Keys to Protecting your Investment: Structural Engineering
Structural Engineering
The Sunly Advantage
There are a lot of benefits to installing solar panels on the roofs of buildings. Primarily they generate clean, emission free electricity on an area that is typically uninhabitable or usable for other purposes. Additionally, they provide a layer of protection over the roof that protects them from wear and reduce the therma gains from the sun. But when panels are installed on the roof, they add significant weight to the structure, or what engineers call Dead Load. This additional weight sits on the roof 24/7 all year round.
The vast majority of houses and occupied buildings in Canada are built per a design that has been structurally engineered and meets building codes. This is done to ensure that they don’t collapse and hurt anyone.
When an architect or structural engineer prepares a design for a structure, they perform some complex calculations to determine how much weight the roof and walls need to withstand in order for the overall structure to be stable in different conditions. The following are examples of the various loads and factors that an engineer includes in their calculations.
Dead Loads
This includes the weight of the building materials and other stationary objects that don’t move or change.
Live Loads
These are things that potentially move around, like people, vehicles, furniture, etc.
Wind Loads
As the name suggests, this is how much force the wind will place on the structure. The higher the wind speed, the larger the force. This force is complex because not only is there a positive force on the side the wind is coming from, but there is a negative force due to the reduced pressure on the opposite side of the structure. The Wind Load used in the calculations are determined by local building codes and/or weather data.
Snow Loads
Again, as the name suggests, this is the weight of the accumulated snow on the structure. This value is also determined by local building codes and/or weather data. When calculating the Snow Load, the engineer needs to account for the fact that snow does not necessarily accumulate uniformly on the roof. The wind moves the snow and can build drifts on certain parts of the roof. This imposes an asymmetrical load on the structure.
Vibrational Loads
These include something like an earthquake, that shakes the structure. This is more for how things are interconnected.
Built into these calculations is a Safety Factor. This is a number that ensures that the design can withstand more than the bare minimum. This is to account for variations in the building materials, site conditions and construction errors. If the engineer uses a very high Safety Factor, then the cost of construction increases. Therefore, the engineer needs to optimize this factor for safety and cost.
What does all this have to do with solar panels on the roof of a building? Well, unless your house or building was designed with solar panels in mind, then the weight of a system was never factored into the engineers original calculations and design. Installing the solar panels without reviewing the structure will risk catastrophic failure. The last thing anyone wants is for solar power to kill anyone or damage property.
This is why Sunly feels that performing a detailed structural analysis by a qualified Structural Engineer is not just important, but mandatory for every project we do. We want to ensure that your home or structures lasts as long as the solar power system on it. Therefore, we encourage you to confirm that any solar company you are talking to will have a Structural Engineer review and sign off on the design before you install the system.
Given our years of experience and 1,000’s of installs we have come to learn over time that simply showing up to do an install is not enough! Preplanning and having a qualified engineer assess the structure is a key to protecting your investment and providing you peace of mind. At Sunly we aim to set the highest standards on our installations. We take pride in our processes and techniques to ensure the best possible solution is provided to you.
Every project we complete comes with the Sunly Advantage:
Structural Engineering
Ensuring your roof with panels is safe under any predictable load condition (like excessive snow).
An enhanced leak protection system
A guard of meshing around your entire system to ensure nothing can get under and damage your system.
Interested in finding out more about the Sunly Advantage? Get a free solar assessment personalized for your roof here