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Posted by Dioclese on July 10, 2009, 8:41 am
I've been checking into solar panel installations. Apparently, in the long
run of time, it may be more prudent to have a building or other structure to
hold the solar panels etc. Especially if you have composition shingles that
need more frequent replacement on the home or garage roof. The solar panels
have to come off and reinstalled for that. And, of course, coordinated with
the roofer to minimize downtime of the solar energy system.
The optimum roof angle for such is approximately 7 on 12 in my area of the
woods, and facing south of course. I was thinking of a semi-closed carport
design to allow more usage of the structure. Its susceptibility to
potential winds is my primary concern for the structure. There is no
mandatory building code in my area, current IRC is recommended by most
custom builders here and utilized.
Should I try to locate a steel building maker for such, or attempt a steel
column/wood remainder structure?
The roof material would be a seamless steel roof.
Any ideas out there?
--
Dave
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Posted by PeterD on July 10, 2009, 9:49 am
On Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:41:22 -0500, "Dioclese" <NONE> wrote:
>I've been checking into solar panel installations. Apparently, in the long
>run of time, it may be more prudent to have a building or other structure to
>hold the solar panels etc. Especially if you have composition shingles that
>need more frequent replacement on the home or garage roof. The solar panels
>have to come off and reinstalled for that. And, of course, coordinated with
>the roofer to minimize downtime of the solar energy system.
Takes two days to do a room typically, not much down time, considering
it is about every 15 to 20 years.
>The optimum roof angle for such is approximately 7 on 12 in my area of the
>woods, and facing south of course. I was thinking of a semi-closed carport
>design to allow more usage of the structure. Its susceptibility to
>potential winds is my primary concern for the structure. There is no
>mandatory building code in my area, current IRC is recommended by most
>custom builders here and utilized.
>Should I try to locate a steel building maker for such,
I have a steel garage (big...) and I know they will make any pitch
roof you want. Mine is a 2/12, but that's what I wanted.
>or attempt a steel
>column/wood remainder structure?
I don't like mixed steel/wood. But others do.
>The roof material would be a seamless steel roof.
>Any ideas out there?
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Posted by RicodJour on July 10, 2009, 10:20 am
On Jul 10, 8:41=A0am, "Dioclese" <NONE> wrote:
> I've been checking into solar panel installations. =A0Apparently, in the =
long
> run of time, it may be more prudent to have a building or other structure=
to
> hold the solar panels etc. =A0Especially if you have composition shingles=
that
> need more frequent replacement on the home or garage roof. =A0The solar p=
anels
> have to come off and reinstalled for that. =A0And, of course, coordinated=
with
> the roofer to minimize downtime of the solar energy system.
> The optimum roof angle for such is approximately 7 on 12 in my area of th=
e
> woods, and facing south of course. =A0I was thinking of a semi-closed car=
port
> design to allow more usage of the structure. =A0Its susceptibility to
> potential winds is my primary concern for the structure. =A0There is no
> mandatory building code in my area, =A0current IRC is recommended by most
> custom builders here and utilized.
> Should I try to locate a steel building maker for such, or attempt a stee=
l
> column/wood remainder structure?
> The roof material would be a seamless steel roof.
> Any ideas out there?
I can't see how the separate structure would be an improvement. Roof
before you do the solar installation and you'll get 20 or 30 years
easy before you have to worry about reroofing. You'll be replacing
the solar panels before the roof.
Presumably your house can already take the wind and snow loads, and
the solar panels won't likely exceed the load capacity. Whatever
money you spend upfront on a separate structure would, with interest,
more than cover whatever additional work was required when reroofing.
R
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Posted by Dioclese on July 11, 2009, 9:25 am
On Jul 10, 8:41 am, "Dioclese" <NONE> wrote:
> I've been checking into solar panel installations. Apparently, in the long
> run of time, it may be more prudent to have a building or other structure
> to
> hold the solar panels etc. Especially if you have composition shingles
> that
> need more frequent replacement on the home or garage roof. The solar
> panels
> have to come off and reinstalled for that. And, of course, coordinated
> with
> the roofer to minimize downtime of the solar energy system.
> The optimum roof angle for such is approximately 7 on 12 in my area of the
> woods, and facing south of course. I was thinking of a semi-closed carport
> design to allow more usage of the structure. Its susceptibility to
> potential winds is my primary concern for the structure. There is no
> mandatory building code in my area, current IRC is recommended by most
> custom builders here and utilized.
> Should I try to locate a steel building maker for such, or attempt a steel
> column/wood remainder structure?
> The roof material would be a seamless steel roof.
> Any ideas out there?
I can't see how the separate structure would be an improvement. Roof
before you do the solar installation and you'll get 20 or 30 years
easy before you have to worry about reroofing. You'll be replacing
the solar panels before the roof.
Presumably your house can already take the wind and snow loads, and
the solar panels won't likely exceed the load capacity. Whatever
money you spend upfront on a separate structure would, with interest,
more than cover whatever additional work was required when reroofing.
R
-----------
Everytime I check into a solar energy installation for my home, the costs
continue to pile up, if I want to do it in a long term, prudent manner.
You're right, installing a steel seamless roof now would give me more
substantial time before replacement. Its got 4 year old composition
shingles now. Esitmated life of the specific solar panels intended for
installation are 30-40 years.
It would be nice to have carport though, the garage used storage space has
pushed my car out of the garage. Just need to get the car out the central
Texas sun. Think you see where I'm coming from now. Snow load is not
problem here, no appreciable snow. Not sure about wind load. House and
detached garage have seen max 80 mph gusts to date. Another detriment to
using a separate structure for the solar panels is a power loss. This
occurs due to the distance from the anticipated structure to the point of
entry for electrical connection at the house. Or, so said the on-site
evaluator for a solar system for my home. He used no specific or general
numbers of that loss though.
--
Dave
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Posted by Dave in Houston on July 13, 2009, 8:53 am
On Jul 10, 8:41 am, "Dioclese" <NONE> wrote:
> The optimum roof angle for such is approximately 7 on 12 in my area of the
> woods, and facing south of course. I was thinking of a semi-closed carport
> design to allow more usage of the structure. Its susceptibility to
> potential winds is my primary concern for the structure. There is no
> mandatory building code in my area, current IRC is recommended by most
> custom builders here and utilized.
Presumably, the panels can be installed at the optimum angle to the sun
regardless of your roff pitch. No?
Dave in Houston
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