solar installations in the storm - real world wind loading test

[Gavin A]

This storm looks like being the big first big test a lot of the solar systems installed over the last few years will face in the south at least.

I'm reasonably confident about all the systems we've installed, and most aren't really in the red zone, but I'm wondering how many of the rent a roof, squeeze the panels all the way to the edge of the roof and thrown them in 2 per day will come a cropper.

Could be some hefty warranty / insurance claims hitting come monday / tuesday, and some negative publicity potentially if there's a few come off.

If none / hardly any come off, then I'd take that as a sign that MCS should back off with their demands for wind loading assessments etc as it'd obviously be a lot less of an issue than they've been assuming.

Either way, could anyone please post up any information about any damage they know of to systems they've installed, or know of that end up getting damaged. It'd also be interesting if those who have a lot of installs in the affected areas with none damaged could post up to confirm this as well I reckon.

Main thing I'm concerned about is a roof hatch we had to widen and temp fix with 12mm ply on a commercial job recently, the new hatch was meant to have been going up today but the fabricator didn't get it finished in time.

 

[SolarCity]

I have wondering the same thing.

Of course, if some systems DO end up being damaged then this wouldn't be a surprise and wouldn't necessarily mean that they were incorrectly installed/assessed. If the wind comes as it has been predicted, structural damage is likely to occur regardless.

 

[Gavin A]

I have wondering the same thing.

Of course, if some systems DO end up being damaged then this wouldn't be a surprise and wouldn't necessarily mean that they were incorrectly installed/assessed. If the wind comes as it has been predicted, structural damage is likely to occur regardless.

it really shouldn't though to a properly built and maintained building, at least not unless it's been hit by a tree or other debris - ie I'd forgive the panels I saw had been damaged by a flying shed roof from the next door shed, which actually protected the roof below.

There's a couple in particular that I've seen up here that I'm sure at some point will rip the roof off, installed all the way to the edge of the roof on what's almost certainly 70 x 35mm trussed roof, where I'm sure the end rafter would be at least 5-600mm from the edge of the end panel / roof.... and side on at the top of a raised bit of ground meaning the wind has a clear run at them for a good few miles.

I spent a day installing on a roof below them pondering whether to knock on the door and find out if they'd strengthened the end rafter or not anything to mitigate the problem... decided it weren't my place to interfere.

 

[solarsavings]

The storms of 87 that hit London saw us earn a few quid replacing damage roof timbers on pitched and flat roofs. If the predicted storm hits with anything like that force then even the very best installers could see their installs leaving the building. I shall be puckered up until it passes.

 

[Worcester]

We've got one right out on the East coast well exposed, always has me concerned, 'til I remember it's my clients problem (Kindoff)

This site is well exposed, flat roof, no edge protection / no parapet , sloping 6 degrees into the wind, ballasted only..... keep imagining them flying like kites! - We had the mounting system manufacturer out there about 4 weeks ago and he was more than happy with the way we had installed, and was confident his 120mph wind tunnel testing would mean they'd be ok - Even so we put some extra ballast on the leading edge

Having said that they did have a bunch of strong winds back in April this year and they were fine after that without the additional ballast.

Only thinking about it once an hour at the moment

 

[whinmoor]

I've written Monday and Tuesday off as paperwork days. It will be interesting to see if there's any damage and how extensive. I'm pretty confident about our installs except for one ground-mounted one which could get hit by a falling tree or other random debris.

 

[SolarCity]

Surely it depends how heavy the winds are? Buildings aren't designed to withstand hurricanes.

 

[Worcester]

Surely it depends how heavy the winds are? Buildings aren't designed to withstand hurricanes.

Of course it does / they aren't/

Even so, if the only damage was 'your' panels blown off (by which I mean ones that you installed), surely like us, you'd feel some kind of responsibility even if it clearly isn't your fault. And so would attend to assist with the repairs... I know we would, even if obnly to give a structural / damage assessment report.


Meantime, I slept well and the wind woke my missus up

And according to Sunny Portal, all our sites are quite happily generating OK this morning The benefit of remote monitoring.

 

[whinmoor]

First casualty: a wind turbine in Devon:

UK weather: South coast is lashed by 25ft waves ahead of St Jude's storm | Mail Online

 

[solarsavings]

Spent the night waiting for the storm to arrive and nothing...............................until now. It's a little windy but absolutely lashing it down with the road outside looking like a river. I've been thinking of the jobs we've done over the last few years and only one has me a a little twitchy. It's a Hilti plain tile hook job, those hooks just flex far too much and despite having fitted extra hooks I was never happy with it.

 

[JulianC]

Oh Christ, the devastation. I think my watering can's blown over. :uhoh2:

I think we're getting off very lightly here. Still an amber warning but the local forecast has been continually downgraded since yesterday afternoon, to the point that 27mph gusts around noon is all we can expect. Yesterday was far worse.

 

[SolarCity]

Yeah, looks like we missed out here too.

The one install I keep thinking of is one on a hillside facing the Atlantic on the west coast of Cornwall. We installed a roof hook on every rafter and had a struct. report on the roof but it is just so exposed.

 

[Worcester]

50mm of rain overnight here, roads a little damp #understatement (we're used to it ) seems the wind stayed further south.

 

[Gavin A]

I was on a roof all day and barely felt any breeze, never mind a gale.

 

[Worcester]

It's all the hot air that comes for oop norf, see kept it down on the south coast

 

[Gavin A]

It's all the hot air that comes for oop norf, see kept it down on the south coast

well, I was in my tee shirt till after it got dark, so could be some truth in that.

In other news, we've been doing a stupidly hard slate roof job today, 3/4 using hanger bolts, 1/4 using genius roof solutions on a section of roof that was plastered to the rafters..... muppets who fitted that bit of the slate roof had used slates too big for the spacings on the latts, so ended up with 4 nails per slate, and yes I mean nails (as in 2 inch nails), with the nail from the slate above also being nailed through the slate below.

One man, 3 brackets in that roof in 6 hours with 4 broken slates, despite sharpening the ripper on site.

vs me with the hanger bolts got 24 bolts fitted with no broken slates despite having to stand on the lower bolts to work on the upper bolts.

MCS can **** right off if they think we'll be switching to their preferred method for retrofit slate jobs - which we get a lot of.

 

[solarsavings]

Beware the spies:rolleyes4:

 

[Gavin A]

one of our competitors has already shopped us to Napit via their forums on this anyway, to which I've responded and heard nowt from NAPIT about so far. So I think that particular cat is out of the bag.

Part of the reason we have PI insurance is to give us a degree of clout legally if any of these bodies did decide to take action against us for not obeying one of their ill conceived edicts. At least we'd maybe get to see the evidence base for their policy, or lack of it.

 

[Worcester]

Remember that MCS is a GUIDANCE document in the same way that BS7671 is, i.e there are occasions when another solution is better / more suitable.

We're in the Sun Lounge here, so should be a (friendly) closed shop..

So long as you have adequate PI insurance then it really shouldn't be an issue.