496 photovoltaic panels, a capacity of 164 kWp and four 17-story buildings in Poznan, the capital of Wielkopolska region. These were the specifications of the latest solar project of IBC SOLAR in Poland. Together with one of our Premium Partners, a complex PV installation was installed on the roofs of four 17-story buildings of the Poznan Housing Cooperative Winogrady. Another positive step for solar energy in Poland. (more…)
Module damage on the roof is unquestionably annoying and can quickly become stressful. It is small consolation when the product guarantees are still effective and one can in theory call the manufacturers to get everything done. It actually sounds pretty simple. Unfortunately, practice shows that the manufacturers of the various components sometimes do not agree which guarantees should apply to which product. Discussions are inevitable in these situations. The new combation warranty from IBC SOLAR provides a remedy here and allows stress-free processing in the event of damage. (more…)
I will never forget my father´s face when my sister-in-law walked across his newly laid parquet flooring with spiked heels on …This funny example reminds me of, how “not so funny” and also how important sufficient area is for the distribution of relative loads. Because the same situation also applies to PV systems on flat roofs as in these situations, heavy loads can play a role, too. Either caused by snow loads, e.g. in Scandinavia or in the Alps, or by high ballasting weight. As a Certified Surveyor for Photovoltaic Systems, I see more and more cases where installers are confronted with building insurance claims for damaged roof coverings caused by heavy loads. In the case of a commercial sized roof, the resulting claims against the installer can easily get up to a six-digit number of value. (more…)
In recent years a series of storms have swept across Europe. The list comprises some prominent storms in Germany like hurricane Niklas (2015), storm Xavier (2017), hurricane Friederike (2018), hurricane Sabine, and storm Victoria (both in 2020). During the last hurricane named Sabine, winds reached speeds of up to 177 km/h. Even in the lowlands, speeds of around 150 km/h could still be measured. This is a good enough reason for us to take a closer look at the calculation of PV systems. Because one thing is for certain – there will be more hurricanes on the way!
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In the flat roof sector, aerodynamic mounting systems have evolved, especially for foil, bitumen, green and gravel roofs. The reason for this success is the simple assembly compared to other systems, as normally no roof penetrations have to be made and better load values are achieved through the aerodynamics. Instead, ballast is only applied depending on the project. In this context, the so-called static friction coefficient between the bracket and the roof cladding plays an important role in all aerodynamic systems on the market, for example in our IBC AeroFix and IBC AeroFlat systems, because it strongly influences the ballast. How this is determined exactly and what needs to be taken into account is explained in more detail below. (more…)