The self-supporting mounting systems are used for photovoltaic systems with small areas. Self-supporting systems use ballast weight to prevent the structure from being lifted by e.g. wind force. This type of construction is shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Photovoltaic installation on a flat roof in SolTech Service's self-supporting mounting system (east-west orientation). Photo used with permission from SolTech Service.

The advantage of this type of system is that its design means that it is not permanently attached to the roof and does not require a large load to be placed around the perimeter. Consequently, it is easy to move. The angle of inclination with respect to the roof level is small in this case and is up to \( 15_{}^{o}\textrm{} \).