30.08.2022 | PV/flat roofs

The right fall protection creates more space for the PV system

Here is an example from practice. ADREX relies on its proven one-stop-shop principle, in order to largely relieve its customers of all tasks related to their own roof-mounted solar power plants. This obviously also includes the selection and installation of a professional fall protection system for the PV installation.

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Specialist series: Absturzsicherung auf PV-Anlagen

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Guide for PV systems on the roof

Guide: Fall Protection Photovoltaic (PV)-System

This ultimate fall protection guide will help you to achieve a safe PV system on the roof. In the following, we summarise the danger areas on the roof, the liability issue and the safety solutions in a compact way. In addition, you will learn how you can generate more turnover as a solar installer.

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Elektro Scherer puts its trust in the TAURUS rail system from INNOTECH

In its practical implementation, the roof installation of PV systems together with their associated fall protection repeatedly creates specific challenges. In the case of Elektro Scherer, a TAURUS rail system from INNOTECH was attached directly to the K2 substructure of the solar power plant.

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How roof surfaces can be optimally used for the planned PV installation

With regard to PV installations on roofs, the question of competition for area often arises. This refers to competition between various types of use for the available area. The reason is that in principle all PV system operators want to free up the maximum possible amount of space for their solar power plant.

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Why should you, as PV installers, also offer the fall protection system?

We invited experts to a discussion on the subject of fall protection for PV systems on flat and pitched roofs. In this blog post we go into the most frequently asked questions related to this topic.

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Individual or collective protection? Which system is used when for PV installations on a roof?

While dangers like break-throughs or an increased fall risk close to the roof edge lurk on a flat roof, on a pitched roof the inclination itself is the greatest challenge. Discover in the following article how you can professionally protect your maintenance and cleaning staff.

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A professional safety concept for PV installations protects the wallet and the nerves

As a solar system installer, you naturally know every detail of the legal safety provisions relating to PV systems on a roof. In contrast, your clients may well be entering completely new territory which probably raises a number of additional questions. It is therefore all the more important from the outset to integrate the subject of safety into the planning of the PV system, and to create a substantiated and professional safety concept.

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Successful solar system installers are those who offer PV fall protection at the same time

Solar system installers who, in addition to the optimally appropriate PV systems, can also provide the best possible fall protection, not only have a better image than their competitors – they can also use this to create increased turnover.

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Safety increases business for solar system installers as full service providers

PV systems on the roof have been booming for quite some time. No wonder, because having your own solar power plant on the roof not only gives you much more independence in terms of energy supply, but also makes a significant contribution to the energy transition as a whole. If you also focus on the issue of safety on the roof, then as a solar installer you can leave the competition behind. In this article, you will discover how you can achieve this.

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Supporting multiple PV customers simultaneously can often become a huge challenge

Not only private households, but also businesses and companies, are relying increasingly on generating their own solar energy. The presently escalating energy prices will hasten this trend even further. For solar system installers, this creates enormous potential for winning new orders. It can then very easily happen that multiple projects or construction sites have to be managed simultaneously. And that creates a number of challenges.

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Work on a PV system on a roof

Installing one’s own PV system on a roof makes sense for a number of reasons. So that it always provides the best possible performance, workers regularly have to access the solar power plant in order to perform servicing and cleaning tasks. Who is responsible or liable for the consequences of accidents?

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PV systems on a roof – consider all danger areas, in order to protect against falls effectively

The circumstances and conditions of every single order for a PV system on a roof must always be analysed very closely, in order to implement the correct safety precautions. Solar system installers who recognise all risks and can at the same time also propose the appropriate professional and certified solution to their customers have the opportunity to position themselves as a responsible absolute expert in their area. In the medium and long term, this also has a positive effect on the sales performance of solar system installers.

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6 tips which help solar system installers to gain increased turnover from their PV installations on roofs

Even if the connection isn’t obvious at first glance, solar system installers and PV installation companies can acquire significantly more new customers with a partner who is a certified and professional manufacturer of fall protection systems for PV installations on roofs. The reason why is very simple: They are able to cover the subject of safety in the very first meeting with the customer, thereby relieving their potential clients of a large amount of research work.

