Silverback Solar Deploys New Frame Design for 200KW North Carolina Project

Silverback Solar has designed a unique and cost-effective racking system for a problematic pre-engineered metal building where coupling maximized power generation with prudent engineering was the challenge. With this type of building there is typically very little reserve capacity in the roof structure to support additional loads, so racking frames must be located over the main steel girders. In the case of Custom Packaging, those girders were 25′ apart. Early this year Silverback Solar® was able to design, engineer and manufacture a system to meet that requirement while providing the client with Silverback’s typical full package of CAD, stamped shop drawings, calculation package and installation manual.

The location of the steel members created additional challenges. The roof was arranged in a manner that required two separate arrays – one built over a ridge and one built over a valley. Consequently, each array needed to work on two different roof pitches. In order to achieve maximum PV output within these constraints, the custom frame was designed to carry as many modules as possible on each. The result was a 200kW highly customized truss frame design for 8 high portrait arrays, spaced a remarkable 25 feet apart and able to handle the snow load of 15 psf and winds of 90 mph.


Steve Chiariello from Inman Solar in North Carolina looked into other racking systems before choosing Silverback Solar as the best solution for this project. The adaptability of the Silverback system to a wide range of roof conditions and the problem solving mindset of the company made it a great fit for Custom Packaging. The system is installer friendly and professionally designed. “It’s clearly very sturdy and we had a positive experience working with (Silverback) on it,” says Chiariello.

Although Silverback works to minimize roof penetrations, their clients have come to understand that when you work with Silverback, you are working with a firm that knows how to treat roofs with respect and to make penetrations that do not leak or create roofing warranty concerns. Silverback Solar, a subsidiary of RoofScreen Manufacturing, provides the solar industry with the best engineered and most robust commercial rooftop solar racking solutions on the market today. They pride themselves on the highest quality engineering and industry-leading customer support. The company has also recently launched its new ground mount product line incorporating the same level of professionalism and construction industry knowledge that has been the company’s hallmark for the past decade.

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Posted by Press Release on May 10 2012. Filed under North Carolina, Solar PV, U.S.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry