×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Contact US

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

(OP)
Refer back to old thread179-260442: Roof Live Loads & Equipment.  If large area of existing engineered building roof is being covered with light weight solar collector panesl (@ 4 psf) is is reasonable to perform calculations with using roof live load of zero for this area and replace it with additional dead load from solar panels?  Stated further, for a preengineered metal building, is it reasonable to state the building can safely accept additional dead loads from adding roof mounted flat solar panels as long as the weight psf for the solar panels is less than the orignal design roof live load?  Thanks.

RE: Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

(OP)
That's a typo - should be Roof "Live" Load, not "Life" Load

RE: Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

I think that is reasonable for one of the load cases.

However, I would still include the full live load without the solar panels as another load case as they still have to be erected and maintained.  


Elements of one or the other will govern in different locations, or they may not based on other combinations.

I assume that you do not have to deal with snow loads?

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto:  KISS
Motivation:  Don't ask

RE: Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

(OP)
The ground snow load in our area is 20psf, with a roof snow load of 12.6 for exposure B.  

I guess what I was really asking for was an opinion regarding the example for an an existing pre-engineered building already designed and constructed for DL, LLr, and SL, would any further calculations be needed to conclude the roof's capacity to carry the loads from adding solar panels, as long as the solar panel weight is less than the roof live load used in the original building engineering.    

RE: Eliminate Roof Life Load due to spansive solar collectors on roof?

I don't think you can simply negate roof live load just because there are solar panels on it.  

I understand that there won't necessarily be people walking over these panels, but there still needs to be some level of capacity above the base dead load to ensure a safe roof.

One thought would be to try to sell your idea to the local building official.  They would have to approve the idea of having the solar panels "steal" roof live load capacity.

 

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members! Already a Member? Login


Resources

Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds
Learn methods and guidelines for using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printed molds in the injection molding process to lower costs and lead time. Discover how this hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small batches of thermoplastic parts. Download Now
Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)
Examine how the principles of DfAM upend many of the long-standing rules around manufacturability - allowing engineers and designers to place a part’s function at the center of their design considerations. Download Now
Taking Control of Engineering Documents
This ebook covers tips for creating and managing workflows, security best practices and protection of intellectual property, Cloud vs. on-premise software solutions, CAD file management, compliance, and more. Download Now

Close Box

Join Eng-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Eng-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close