shingles are the most hail-vulnerable of the common roofing materials, and Texas leads the country in hail claims. That doesn’t mean asphalt is a bad choice under solar; it’s still the dominant roof type here for good reason. It just means hail resilience is worth thinking about up front rather than after a storm. More on that below.

Metal (Standing Seam) Standing seam metal roofs are excellent for solar and increasingly popular across Texas, for reasons beyond solar compatibility. Panels typically clamp directly to the seams without any roof penetration at all, which simplifies installation and reduces labor. Metal is also non-combustible, highly wind- and hail-resistant compared to shingles, and reflects more heat than asphalt — a real advantage during Texas summers, since it can reduce attic heat gain. If you’re building new or replacing a roof anyway, standing seam is worth serious consideration for a solar-ready roof in this climate.

Tile (Concrete, Clay, or Slate) Tile is common in South and Central Texas, especially on homes with Spanish or Mediterranean-influenced architecture. Installing solar on tile requires removing tiles at each mounting point and using tile-specific flashing and hooks — more labor than asphalt or metal, and not every installer is equipped for it. It’s a process we handle regularly, and once installed, a well-executed tile installation holds up for the long haul alongside the roof itself.

Tar and Gravel / Built-Up Roofing This one’s more relevant to Texas commercial buildings than residential homes — it’s a flat or low-slope roofing system, and you’ll see it far more often on commercial rooftops than houses. Where it does apply, the flatter pitch usually requires additional racking hardware to tilt panels to an effective angle, and the built-up asphalt layers underneath provide a solid, leak-resistant base for the added hardware.

TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin) TPO has largely replaced tar-and-gravel as the go-to flat-roof membrane on newer Texas commercial buildings, and it’s increasingly showing up on modern flat-roof residential designs too. Its white, reflective surface is a real asset in Texas heat — it reflects significantly more solar radiation than dark built-up roofing, which can meaningfully reduce rooftop and interior heat gain. For solar, TPO’s biggest consideration is the membrane itself: it’s puncture-sensitive, so racking is typically ballasted (weighted down rather than penetrating the roof) or attached with membrane-compatible mounting methods designed to preserve the roof’s warranty. As with tile, this isn’t every installer’s specialty, so it’s worth confirming TPO experience specifically when getting quotes.

What to Avoid: Cedar Shake Real cedar shake shingles are fragile, prone to breaking during mounting, and a genuine fire hazard — a particularly relevant concern in Texas Hill Country and other wildfire-adjacent areas. We don’t recommend installing solar on cedar shake, and would generally steer clients toward a roof replacement first if solar is the priority.

Penetration and Leak Prevention, by Roof Type

Every mounting point on a roof is a potential leak path if it’s not handled correctly — and in practice, leaks are far more often an installation-quality problem than a material problem. Here’s how proper attachment and waterproofing actually work for each roof type:

Asphalt Shingle Mounting feet are lag-bolted into the rafters, then sealed with flashing that’s woven into the shingle courses rather than just caulked on top — the flashing goes under the shingle above the penetration and over the shingle below it, so water is shed around the mount the same way it’s shed around a vent pipe or chimney. Most quality installs also use a compressible sealing washer or butyl pad under the flashing as a secondary seal beneath the primary flashing layer. Done this way, the penetration point is arguably more weather-sealed after installation than the surrounding shingle field. [REVIEW: confirm this matches your installation team's actual flashing method/materials before publishing.]

Standing Seam Metal This is the lowest-risk option for leaks, because properly installed standing seam mounts typically involve zero roof penetration — clamps mechanically grip the vertical seam itself rather than piercing the metal panel. No holes, no flashing, no sealant dependent on aging over time. It’s a meaningful reason standing seam is often preferred specifically for solar, independent of its other Texas-climate advantages.

Tile Tile is where installation quality matters most. The mounting point requires removing a tile, installing a replacement flashing or mount specifically designed to sit under the surrounding tiles and redirect water around the penetration (rather than through it), and often a raised or elevated foot that keeps the attachment point above the water-shedding plane entirely. This is more labor-intensive and more failure-prone in inexperienced hands than asphalt or metal — most of the “solar caused my roof to leak” stories in the industry trace back to tile installs done by crews without tile-specific experience, not a flaw in tile itself. [REVIEW: confirm current tile mounting hardware/method used by your installation team.]

TPO / Membrane Roofs Two approaches here, and the better one avoids penetration altogether. Ballasted racking systems use weight (concrete blocks or similar) to hold panels in place without piercing the membrane at all — no penetration means no leak risk from the mounting itself. Where ballast isn’t structurally feasible and mechanical attachment is required, the penetration point needs a membrane-compatible boot or flashing that’s heat-welded to the TPO using the same technique roofers use to seal the membrane’s own seams, rather than a generic sealant that isn’t chemically compatible with TPO and can fail prematurely. [REVIEW: confirm current TPO attachment method and whether ballasted or mechanical is your team's default approach.]

The through-line across all of these: proper flashing and attachment technique matters more than the roofing material itself. An experienced, roof-type-specific installer is the actual variable that determines whether a solar mount stays watertight for the life of the system.

Hail: The Texas-Specific Consideration Most Guides Skip

This is worth its own section because it matters more here than almost anywhere else in the country. Texas homeowners face meaningfully higher odds of a weather-related roof claim than the national average, largely driven by hail. Tier-1 solar panels — the kind we install — are tested to withstand hail impact up to 1-inch diameter stones at roughly 50 mph, and in most hail events, the panels survive even when the shingles underneath take damage. At softball size and above, though, panel damage becomes a real possibility.

If your roof does need replacement after a storm, panels have to come off first — a process called Detach and Reinstall (D&R). It’s routine work, but it needs to be coordinated between your roofer and your solar provider rather than handled independently. We’ve written more on what that process actually involves, insurance considerations, and what to do if you’re navigating a hail claim with solar already installed: Hail Damage D&R: Solar Roof Replacement.

If you work with roofing contractors regularly and want a coordinated partner for solar D&R work, we also have a dedicated partner program for roofers.

Other Considerations

Roof angle matters as much as material. Solar panels generally perform best around a 30-degree tilt, so a sloped roof is usually preferable to flat — though flat roofs can still work with the right racking hardware. If you’re near the Gulf Coast, wind load requirements are also worth discussing with your installer, since coastal counties carry stricter wind design requirements than inland Texas.

Bottom line: asphalt, standing seam metal, tile, and TPO are all solid, common choices for solar in Texas, each with different tradeoffs around cost, hail resilience, and installation complexity. Cedar shake is the one material we’d steer you away from. If you’re planning a reroof anyway — whether from age, storm damage, or a remodel — that’s typically the best time to add solar, since your roof and your panels will be starting their service life together. [REVIEW: minor financial/practical claim — keep this framed as general guidance, not a guarantee of timeline alignment, since roof and panel lifespans vary by product and installation.]

Curious what your specific roof can support? Get a free estimate or reach out to our team — we’re brand-agnostic and equipped to install on all the roof types above, including tile.