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On Monday, July 12th, Jim met with Tony Post (a former DHS grad and now a structural engineer based out of Monona) to verify that the roof structure of the Education Wing and the offices next to the Sanctuary were built with sufficient capacity to handle the additional weight of the solar panels that will be installed on them.
There are many advantages to roof-mounted systems as opposed to ground-mounted systems. The most obvious is the amount of lawn space that would be lost. Maintaining the ground below ground mount systems (mowing, weeding, etc.) is challenging at best. There is more likelihood of damage to the panels when they are on the ground: items that get thrown onto the panels, projectiles from lawnmowers hitting the panels, etc. The panels also provide a visual “fence” that closes in an area.
The proximity of the roof-mounted panels to the pergola canopy significantly lowers the cost of installation as the service entry point for the building is adjacent to both. Finally, because our roofs are white EPDM membrane roofs, the panels will produce far more energy because of the reflected sunlight off the roof.
Tony has done the preliminary findings and feels confident that both roof structures are strong enough to handle this additional load. Additionally, he provided a sketch of how the panels would be installed. They will be mounted in “landscape mode” at a 10-degree pitch facing south. The highest side of the panels will be less than 12” off the roof so, while visible from the sidewalk, it will be minimal.
The total panels needed on the roofs are 52. This will create 21 kW of solar energy. When coupled with the pergola canopy, this will create a total of 48 kW of solar energy. This is the amount of energy needed to satisfy the electrical needs of the new heat pumps and reach the intended goals of a projected 100% solar/net-zero/carbon neutral future.
All of this information we are sharing is part of the Power Purchase Agreement and has been previously presented to the congregation.
Here is Tony’s drawing of the placement of the panels. The entire roof of the education wing and nearly all of the roofs of the offices will be covered. Again, these roofs are built to handle this additional load. The blue square is the pergola canopy with an additional 50 panels mounted on it.
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