IKEA Distribution Centre
CASE STUDYThe ROOFTRAK® IFP provided a vital part of the package to install solar PV on the vast roof areas of the Ikea Distribution & Contact Centre in Peterborough where approximately 2800 PV panels have been installed as part of its People & Planet Positive Strategy.
The roof construction of the huge Peterborough depot was not strong enough to support the added load of a ballasted PV installation on top of the existing roof structure.
This is an important aspect that has to be considered when retrofitting PV panels to existing buildings and structures where, especially for commercial installations, the weight the of ballast required to keep the PV panels stable, can be in excess of the loadbearing capacity of the roof in question.
The PV installation was designed and installed by Kingspan Energy who were able to avoid using ballast altogether by using the ROOFTRAK® IFP Integrated Fixing Point. The IFP provides a mechanical fixing directly to the building structure through the existing weathering membrane without compromising the integrity of the roofing membrane already fitted to the building.
The IFP provides a series of connection points to the structure to which the PV installation can be attached.
The ROOFTRAK® IFP was utilised on the IKEA building to provide a low profile fixing point to which the solar PV array could be fixed.
The benefit of using the IFP was that it could be installed on the existing single ply membrane roof with external access only being required. No internal access or removal of membrane or insulation was required. Importantly, this allowed the Distribution Centre to keep operating as normal with the minimum of disruption during the installation process.
Each IFP has provision for multiple fixings through to the roof deck providing Kingspan Energy with a fixing point with a quantifiable pull-out value for integrating into the design of the roof top PV installation at the IKEA Distribution Centre in Peterborough.
The IFP can be fitted with any available single ply or bituminous roofing membrane and is suitable for use on warm or cold roof constructions.
The ROOFTRAK-IFP Integrated Fixing Point system has been developed specifically around the challenging scenario of providing a connection to the building structure whilst maintaining 100% integrity of the weathering membrane. There are different fittings available to provide for most types of roof construction and the IFP system is compatible with all roofing membranes.
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