Solar Panel Live Load

Therefore a typical roof with 24 inch rafter spacing and rafters that weight 2 plf would have a dead load of 10 x 24 12 2 22 plf before the solar equipment was added.

Solar panel live load.

For a 16 foot rafter this then results in a 352 lbs. A solar panel roof load calculator helps you to establish the size and the weight of the solar panels that your roof can accommodate. The loads imposed by the new pv system on the existing roof framing shall include all appropriate loads and load combinations of ibc section 1605 except that roof live loads need not be applied to the existing roof area covered by a new pv panel when the clear vertical dimension between the panel and the existing roof surface is 24 inches. Combined point loads not to exceed 200 lbs.

Solar photovoltaic panels or modules that are designed to be the roof span to structural supports and have accessible occupied space underneath shall have the panels or modules and all supporting structures designed to support a roof photovoltaic live load as defined in section 1607 13 5 1 in combination with other applicable loads. When you want to install solar panels it is vital to understand certain features of the roof and the solar panels. For example asce 7 16 now clearly states that the weight of solar panels and their support are to be considered as dead loads 1 roof live loads need not be applied to areas covered by solar panels under a certain spacing or height 2 and seismic design is based on already established principles in section 13 3 for non structural component. Solar array weight and loading calculation worksheet.

Distributed load max. This is to account for the weight of people walking around on top of it. At any one member 5. However load from solar panels must be considered point loads not uniform since weight of panels is distributed to individual base mounts.

Every building built in the last 50 years has had a live load of 10 pounds per square foot designed into it. Solar panel area length x width 8. Allowable distributed load si 5 lbs. Using these figures it s possible to estimate that it takes about 1 pound of steel per square foot to support every 10 pounds of design roof load per square foot.

Typical value is 3 pounds per square foot psf. For a roof live load or snow load in some areas of the country it s a sum of approximately 30 pounds per square foot.