“The MaxSolar GmbH project was not only special because of its size and complexity, but also statically demanding,” said Björn Boehlkau, Sales Manager Solar Projects at the Schletter Group, who supervised the project together with his colleague Stephan Wild, Head of Technical Consulting Roof Systems. “Due to the low residual carrying capacity of the flat roof, the PV system had to be planned and installed with as little weight as possible, while still being able to withstand high wind loads.”
For this reason, the choice fell on the new Schletter FixGrid 18 system. Schletter has optimized this system, which was released in 2018, with several design improvements – especially with regard to statics and load capacity. Windsafe plates and ballast tubs only have to be installed where they are actually needed for technical reasons. At the same time, the FixGrid 18 is now even more durable than the previous model. The optimized geometry of the profiles makes this system capable of withstanding very high snow loads.
A team of 25 installed the project in eight weeks. This was facilitated by the high degree of prefabrication of the system. As only a minimum of installation work is required on the construction site, the assembly time and thus the costs per kilowatt of installed PV power are significantly reduced. In addition, flame-retardant building protection mats were used in this project.
The Schletter Group and MaxSolar GmbH have a long-standing track record of successful collaborations. In 2018 alone, Schletter supplied the project developer with installations for ten open-area projects totaling 17.5 MW. Further projects are already in the planning phase.
