Featured in In conversation – 08-2018

The caterpillar effect

The solar industry is still debating the extent to which this problem, whereby temperature-related expansions and contractions cause an installed system to move gradually across a rooftop, actually occurs in flat-roof PV systems, and what a practical remedy might look like.
Michael Fuhs
By
Michael Fuhs
Layout of the PMT climate container. The left rail is connected to the test roof via a force measurement device. The right rail is not connected. The test is designed to show whether the right rail is moving and how much force is required on the left rail to suppress the movement. | Photo: PMT

 For half the days in April, Peter Grass had to dress warmly. Every morning and evening for four weeks, the Managing Director of Premium Mounting Technologies (PMT) walked into the new 40 foot container he had set up on the company grounds. He took readings, and switched the climate in the container from summer to …

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