- Author
- Corotis, R. B. | Dowding, C. H. | Rossow, E. C.
- Title
- Snow and Ice Accumulation at Solar Collector Installations in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.
- Coporate
- CEDAR Associates, Evanston, IL
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC Department of Energy, Washington, DC
- Report
- NBS GCR 79-181, October 1979, 109 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Contract
- NB79NAAA8078
- Keywords
- building | ice | load | roofs | roof load | snow | solar collector | structural engineering | solar collectors
- Abstract
- This report presents observations and data concerning snow and ice on eighteen flat plate solar collector installations in the Chicago area. The data was collected in February and March of 1979, following a record snowfall in January. Nearly all of the installations were on the roofs of buildings, and about half were mounted flush with the roof. The remainder were mounted on racks at an angle to the roof. Sketches and photographs of the buildings and snow accumulation, weather data for the entire winter, and comments of the owners are included, as well as a technique for the extraction of linear measurements from the photographs. A significant observation was that the loss of operation of the solar collectors due to snow covering the collector exceeded two months at several sites. This is apparently due to the heavy snowfall, extreme cold, and lack of manual snow removal capability. Other observations and recommendations concerning functional and structural problems are included in the report.