4 ms·
Structural design issues are the problem as other comments note. If you haven't designed the roof from the beginning to have a fairly weighty additional struct
by photochemsyn 4y ago
Structural design issues are the problem as other comments note. If you haven't designed the roof from the beginning to have a fairly weighty additional structure attached on top, then all kinds of other problems can arise, from leaks to wind-related loads and so on.
Over the long term, it becomes something building codes need to implement, similar to electrical wiring and plumbing standards:
https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/blog/posts/solar-ready-building-design-a-summary-of-technical-considerations.html https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/blog/posts/solar-rea...
- toomuchtodo 4y agoNJ has code that requires structural loading on new warehouses to be able to support solar on 40% of the roof. It’s just a matter of getting this into code as soon as possible, so new buildings are solar ready as old warehouse space is eventually retired at EOL. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-jersey-solar-ready-requirement-7293168/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-jersey-solar-ready-req...
- cagenut 4y agowow thanks for sharing that link, what a fantastic policy.
- SoftTalker 4y agoYes, and in areas that get snow the roof would need to be strong enough to support the max snow weight plus the weight of the solar gear. I don’t know how much safety factor most buildings have, but many might require additional reinforcement. I know of a city building here where they wanted to install solar and as they got into it realized they would need to hire a steel company to come in and reinforce all the steel roof trusses. That was custom work with welders up on scaffolds and a lot of other work to remove lighting and other fixtures to give them access (and then reinstall it all afterwards). They went ahead with it but with the extra expense it will never be paid back in electrical savings.