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Subsequent installation of a fall protection system for PV installations on the roof

It is never too late to make the right decisions and implement them! This means that even operators of PV installations on the roof should consider whether the subsequent upgrade of their solar power plant with a professional and certified fall protection system is feasible and sensible.

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360° solutions as a guarantee for success

Solar system installers capable of including a safety solution with their PV systems hold a clear edge over the competition. You can find out why this is the case in the following article.

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4 steps are necessary for professional fall protection on the PV system on the roof

Discover all the necessary information here. In this article, we explain in summary the four steps that will lead you to your fall protection for PV systems. This much in advance, everything starts with a plan...

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The right fall protection creates more space for the PV system

Here is an example from practice. ADREX relies on its proven one-stop-shop principle, in order to largely relieve its customers of all tasks related to their own roof-mounted solar power plants. This obviously also includes the selection and installation of a professional fall protection system for the PV installation.

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Correct servicing and inspection of your PV fall protection system protects you from many problems

The fall protection for your PV system on a roof is 100% safe only if it is also inspected regularly for signs of potential wear and tear, damage, or corrosion, and for loose mounts. Discover what matters.

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The professional way to install a fall protection system for your PV system on the roof

The detailed planning of the fall protection system for your PV system on the roof is followed by what is probably the most tantalising moment of the endeavour to make your solar power plant as safe and efficient as possible: the installation; the project is finally taking concrete shape. Discover what matters in the process.

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The installation of a fall protection system for your PV system on the roof requires a certain amount of expertise!

The same rules that apply in all other areas of life and work also hold true in the area of fall protection systems for PV systems installed on a roof: Solid initial and further training are of pivotal importance, especially when it comes to the correct installation and proper servicing / cleaning of the system and its individual solar panels.

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The aspects to focus on when planning a fall protection system for the PV system on your roof

The goal to harvest as much power as possible from your own solar power plant therefore hinges on the ability to maximise the utilisation of the roof surface, while securing the trouble-free operation of the solar power plant for the long term. This requires a comprehensive plan which factors in all details and also includes a professional system that protects against falls from a height.

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Fall protection systems for your PV system installed on the roof

There are questions that come up again and again when it comes to the safety of PV systems on the roof. We have summarised the 6 most frequently asked questions by installers and solar technicians and also show the challenges of PV systems on flat and pitched roofs. The focus is always on possible safety solutions to mitigate these.

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PV systems on a flat roof can be efficient and safe at the same time

In the examination of current practice below, we show you two individual solutions for flat roofs, together with the respective challenges which may be created by one’s own solar power plant. Discover the TAURUS rail system and the AIO lifeline system using Autohaus Nägele & Sohn GmbH and Autowelt Reibersdorfer as examples.

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5 tips relating to your PV system on the roof

How to save time and money. Installing a photovoltaic system on your own roof is always a good idea, because in this way a previously completely unused surface is availed of for the sustainable production of electricity for your household or company. But so that this success story really comes into being, as early as the planning phase of your PV system you should also create a professional safety concept, or get one created.

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Professional fall protection for your PV system on pitched roofs

Installation tasks on the photovoltaic system, as well as its servicing and cleaning, represent a particular challenge. An selection of possible security solutions including advantages can be discovered in the following article. In addition, the topic of access to the PV system on the pitched roof is also covered.

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Fall protection photovoltaics

Not all roofs are the same. In the same way that roof forms differ greatly, the dangers concealed during installation and servicing and cleaning tasks on PV systems are just as variable. For this reason, we present solutions for all cases here.

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Aerial photo of the Novotegra company building in Tübingen, with integrated PV system

Innovative project in Tübingen

The combination of Novotegra’s PV substructure with INNOTECH’s flexible fall protection systems provides significant added value for both fitters and end customers.

Our customers have reacted very positively to this, because previously professional fall protection was not included in the plan, and for reasons of safety a smaller PV system was selected in order not to approach the danger zone of the roof edge.

