My Mom recently downsized to a new patio home. We need a new roof. The previous owners had solar panels installed. The pics below show the tie in to house main. There is a master switch it would seem to disconnect the solar system from the main. There are all kinds of warnings on this box so I am loath to do anything until I understand what I have here. Can I just move this damn switch pictures below to off and remove the panels?

The IDEAL solution would be coming from a Roofing company that also installs Solar systems on top. This all-in-one service would be safest & possibly least costly, all within a safety net most of us are not qualified to provide.

IMHO, I judge this project outside the DIY scope. Moving, upgrading roofing & solar can be on the scope of work table for others. Because getting solar out of the way of new roofing is so expensive, it may explain sale of the house to avoid such and also bring to mind a new forever roof material ... perhaps metal .... to avoid the solar move expense once again.

Unless the energy bills suggest otherwise, I would be tempted to sell the removed-by-others solar system to free your mom of such maintenance (& chemicals inside them should they leak via hail/other), install an energy-friendly forever metal roof for her and sleep well for years ahead.

How can it be a rapid shutdown switch and say do not disconnect under load at the same time? I'm not an electrician but I've had to throw a few 480v disconnects while they were pushing 280amps and it didn't hurt anything.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe it's warning you not to disconnect the wires inside while it's under load vs throwing the disconnect while it's under load like it reads to me.

Remember, solar panels produce DC, not AC. Disconnecting DC under load creates very powerful arcs...enough to melt connectors and such.

So, after researching, evidently this switch is for emergency shutdown if firefighters or other folks need to go onto the roof and work in rapid response situations (say maybe a tree falls onto the roof during a storm). The switch is fused to prevent over arching.

What's in the box upstream of the disconnect switch?
I have a small DIY system on my roof and each panel has a microinverter under it. So current is AC coming off the roof. If isolated from grid they stop producing.
I guess that box upstream of the disconnect is your inverter. So upstream of that it is DC.
In any case you can look under your panels and will probably find they are connected with MC4 plugs. You can disconnect them and remove the panels. Isolate from grid with the disconnect switch first.
You have to squeeze a couple of little clips on the MC4 plugs to disconnect them. They make a tool but you can do it with fingers.

your insurance should pay for removal/reinstall of solar when you get a new roof.

Or is this not an insurance claim?

Hell ya.