Book Description

NOTE: THIS IS A DOWNLOAD - FOLLOW THIS LINK TO PURCHASE THE PAPER VERSION.

Roof-mounted solar systems – solar thermal (ST) and photovoltaic (PV) – have seen a surge in popularity driven by the Feed-in Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive schemes and the rising cost of energy from other sources. These systems must be designed and installed to withstand the maximum wind loads expected during their lifetime. There are no British or European Standards that give specific guidance on wind loads on these systems and the guidance that is available is limited. The first edition of this Digest, published in 2004, presented the best information available at the time for a limited range of integrated and above-roof types of roof-mounted PV systems. However, since then there has been a considerable expansion in solar system installations in the UK and worldwide. This has led to the development of a range of installation configurations that were uncommon or not available in 2004 but are now being used more frequently. This Digest has been revised and expanded to include wind loading guidance for a wider range of roof-mounted solar installations and example calculations, and is now applicable to both PV and ST systems. It includes guidance for installers, designers and manufacturers of such systems, as well as local authorities, architects and specifiers, on the wind loads to be used for the design of roof-mounted solar systems in the UK based on the Eurocode for wind actions (BS EN 1991-1-4:2005) and the UK National Annex. This Digest replaces the guidance published in 2004.

Contents:
Wind loads-Determining the design wind load
Simplified method for determining peak velocity wind pressure, qpPressure coefficients
-i) Roof-integrated nominally airtight modules on a pitched roof
-ii) Roof-integrated small-format modules installed in a tiled or slated pitched roof
-iii) Non-integrated modules installed above a pitched roof on an integrated undertray
-iv) Non-integrated modules installed above a pitched roof parallel to the roof surface
-v) Non-integrated modules installed above a pitched roof not parallel to the roof surface
-vi) Non-integrated modules installed above a pitched roof protruding above the ridge line
-vii) Evacuated tube collectors installed on flat or pitched roofs
-viii) Non-integrated modules installed above a flat roof parallel to the roof surface
-ix) Roof-integrated modules installed on a flat roof
-x) Non-integrated modules installed above a flat roof at an angle to the roof surface
Designing free-standing solar systems on flat roofs to resist uplift, overturning and sliding
Fixing solar modules to the roof structure
Example calculations
References