Roof Setbacks Solar

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.

Roof setbacks solar.

Setbacks are for firefighter roof access to the ridge line. The intention of the setbacks is to provide firefighters with access to the peak of the roof in order to provide positive ventilation in the event of a house fire. But they are required in california. 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.

The problem is the new setback guidelines make ideal solar roof space unavailable sometimes as much as half or more of the roof area. 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. These requirements don t exist everywhere so check with your local authorities. Setbacks for solar pv systems are required by the ibc international building code and adopted by some state and local permitting authorities.

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. Any roof with pitch equal or less than 2 in 12 9 46 degrees doesn t require any setbacks pathways. This could due to a jurisdictional requirement a fire code requirement or a company design guideline. This is a requirement imposed by the 2018 international fire code section 1204 and adopted by the authority having jurisdiction ahj i e.

According to cal fire s solar photovoltaic installation guidelines below are illustrations of currently enforced fire setbacks pathways for residential solar system installations. You can easily define roof setbacks by clicking on settings in the top right hand corner of your site model. Setback refers to the distance that solar panels need to be from the side and top edges of a roof. Roof setbacks define how much distance there must be between the system and the edges of the roof.