“La Corona” Soap Factory in Mexico City, Mexico is a large-scale manufacturer of soaps, detergents and cooking oil with multiple locations throughout Mexico and a distribution network in North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Because of the power required to run its main 257,795-square-foot manufacturing facility, La Corona identified the need to supplement the factory’s power
generation by adding solar photovoltaics (PV) to its exposed-fastened metal roof. They collaborated with EPC Contractor, EVA Mexico, to install a 539 kWp solar array using S-5!’s tested, trusted and engineered technology. EVA Mexico is dedicated to the development of solar energy and energy efficiency projects that ensure economic and environmental benefits, using innovative, safe and cutting edge technology.
The primary challenge was to ensure the alignment of the solar panels and to accurately determine bracket placement on the roof. Because it is an exposed-fastened, trapezoidal metal roof profile, it was critical to get the spacing of the brackets precise from the start. This type of roof requires fastening brackets directly into the roof, an irreversible process. Any deviation of bracket placement could result in a large gap further down the road, which would interrupt panel installation. (Fortunately, S-5! brackets have slotting mounting attachments, so small errors are forgiven.)
Installation resources, provided by S-5!, made it easy for EVA Mexico to determine the best spacing and proceed with the install. Once the spacing was determined and the installation began, the team was able to move much faster.
S-5's RibBracket III, specifically designed for this roof profile, and the PVKIT solar solution, allowed for direct-attach or rail-less PV mounting to the metal roof.
A rail-less approach to solar mounting provided a significant reduction in the amount of material required vs. a traditional rail mounting system. It also meant the 1,400 PV panels could be directly-attached to the ribs of the exposed-fastened metal roof, providing ease of installation. S-5!’s user-friendly products assisted in the overall ease of completion of the project.
“La Corona” Soap Factory was able to supplement its power generation by adding solar PV to its exposed-fastened metal roof. The PVKIT and RibBracket system provided an aesthetically-pleasing, cost-effective PV mounting solution – saving the customer time and money on installation and materials.
The RibBracket I-V is used with the PVKIT® for (rail-less) solar PV mounting. This metal roof bracket comes in five different sizes and is an economical, sheeting-only attachment solution that can be placed anywhere along the roof ribs.
Why choose the PVKIT? - With total mounting system weight below 3.5 lbs./kW (1.6kg)/kW compared to 19 lbs. (8.6 kg)/kW for railed systems, the savings in transport costs and logistics is tremendous. The solar zone layout is more flexible. The added load to the building structure is far less. Material handling is reduced and simplified with only 3 components for the mounting system. Electrical bonding is automatic. “Lay and play” installation saves time on the roof.
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