Installations of panels over 2 meters are becoming increasingly common.

What is the best way to keep them solid and secure despite their large size?

By using No-Flex, the latest solution from Sun Ballast.

The photovoltaic energy market is evolving, and Sun Ballast is ahead of the trend yet again, designing and manufacturing products that meet specific technical needs.

In this case, we are talking about managing installations of large panels.

Increasing panel length has become popular for its various benefits in terms of system efficiency: larger solar panels actually produce more renewable energy.

Along with the great efficiency benefits, however, difficulties emerge related to the increased size of the installation.

Larger modules also mean less resistance to wind and snow loads, a decrease due not only to the increase in size but also to the thinning of the panels.

A technical solution was therefore needed, one that could facilitate the expansion of this market trend while ensuring its safety and reliability. In a word: No-Flex.

Sun Ballast: research and problem-solving

Sun Ballast is constantly working with major panel manufacturers to test and certify ballast fixings with the different types of panels available in the market.

Having ascertained the need for a new way forward, Sun Ballast’s R&D department offered experience and know-how to design and patent a completely new solution: No-Flex.

No-Flex is a new steel plate that is placed and attached directly to the ballasts that already feature an M8 threaded insert.

Patented as a solution for large panels laid horizontally (but also suitable for smaller panels when indicated in assembly manuals), thanks to the insertion of an additional ballast in the centre of the panels, it allows the modules to be fixed in multiple places and increases the stability of the panel itself.

This approach offers numerous advantages:

– It increases the wind resistance of the entire photovoltaic system due to the increase in static load

– it increases resistance to snow load

– it counteracts the possibility of bending in the centre of the panels

– it complies with the module support parameters guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Increased load resistance is critical to the good health of the system: the addition of a third central ballast, and the No-Flex bracket attached to the panel using clamps, provides incredible resistance to stresses that could damage the panel, whether from below with wind or from above with snow.

The increase from 4 to 6 fastening points improves structural strength and makes the system more physically robust, able to handle both extreme pressures and repeated stresses over time.

The frame structurally embraces the panel and strengthens it so that it does not open due to loads.

Last but not least, the final benefit is full compliance with the requirements of panel manufacturers in order to be able to guarantee durability, a goal that No-Flex ensures through the introduction of a greater number of fastening points.