System Qualification validates the wind tunnel data and engineering methodologies a manufacturer uses to calculate wind loads, and its methodologies for stow performance and anemometer siting, against CPP’s criteria.
System Qualification
What it covers
How a manufacturer’s method turns wind data into wind loads, damping and stow, assessed against CPP’s criteria for the regions reviewed. The criteria are shared with manufacturers under the engagement.
What you receive
A System Qualification Certificate naming the system and the date, and stating what CPP checked, and the right to use the CPP Qualified System mark on external materials for that system.
Where it fits
The wind engineering portion of a tracker’s technology or bankability review. It informs both.
Who it is for
Racking, tracker and fixed-tilt manufacturers. EPCs and independent engineers rely on it without commissioning it.
What it is not
- Not a full equipment technology review or bankability study of the kind an independent engineer produces. It informs those with the wind considerations.
- Not a structural analysis. CPP checks how wind data becomes loads, damping and stow; structural design, drive capacity and foundations stay with the manufacturer or EPC engineers and the Engineer of Record. It can be used to inform their work.
Neutral by design
The wind tunnel testing and analysis does not have to have been done by CPP, and CPP does not rank suppliers.
Site Certification
Site Certification confirms that a project’s wind loads were calculated using methodologies and data that meet CPP’s criteria, reviewed by an engineer with no role in selecting the supplier.
What it is
A thorough review of a project’s wind load calculation methodologies, stow policy and anemometer siting on a Qualified System, confirming they meet CPP’s criteria and the state of the art in wind engineering.
What you receive
A Site Certificate for the project, naming the system it covers and the date it was issued, and the right to use the CPP Certified Site mark on external materials for that project.
Where it fits
The wind engineering portion of a project review. It informs and enhances the independent engineer’s report and the Engineer of Record’s stamp.
Qualified Systems first
Site Certification covers systems CPP has qualified. System Qualification sets the methodologies for calculating a system’s wind loads; Site Certification confirms they were used on this project. If a system is not yet qualified, that step comes first.
Who it is for
Owners and developers, acquirers, and the lenders, independent engineers and insurers who receive the Site Certificate.
What it is not
- Not a structural analysis. CPP checks that the wind load calculations meet its criteria and follow best practice, and stops there — no structural requirements, member stresses, drive capacity or foundations.
- Not a guarantee, and not a substitute for the engineer of record or the independent engineer.
- Design responsibility stays with the manufacturer or constructor (EPC). CPP takes no part in supplier selection.