Just to clarify what is and isn't law in California: the final draft guidelines developed and adopted by Cal Fire<http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/pdf/reports/solarphotovoltaicguideline.pdf>are guidelines, not law, unless the local fire/AHJ has adopted them or parts of them into local ordinances. I have heard that in Southern Cal, those guidelines have been adopted all over the place already, but not so in the rest of the state.... yet. I think the guideline was officially incorporated into the next NEC/NFPA cycle, so it will be law pretty soon. Bill Brooks could probably confirm here on future adoption. Not that any of this helps your Atlanta install....
-Phil Boutelle Real Goods Solar On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Max Balchowsky <m...@seesolar.com> wrote: > Mick, here in California the fire department in the various agencies has > the final say on clearances. There is a very clear cut standard in place for > the state, but we have been successful a few times in getting allowances to > vary due to various site conditions. A call to the local AHJ is the place to > start. In the early days of our installations (mid 1990's) we used power > strut and bolted panels directly to the rails. A lot slower but no gaps > between panels. We went from there to designing our own "T" clamps. There > wasn't as many choices then for mounting hardware. > > Max Balchowsky > Design Engineer > SEE Systems > 1048 Irvine Ave Suite 217 > Newport Beach, Ca. 92660 > 760-403-6810 > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Brian Teitelbaum <bteitelb...@aeesolar.com> > *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > *Sent:* Wed, August 25, 2010 11:40:04 AM > *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Tight roof layout questions: edge walkway > requirements & "small gap" hardware options > > Hi Mick, > > > > To answer part of your post, the DPW Power Rail mid-clamps give you a 3/8” > gap between modules, and the SnapNrack mids give you a 1/2" gap. > > > > I doubt if that will give you much of a walkway though…. > > > > Brian Teitelbaum > > AEE Solar > > > > > > *From:* re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto: > re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On Behalf Of *Mick Abraham > *Sent:* Wednesday, August 25, 2010 11:09 AM > *To:* RE-wrenches > *Subject:* [RE-wrenches] Tight roof layout questions: edge walkway > requirements & "small gap" hardware options > > > > Hello, Team~ > > > > I'm laying out some Sanyo modules on paper. Twelve of them fit the roof > with almost too much perfection: this would be difficult to install as it > would fill the roof "edge to edge" in both directions. Are there consistent > guidelines about the amount of roof edge which must remain uncluttered or is > this mainly driven by the amount of aggravation that the installer is > willing to tolerate? Which organizations would want to influence such > decisions in the Atlanta region? Details are: residential, new construction, > wooden truss type roof framing, finish roofing yet to be decided. > > > > I've seen fancy photos of rooftops which are covered edge to edge, but I > suppose those are "building integrated" PV systems instead of discrete > modules mounted above the roofing material. Who decides if those are "OK' > for no walkways compared to a roof that is fully loaded with Sanyo type > modules? How are such decisions made? > > > > I like the "top clamp" style mounts but UniRac SolarMount rail systems need > about a 1" gap from one module to the next. Is there anyone with similar > hardware that can get a grip within a smaller gap? > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > Mick Abraham, Proprietor > www.abrahamsolar.com > > Voice: 970-731-4675 > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Options & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > >
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