PanelClaw is the first mounting system company to have its full wind tunnel data results approved and permitted by LADBS for use in ballast designs for its Grizzly Bear® and Polar Bear® flat roof products.

August 29, 2013 - North Andover, Massachusetts

Until now, PV installers in Los Angeles had to work with traditional anchored mounting solutions because the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) would not allow the use of wind tunnel data to justify lower ballast requirements. PanelClaw is the first mounting system company to have its full wind tunnel data results approved and permitted by LADBS for use in ballast designs for its Grizzly Bear® and Polar Bear® flat roof products. This allows PanelClaw's customers to design and permit the lightest possible ballasted arrays and achieve an expedited permitting timeline.

With this landmark approval, future projects in Los Angeles will be easy to permit since PanelClaw's testing data has already been vetted, peer-reviewed, and approved for use. This significant competitive advantage can now be leveraged by PanelClaw's customers with LADBS.

"We are thrilled to have been able to help our partner obtain a building permit from LADBS with full leverage of our wind tunnel test data. LADBS performed a thorough review of our data and applications and this success validates our commitment to delivering reliable, safe, and long-lasting products. The approval is also very timely as many projects within LADWP's Feed in Tariff are being installed on commercial rooftops; we look forward to deploying more mounting systems in LA with weight-optimized ballast designs," says Paul Bitterolf, Regional Sales Manager at PanelClaw.
PanelClaw is the only ballasted mounting system provider to which LADBS has granted a building permit using peer-reviewed wind tunnel data under the current building code.

"Understanding the interaction between a solar array, a building and the wind is critical for the deployment of safe, reliable PV on flat roofs," adds Mark Gies, Vice President of Global Applications Engineering at PanelClaw. "Interpreting wind forces requires a rigorous test regime and a deep level of expertise. Utilizing this data to adhere to local building codes is something that PanelClaw does better than any mounting systems company in the world," concludes Constantino Nicolaou, CEO of PanelClaw North America. "We are pleased to continue to deliver winning solutions for our partners."

About PanelClaw
PanelClaw Group, Inc. and its operating subsidiaries, PanelClaw (North America), Inc. and PanelClaw Europe GmbH, deliver mounting and balance-of-system (BOS) solutions to accelerate the adoption of photovoltaics worldwide. A leader in ballasted flat-roof and ground-mount systems, PanelClaw has deployed nearly 350 MW across the U.S., Canada, the European Union, and India. For more information, please visit www.panelclaw.com.