O
ohmy
Sorry if this is out of place here... But any advice from real world experience would help.
Rather than designing PV system using off the shelf mounting systems like Consoles for example where the ballast requirements can easly be ascertained from the installation manual, I'd like to explore the possibilities of designing bespoke frames and then calculating the ballast requirements accordingly.
I'm a qualified PV installer and have been designing PV for over about 18 months now and have always used off the shelf mounting systems up to now. I have recently done some windloading calcs using the BRE digest 489 for bespoke frames. At first sight the digest was a daunting piece of reading but I have finally got my head round it all with a bit of perseverance.
My question is: Am I allowed to do these calculations and apply them to the frames I design? As I'm not a structural engineer does it matter? I err on the cautious side for the values of altitude, building height, topography etc... So I'm pretty sure that the result I get for the ballast requirements is a conservative one.
As far as I see it, so long as the roof is able to withstand the downward windloading force including the system weight, then I'm ok??? (the maximum force the roof can withstand will be specified by either a structural engineer or architect, in all cases).
Obviously I don't want to find myself in pickle over the fact that I am not qualified to do these calcs, if that is the case.
So is it acceptable if I gave the resulting total system weight (with drawings) to the architect or structural engineer, and asked them to verify that the roof can withstand the windloading forces? assume my calcs are correct...
Cheers, in advance... ohmy
Rather than designing PV system using off the shelf mounting systems like Consoles for example where the ballast requirements can easly be ascertained from the installation manual, I'd like to explore the possibilities of designing bespoke frames and then calculating the ballast requirements accordingly.
I'm a qualified PV installer and have been designing PV for over about 18 months now and have always used off the shelf mounting systems up to now. I have recently done some windloading calcs using the BRE digest 489 for bespoke frames. At first sight the digest was a daunting piece of reading but I have finally got my head round it all with a bit of perseverance.
My question is: Am I allowed to do these calculations and apply them to the frames I design? As I'm not a structural engineer does it matter? I err on the cautious side for the values of altitude, building height, topography etc... So I'm pretty sure that the result I get for the ballast requirements is a conservative one.
As far as I see it, so long as the roof is able to withstand the downward windloading force including the system weight, then I'm ok??? (the maximum force the roof can withstand will be specified by either a structural engineer or architect, in all cases).
Obviously I don't want to find myself in pickle over the fact that I am not qualified to do these calcs, if that is the case.
So is it acceptable if I gave the resulting total system weight (with drawings) to the architect or structural engineer, and asked them to verify that the roof can withstand the windloading forces? assume my calcs are correct...
Cheers, in advance... ohmy
