Solar Panel Racking Systems (Carport)

Solar carports can also significantly improve a parking area’s overall lighting. This is due to the fact that the lighting is now closer to the ground, with a reflective material located above the parking lot’s finished surface. When landscaping is incorporated around solar carports, your new energy generating facility can also become a wonderful addition to the property.

The requirements for installing a solar carport are fairly straightforward. In North America, carports are typically tilted ten degrees to the south or to the west.

There are many issues to take into account during the engineering of a solar carport project. Lighting, soil parameters for foundation design, and changes to disabled parking areas and landscaping are just a few examples of how a solar carport project can impact a parking lot’s design.

Geotechnical issues, such as soil load bearing pressures, are important to understand at any particular solar site. The soil’s ability to withstand vertical and lateral pressure are the key design parameters in determining the size of a structural footing. For solar carports or ground mounted solar arrays in seismic zones, the footing’s ability to withstand lateral loads is what determines the solar array’s ability to continue standing. At Wanhos Solar, we have a very specific approach to designing footings and solar array structural systems.

Wanhos Solar has engineered and constructed solar carports across diverse geographies, including hurricane wind zones and California seismic zones.