Collector site placement

In an US Army installation, solar collectors can be placed on building roofs or on the ground adjacent to the buildings they would serve. Rooftop is limited by useful area and maintenance is a greater issue than with ground-placed systems. Access to roof mounted systems is more difficult; stairs or ladders need to be climbed, and space for safe movement between the collectors and the roof edge must be provided and maintained. Ground placement of the collectors can displace green spaces that are desired in building clusters, thus limiting the number of buildings to a given ground area. A compromise may be to place large collector systems above parking spaces in the soldier parking lots so the collectors can shade vehicles, and still remain close to the buildings and to the ground level for ease of maintenance. Figure 5.1 shows solar collectors located in a parking area.

When using a roof placement make sure that the predicted life of the roof is about equal to or longer than that of the solar system. Avoid placing a solar system having a life of 20 yrs on a roof scheduled for replacement in a shorter time.

Increasing the collector field distance to the mechanical room and storage tank increases losses and should always be minimized. The maximum distance should be less than 600 ft (1823 m) one way.