Do you think that they build roofs that can’t support people walking on them?
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paranoia@feddit.dk 1 week agoThe structure for solar panels is much heavier than for pure sunshade, as a person will have to walk on it to install and maintain the panels. You also have to deal with the associated health and safety regulations for working at height and live electricity, as well as probably pay more for insurance since there is an increased risk of fire.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 week ago
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 week ago
They don’t build parking shade roofs to support the weight of being covered in panels, though. That has to be planned for. A typical panel that’s around five and a half foot by a bit less than 3 and a half foot weighs around forty pounds. Having like two of those on your covered spot at your house would probably hold fine. But to a large parking area will add a huge amount of weight.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Shade canopies or awnings…but yea solar is heavy.
paranoia@feddit.dk 1 week ago
Yeah, I do, and I have good reason to, because I am a structural engineer and have designed them myself on occasion. A lot of these canopies over car and bike shelters are just a sheet of plexiglass.
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Where are you designing these that they don’t need to support hundreds of pounds of snow or rain, or stand up to hail?
paranoia@feddit.dk 1 week ago
Northern/Western Europe.
Hail bounces off, rain flows off. For a very light duty structure like a smoking shelter, bike shelter or trolley corral, they sometimes have a curved plexiglass roof that snow can just fall off or be blown off. A person is a much more intense load than snow (a person’s whole weight can be on one foot). The frame might take it, but the cladding may not.
Usually they are just a product off the shelf.
grue@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yes, when they’re called “awnings.”
SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Which isn’t really a roof, it’s just a cover.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 week ago
Yes. It doesn’t need to be 1 contiguous roof, gaps big enough to fit a ladder are ideal.
spoiler
SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 week ago
That’s more of an awning than a roof though. Plus that picture shows that this was specifically designed with the panels. As those are just straight solar panels and not roofing that’s had solar installed to it.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 week ago
Awnings are fabric lol. This is a roof made with solar panels, a solar roof.
prettybunnys@piefed.social 1 week ago
Why 1 purpose when 2 purpose possible?
Fuck cars, sure, but solar panels on roofing is smart.