Elevated Structures - How to Design Elevated Mounts on Indian RCC Rooftops

Summary

This article walks you through how to design an elevated mounting structure on a flat RCC rooftop inside OpenSolar. You will learn how to draw an RCC roof with an automatic parapet wall, place panels, apply the elevated racking style, customize height and tilt, enable mounting ballast, and send the completed design as a proposal.

Elevated Structures is currently available for Indian installers working with flat RCC (reinforced cement concrete) rooftops, with support coming soon for Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Step 1: Create a New Project and Select an Indian Address

1. Open OpenSolar and create a new project.
2. Enter an Indian address for the project location.
3. Navigate to the Design tab to open the design studio.

Step 2: Draw Your RCC Roof

The RCC Quick Roof is designed specifically for Indian flat rooftops. When you select this roof type, a parapet boundary wall appears automatically - matching the typical look of an Indian residential terrace.

4. In the design studio, select 2D Manual mode.

5. Select RCC Roof Type from the Tool bar on the right side section. 

6. Click on the roof outline tool and trace the outline of the flat roof.
7. The parapet boundary wall will appear automatically around the roof perimeter.

Note: The parapet wall uses a default height of 4 ft with 9 inch width, matching the standard Indian residential rooftop construction. This helps the design look realistic from the start.

Step 3: Place Panels on the Roof

8. Hint : Click on the compass to go into the top view mode to place panels. 
9. Select your panel model and place panels on the RCC roof surface.
10. Arrange the panels in your desired layout.
11. (Optional) Group panels into arrays using the Group function. Grouping controls how the structure legs are placed underneath - grouped panels share a structural frame.

Tip: Panel grouping is completely optional. If you skip grouping, the system will still generate legs based on the overall panel layout. Grouping gives you more control over how the structural frame is organized.

Step 4: Apply the Elevated Racking Style

This is where the elevated structure is created. When you switch the racking style to "elevated" and set a height, OpenSolar automatically generates the full structural frame - legs, purlins, and rafters.

12. Select the panel array or group you want to elevate.
13. In the racking settings, change the racking style to "Elevated".
14. Set the structure height. Common Indian defaults are 6–7 ft.
15. Set the tilt angle. Typical values for Indian installations are 10–15°.
16. The legs (columns) will appear automatically on the roof surface. The rear leg height auto-calculates based on your tilt angle.

Step 5: Review the 3D Structure

Once the elevated racking style is applied, switch to the 3D view to review the complete structural frame.

17. Rotate the 3D view to inspect the structure from different angles.
18. Verify the structural components:

• Legs/columns: vertical supports connecting the roof surface to the panel frame
• Purlins: horizontal members running under the panel array
• Rafters: angled members connecting the front and rear of the frame

19. Confirm that the structure height and tilt match your site requirements.

Note: The legs are placed using engineering placement rules - 1.8 m maximum span, 20–30% cantilever ratio, and increased leg density for coastal wind zones (Category C/D). This is automated and based on civil engineering standards, not random placement.

Step 6: Enable Mounting Ballast (Optional)

You can add mounting ballast at the base of the structure. This step is optional - the elevated structure works with or without ballast enabled.

20. Locate the mounting ballast option in the racking settings.
21. Switch mounting ballast On to add ballast blocks at the base of each leg, or Off to remove them.
22. The ballast blocks will appear at the base of the structure in the 3D view.

Tip: Mounting ballast is a simple foundation option. It can be switched on or off per structure. This is a standard single-size ballast for Phase 1.

Step 7: Send the Proposal

Once your elevated structure design is complete, you can generate and send a proposal directly from the project - with the realistic structure visuals included.

23. Navigate to the Proposal section of the project.
24. The elevated structure with visible legs, purlins, and rafters will appear in the proposal visuals.
25. Review the proposal to confirm the structure looks correct.
26. Send the proposal to the customer.

Common Questions

The parapet wall did not appear after selecting the roof type.

Make sure the roof type is set to RCC. The automatic parapet wall only generates for the RCC roof type. If you selected a different roof type, change it to RCC in the roof settings.

The legs look too close together or too far apart.

Leg placement is fully automated based on engineering rules (1.8 m max span, cantilever ratios). If your panel layout results in unusual grouping, try adjusting the panel array layout or spacing. For coastal wind zones, the system automatically places more legs for structural safety.

Can I change the column dimensions or material type?

Phase 1 uses default column sizing and materials. Custom dimension and material selection will be available in a future update.

Does this work for commercial or ground-mount projects?

Yes, Elevated Structures is designed for residential flat RCC rooftops and would work for commercial or ground-mount projects. 

Can I use Elevated Structures outside of India?

Elevated Structures and the RCC Quick Roof are launching first for Indian installers. Both features will soon become available in the following countries as well:

South Asia: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka

Other regions: Thailand, South Africa, Nigeria