Solar Panel Roof Setback

The international fire code 605 11 3 2 4 that states panels modules installed shall be located no higher than 3 ft below the ridge to allow for fire department ventilation operations significantly decreases the attractiveness of residential solar pv because it applies to both sides of a peaked roof.

Solar panel roof setback.

Setbacks are for firefighter roof access to the ridge line. For homes with sprinkler systems if the system takes up less than 2 3 of the plan view total roof area the setback for ridge ventilation is also relaxed to 18 inches. So provided rails are fastened as the installation manual recommends panels can be installed up to the edges of roofs. Things you should know before you go solar.

Here s what that looks like. In nv solar panels cannot be placed within 3 feet 36 of the ridgeline and must have 36 clearance from the edges of the roof except the bottom and 18 from any peak or valley in the roof that has solar panels on both roof surfaces. Roof fire setbacks and pathways for residential solar pv systems. Roof setbacks from ridge for ventilation relaxed from 36 inches to 18 inches for solar systems that take up less than 1 3 of the plan view total roof area.

In most cases solar arrays are required to have a minimum of 18 inches set back from the ridge of the roof and may also require a three foot pathway along one of the edges. The problem is the new setback guidelines make ideal solar roof space unavailable sometimes as much as half or more of the roof area. Solar panels can still be installed in what they call the edge zone provided the rails that panels are clamped to have around twice as many attachment points to the roof as the rails in the internal zone. Example of a fire setback code in california.

The exact size of the fire setback depends on the size of the building but for an average sized home each roof section that has solar panels requires two clear 36 inch wide pathways running along the edge of the roof. Most jurisdictions base their requirements on the recommendation of their fire marshal.