Solex Roofing Installation Manual 11
Solex Energy Ltd +44(0)1305 837223 www.solexenergy.co.uk
Where the roof is sufficiently large, it is necessary to divide it
into parallel absorber circuits, which should be as close to
equal lengths as possible. For example a roof of 15 courses
may be divided into three courses of 5, or a roof of 12 courses
may be divided into circuits of 6, 4, 3 or exceptionally 2
courses depending on the overall length of the roof and
therefore the length of absorber strip in each circuit.
The Roof Calculator will give some guidance, although
generally we recommend that each circuit does not exceed
40m in length, which equates to around 8m
2
of 500 series
roofing or 10m
2
of 600 series roofing. There is no minimum
length of circuits, although having many smaller circuits will
result in more manifolds and connections.
9. Absorber strips, installation
– when installing the rubber
absorber, it is advisable to start at the top of the roof, so that
there is less foot traffic on the installed rubber.
Starting at the end where the top manifold is required, the
absorber is unrolled along the batten with the flange at the
top. The flange is positioned to cover the batten and staple
gunned to it at 300mm intervals. Standard staples may be
used, as the absorber will be held in place by slate fixings
which pierce the flange.
At the end of the course, in the channel where the EPDM has
been positioned, the absorber is folded back on itself, still
keeping the flange at the top. The individual tubes are then
split away from each other so that each tube follows a natural
curve down to the second course.
When splitting the tubes apart, great care must be taken not to
damage the surface of any of the tubes. A pair of scissors
(not a Stanley knife) should be used. The point of the scissors
is pushed through all the tear lines of the strip, and the tubes
pulled apart in both directions as far as necessary. This
should be done with care, as sometimes the split can start to
run off toward a tube wall. If this happens, use the scissors
again to re-start the tear.
The tubes should be arranged neatly so that there are no
kinks which could disrupt the flow of water. The redundant
centre and bottom strips may get in the way and can be
removed at this point if desired. The top flange should be cut
at its midpoint and stapled along the battens, extending if
necessary with some spare flange which is supplied.
The absorber is then run out along the next course and fixed
as before.
In situations where the roof has already been battened, a
problem occurs at the course ends where the absorber has to
