Ground mount cost per watt or $/panel

ncsolarelectric said:

Is anyone counting labor time as money? My advice is to get an engineer involved

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Ummm, you understand that this is a DIY site? Since you're the CEO of a solar engineering company, is the sole purpose of this advice to line your own pockets?

Danke said:

Do those ground screws work in rocky soil?

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They have some that will split rocks!

Bluedog225 said:

Currentconnected.com


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I would have bought the Corigy from you guys, but the 39.5 width panel limitation for landscape mode rules out the vast majority of high wattage panels, and the Portrait selection still shows as out of stock for months now. I ended up having to go with the similar PowerField buckets that have a 41.3 inch width limit - still somewhat limiting but the extra 1.8 inches gives a lot more options for panels. Unfortunately the PowerField only supports landscape oriented mounting. If you ever get the portrait orientation option in stock I just might pick them up as my panel area is primarily limited in width so portrait orientation would allow me to fit more panels.

I do love this type of solution in general though. I understand why some don't but in the right situation they are great. No pouring concrete, no wrenching, welding, etc. If you are in an HOA like I am and they restrict what can be visible above the walls around the yard, these are nice and low and discreet. I just bought like 2000 pounds of sand and made 50 pound sand bags - made it easy to just put several bags in each one for the ballast weight. If and when we ever move, instead of having a permanent array mount to leave behind, I can just pack it all up and move the array to a new property and Bob's your uncle, as they say

@HighTechLab - will you ever be getting the portrait mounting version of the Corigy's back in stock, or do you just have what you have?

For some numbers.. Sinclair galvanized tilt-able 30 panel ground mount for 480W bifacials with 5"-6" vertical gap between bottom and top row was $4182 + shipping in June of 2023. So that comes out to $0.29/watt for a tilt-able mount that would last longer than the lifetime of those panels.

I probably over-built mine, 3" schedule 40 in a 10" hole about 3.5 feet in the ground filled with concrete. Made to accommodate larger panels when I can afford them. Still working on getting the wiring into the ground and conduit.

It worked out to about .40¢ a watt to mount, much higher than others here. I purchased and installed each one them, one at a time, delivery was free on all items or included in the cost. There is 400w on each, and designed to hold newer larger panels, I just don't have the money for them now and prices are only coming down.

They now take up the space where a very old decrepit tree once was. That was loads of fun to remove.

I think joining those pipes has some significant advantages in terms of stability.

(Work in progress)

rhino said:

For some numbers.. Sinclair galvanized tilt-able 30 panel ground mount for 480W bifacials with 5"-6" vertical gap between bottom and top row was $4182 + shipping in June of 2023. So that comes out to $0.29/watt for a tilt-able mount that would last longer than the lifetime of those panels.

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Add about $1K to that price at the end of 2023. I was quoted $5100 for a 30 panel mount plus freight. Price quoted was Dec 6th, 2023.

Bluedog225 said:

I think joining those pipes has some significant advantages in terms of stability.

(Work in progress)View attachment 196011

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Where did you get your pole mounting hardware. Is that 4" pipe ?

This is probably the cheapest per panel mount I could find.


Look for the tilt mount