Jan Kaupp

Many years ago ADREX Photovoltaikanlagen GmbH started as a specialist and full service provider for photovoltaic and power storage solutions. They therefore have enormous expertise in the planning and installation of PV systems of all sizes. And from the very outset, one of the top priorities of the German company has been customer satisfaction.

For this reason, ADREX relies on its proven one-stop-shop principle, in order to largely relieve its customers of all tasks related to their own roof-mounted solar power plants. This obviously also includes the selection and installation of a professional fall protection system for the PV installation. Here too, ADREX relies exclusively on partners, who can provide highest quality and optimum functional capability. Once again ADREX had an order in the northern Black Forest.

A home and its associated garage were being extended and converted there. In the course of this, the owners wanted also to install a PV system on the roof surfaces of the two buildings, with an overall area of 275 m², so that they could generate their own solar power in future. For this purpose, ADREX installed a total of 56 PV modules on the roof, with an output of 21 kwP. For the fall protection system, the company’s experts decided on a solution from INNOTECH: the AIO lifeline system in combination with single anchor points

 

The challenges of this project

Particularly for flat roofs, as in our example, the challenge in professionally securing the PV system consists of providing safe access to the generally very narrow areas on the perimeter close to the roof edge and also around skylights, in order that all necessary tasks and inspections can be performed at any time. In the northern Black Forest as well it was therefore necessary to create as much space as possible for solar panels, without ignoring the safety aspect, because every PV system operator naturally wants to generate as much of their own solar power as possible! 

In addition, in order to prevent leak points or potential negative long-term effects from occurring later, it was very important to the customers that the roof cladding would not be damaged through the installation of the safety system. 

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The solution from INNOTECH – the AIO lifeline system

The experts from ADREX therefore selected the INNOTECH AIO lifeline system, which can be installed directly on the PV substructure, and which therefore saves huge amounts of space. In addition, it is designed in such a way that there is no shadowing, which could reduce the output of the solar panels. For the project in the northern Black Forest a total of 25 m stainless steel cable and 4 single anchor points were mounted, in order to professionally secure the PV system on the flat roof.

In addition, EAPs (single anchor points) were installed in order to provide additional protection for exposed areas, and to provide protected movement over the whole of the flat roof. “As well as the top quality of the fall protection systems, we also decided to collaborate with INNOTECH because of the very good support and planning”, reports Jan Kaupp, project manager at ADREX. The planning and design of the fall protection system for the customer was implemented directly by INNOTECH. Onsite the experts from the safety system specialist instructed the ADREX team in the correct installation of the AIO lifeline system, and were also available to support during the installation itself. 

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The INNO|doc web app was used for the appropriate and effective documentation of the protection system’s installation. This tool allows complex projects from various customers to be processed almost at the press of a button – from preparing tenders, to planning, to implementation and documentation. In addition, the app also provides reminders for all legally required inspections.

 

Creating a good image safely

However, not only is ADREX with the implementation of this project. Among other things, the solar manufacturer also reports a further gain in the positive image of the company since fall protection systems from INNOTECH are also offered. “Our customers have reacted very positively to this”, according to Jan Kaupp, because previously professional fall protection was not included in the plan, and for reasons of safety a smaller PV system was selected in order not to approach the danger zone of the roof edge. In the end, the solar-installation builder’s full service offering in fact gained the company increased turnover and profit.

Also, the fact that the PV system and the fall protection are installed together has a number of advantages from the point of view of ADREX. Thus, for example, the scaffolding does not have to be installed a second time for subsequent tasks, such as the installation of the fall protection or other maintenance tasks – this would represent an enormous additional effort.

 

What are the benefits of a fall protection system for the PV installation on the roof?

  • Legal security: Operators of PV systems are legally obliged to make the “roof” workplace as safe as it can possibly be, and to protect installers, as well as cleaning and servicing staff, from falling.  

 

  • More solar power: A professional, certified fall protection system means that cleaning and servicing tasks can be performed at any time, and so the solar power plant always delivers optimum performance.

 

  • The roof cladding is not breached: Fall protection systems such as the AIO lifeline system in this example are installed directly onto the substructure of the PV installation; they therefore require no additional space and do not damage the roof cladding. 
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