PV Panel Calculations for Healthcare Centre Roof
Brief: Our client was installing PV panels on the roof of a GP surgery and needed a structural report.
Property: Two-storey purpose built healthcare centre.
Instructed by: Renewable energy firm.
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Project specification
- We were asked to carry out an assessment of the existing roof structure to assess its capacity to support additional loads, due to a proposed photovoltaic (PV) panel installation on the roof.
- The load assessments consider the weight of the proposed PV system, together with specific wind loads at roof level.
Our assessment
We visited the site to inspect the roof structure and review existing structural drawings.
- 71 PV panels were to be installed on a flat roof spanning the majority of the building.
- The building was predominately of recent construction, having been completed in 2016 / 2017.
- It was a two storey health centre with a double height reception and wating area, GP and
Practice Nurse rooms at ground floor. At first floor were offices, meeting rooms, further
consultation rooms and ancillary spaces. - The building comprised load-bearing masonry construction together with localised areas of steelwork.
- At roof level the structure comprised engineered timber joists spanning between blockwork walls or steel beams.
- We calculated:
- dead loading of the roof
- site specific uniform snow load
- wind loads and dynamic pressures
- percentage increase in roof loading due to PV installation.
- Given the nature of the load increase, we also assessed the increased loading on individual elements of the roof structure, including the timber roof joists and steel beams.
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