Did You Say.. Brass Roof?

Recently our team completed a solar installation of all black REC 410W solar panels with Clenergy racking secured by S-5! clamps onto a roof face entirely made from brass.

This home was custom-built to extremely high-end requirements, including construction requirements like a BAL flame zone fire rating and extreme wind rating as the property is located on the edge of a cliff.

The chosen home’s cladding was brass standing seam for both the walls and the roof. This was purposely chosen as it is extremely long-lasting, especially when paired with in-situ poured concrete.

Specialised Engineering Requirements & Custom Solutions

Due to the high wind and galvanic corrosion, conventional aluminium mounting was not suitable for this installation. Aluminium brackets would react to the brass roof and cause corrosion. After extensive investigations into finding a suitable alternative, we landed on a USA-made stainless steel bracket which had to be shipped in for this particular project.

As custom engineering solutions were required for this site-specific project, our team had to obtain pullout test results (a process to assess the holding capacity) from American engineers for the roof interface brackets which would be used to mount the racking layout.

The wind zones required the panel clamps to be 450 mm at the edges, and 600 mm in the centre of the system array. Traditional solar panels did not have the structural integrity to withstand such powerful wind conditions, so a higher quality panel was chosen for the additional strengthening braces within the panel’s frame.

To further solidify the extent of engineering needed, the flame zone rating also meant that our team needed to have all penetrations at the opposite end of the roof, utilise fireproof dektites and silicone sealant, and install an isolator inside away from the fire zone due to the cathedral ceilings.

Solar

Due to the high-end nature of the project, we utilised the rear knockouts feature of the Fronius Gen 24 inverter ensuring the installation is minimal and aligned with a seamless finish with no visible cabling.

An additional Catch Relay was also installed as the solar meter which gives the client the ability to control other electrical loads on site to optimise performance of the installed system.

This solar system consists of 6.6 kW worth of solar power, with a Fronius Primo GEN24, and black racking. The system will avoid 8.5 tonnes of CO2 each year, planting the equivalent of 1,649 trees over its lifetime.

Why Were We the Perfect Choice to Install this System?

Elite Power Group are not only solar installers but are qualified engineers, which means that not only can we identify challenges, but can develop custom solutions to overcome project issues like we saw in this one.

By understanding site challenges, we know the correct processes and requirements for design and installation measures to ensure the final products meet and exceed customer expectations and fulfill local regulatory and Australian standard requirements.