Solar canopies turn flat city rooftops into multi-use home power plants
Flat roofs are traditionally sites for sprawling, low-built solar arrays meant to maximize energy output within the building’s footprint. However, some flat roofs may be better suited to smaller solar canopies that act as elevated shade structures on shared rooftops.
A solar canopy project built on a residential building in Philadelphia. Solar States
Rooftop canopies come with a whole different set of structural requirements to attach to buildings than ground-mounted carports and canopies. Instead of poured concrete columns for the foundations, solar canopies are typically attached to the parapet walls or structural beams on a roof.
Brooklyn SolarWorks, a PV contractor based in Brooklyn, New York, saw potential for solar canopies in a city where rooftop gathering spaces far outnumber grass lawns. New York City fire codes require a clear 6-ft path both front-to-back and side-to-side on residential buildings for firefighter access; and roof obstructions like hatches and vent pipes minimized sizing potential for roof-mounted solar projects.
“We knew if [a canopy] was 9-ft high it should meet the fire code requirements,” said Gaelen McKee, president and co-founder of Brooklyn SolarWorks. “We engaged with a design studio and an engineer, and we finally got this concept, and we brought it to a fabricator and made a prototype.”
The company iterated on that first solar canopy, making it lighter and faster to install, but still able to withstand the elements on New York City rooftops. Brooklyn SolarWorks was manufacturing aluminum canopy structures for its own projects, but other contractors around the country also wanted to build these arrays. So, Brooklyn SolarWorks started distributing them under the name Brooklyn Solar Canopy Co.
“It finally flipped so that we’re actually selling more canopies third-party than we are using ourselves,” McKee said.
Brooklyn Solar Canopy produces four different types of canopies and carports. Its A-Frame and Post-Truss structures can be installed on the ground or roof.
You can read the full article at solarpowerworldonline.com.
