Peer-to-Peer Standards Exchange

 Wind Load on Solar panels as per Chapter

  • ASCE Standards
  • ASCE7-16
  • Solar and Solar Panels
Bob Naja's profile image
Bob Naja posted 10-01-2025 09:30 AM

I am currently working on a design of a ballast for an unattached Solar panel to be installed on an existing flat roof. For that I am relying on Chapter 29 of the code

And since the ballasts will not be attached and the roof is flat, I am following the requirements of chapter 29.4.3 of ASCE 7-16 or 22 while doing so I noticed the following mistake related to the units. The Lb equation in Note 3 of figure 29.4.7 is shown as applicable to both metric and Imperial units. However, for this equation to be correct the value of 15 shown in the denominator of the equation should be 4.6 when using metric values. This was also corroborated by the same equation used in the WIND DESIGN FOR SOLAR ARRAYS report (SEAOC PV2-2017) on page 3 Under paragraph "NOTES FOR FIGURE 29.4-7" where the same equation shows both "15" for feet and "4.6" for meters

Can someone please confirm the presence of this mistake 

Both sections in SEAOC and ASCE 7-16 are attched and the mistake is highlighted 

Attachments  View in library
ASCE 7-16.jpg 412 KB
SEAOC PV2-2017.jpg 292 KB
Tirza Austin's profile image
Tirza Austin posted 10-31-2025 02:00 PM

Thank you for posting your question on the Peer-to-Peer Standards Exchange. We noticed that an engineering colleague hasn’t responded yet, and we recognize how valuable timely input can be. In the meantime, you might find it helpful to explore Eaves (https://amplify.asce.org/eaves), our AI-powered assistant trained on ASCE AMPLIFY platform content—including ASCE 7, 41, 24, 73, and more.

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