diy solar

diy solar

IntegraRack: Ground Mount with Epoxy Ground Stakes and Ballast Options

The IntegraRack seems fine if you have a perfectly flat surface to work with. My ground mount sits on sloping land with undulations, and putting IntegraRack in such a location would be more trouble than its worth. It is also much simpler to attach conduit and boxes to PT wood.
 
Will Prowse said:
So going by current comments, people really just want the cheapest possible rack. Is there anything else you guys care about?

And clearance for snow and weedwhacker
Click to expand...
It's not so much the "cheapest possible" as much as "best value" where all the parts required (conduit, concrete, epoxy, et al) is added in is more important. That racking is nice, and the way the notches and clamps work is a great idea, but considering it's adding $100+ to the cost of each panel really hurts the value. As mentioned, on perfectly flat land it's great but if your dirt isn't straight you're making concrete footers for each one just like the Bright stuff and that adds in.

I keep thinking of the kits that come with different connectors that bolt to standard 2in pipe (Ironridge?) and what kind of value that provides. That would be an interesting comparison and really useful, even if it was just napkin math on a whiteboard. Say you had 16 panels, X would be the total cost of System-X, any Y would be the same panels on System-Y and so on including pressure treated lumber in the math.

As you have pointed out many times in your videos, Value is more important than Cost alone, or we'd only be buying crap batteries and PWM controllers and the like.

Also, open pipe and wasps are going to happen! 🥺
 
Last edited:
Will, do you or the company know of any solar/PV/structural engineers who will put a stamp on a plan that includes this mount? My area needs wind load of 120 mph and permit.
 
Drunk Engineer said:
The IntegraRack seems fine if you have a perfectly flat surface to work with. My ground mount sits on sloping land with undulations, and putting IntegraRack in such a location would be more trouble than its worth. It is also much simpler to attach conduit and boxes to PT wood.
Click to expand...
That's what I was seeing as well. We've used a pretty innovative racking system from Osprey a couple of times. It's actually pretty impressive how well it handles uneven terrain. It's pricey but as has been mentioned if you really take a look at the total cost, particularly when you're paying contractors to dig footings and pour concrete it's not that bad.

Zero mechanical civil work was required at any of the sites we did them at. We did use a shovel and get the top 3" of grass out of the way from under the footplates.

Big adjustments happen with telescoping legs that pin into place and the fine adjustments happen with something akin to a trailer jack.

No concrete or ballast, they are held down with "duckbill anchors".

No affiliation with them in anyway, just sharing this as something that I found really interesting.

 
OzSolar said:
That's what I was seeing as well. We've used a pretty innovative racking system from Osprey a couple of times. It's actually pretty impressive how well it handles uneven terrain. It's pricey but as has been mentioned if you really take a look at the total cost, particularly when you're paying contractors to dig footings and pour concrete it's not that bad.

Zero mechanical civil work was required at any of the sites we did them at. We did use a shovel and get the top 3" of grass out of the way from under the footplates.

Big adjustments happen with telescoping legs that pin into place and the fine adjustments happen with something akin to a trailer jack.

No concrete or ballast, they are held down with "duckbill anchors".

No affiliation with them in anyway, just sharing this as something that I found really interesting.

Click to expand...
Thank you for showing a new option for me to consider! This type of post is helpful for me and my search this year. I appreciate it!
 
glandpuck said:
Will, do you or the company know of any solar/PV/structural engineers who will put a stamp on a plan that includes this mount? My area needs wind load of 120 mph and permit.
Click to expand...
It has a wind rating of 150mph. The clamps are not UL, but they plan to be soon.
 
I'm finishing up my brightmount now and it only took an entire year and blood, sweat, and tears.

That's with some pretty big breaks of course, but between all the project stages it's at least several project days for even a competent DIYer I think. The way I did involved: Power augering footers, setting and aligning sonotubes, the concrete poor and anchor setting, and finally assembling.

Each of those are like two project days for me, especially aligning the sonotubes that was a painstaking process. And it involves setting the anchor bolts along a string line during the concrete pour. All that is paying off now during assembly though which is going well.
 
ScrotusGobbleBottom said:
No thanks. It looks ghetto. :)
Click to expand...
Darn, I wish you could post actual alternative solutions here to help the community. It has to look a lot less "ghetto" than the IntegraRack as you claimed, so I would love for you to substantiate that claim with evidence. Or else your post does not really help anyone.
 
hwy17 said:
I'm finishing up my brightmount now and it only took an entire year and blood, sweat, and tears.

That's with some pretty big breaks of course, but between all the project stages it's at least several project days for even a competent DIYer I think. The way I did involved: Power augering footer, setting and aligning sonotubes, the concrete poor and anchor setting, and finally assembling.

Each of those are like two project days for me, especially aligning the sonotubes that was a painstaking process. And it involves setting the anchor bolts along a string line during the concrete pour. All that is paying off now during assembly though which is going well.
Click to expand...
How much was the total project cost? How much was the concrete?

Yeah, it's a lot of work for the brightmount. Anyone with experience setting that thing up understands haha
 
Will Prowse said:
How much was the total project cost? How much was the concrete?
Click to expand...
If you don't count the auger and concrete mixer equipment, it was maybe $150 in sonotubes, bagged concrete, rebar, and galvanized L Bolt anchors and bolts per brightmount kit.

If you add all the labor though lol, quadruple the entire cost.
 
hwy17 said:
If you don't count the auger and concrete mixer equipment, it was maybe $150 in sonotubes, bagged concrete, and galvanized L Bolt anchors and bolts per brightmount kit.

If you add all the labor though lol, quadruple the entire cost.
Click to expand...
:ROFLMAO: Indeed.
 
Will Prowse said:
It has to look a lot less "ghetto" than the IntegraRack
Click to expand...
I didnt say or imply that. Its probably equal. The rack is simply some used, dug up, trimmed, sanded, painted 1-5/8ths fence posts with U clamps holding unistrut. I guess that was a lot of work prepping the posts. But its Green! Recycled and solar.

As I mentioned in another message, I would love to replace it with something more nice.
 
42OhmsPA said:
Ever see those DIY workbench kits at the hardware store that you just add 2x4s and make a bench?
I could see something like that that uses pipe or strut to put together your own rack being a hot seller if implemented correctly. Would keep shipping costs low and allow end use to source the pipe / strut locally.
Click to expand...

This is a timely thread for me as I'm trying to do a new ground mount. While looking into ways to do it I bumped into several versions of the below kit. An angled single slope option would be really nice but I didn't find any.

www.vevor.com

VEVOR Woodwork Pergola Kit Elevated Wood Stand Kit with Steel Brackets Modular Sizing Pergola Brackets Boot, Shoulder and Lag Bolts for Hunting Blind, Deer Stand Bracket 4 x 4 inches | VEVOR US

Upgrade your outdoor space with VEVOR Pergola Kit, featuring powder-coated carbon steel for rust resistance and easy-install brackets for a stable build.
www.vevor.com www.vevor.com
 
OzSolar said:
This is a timely thread for me as I'm trying to do a new ground mount. While looking into ways to do it I bumped into several versions of the below kit. An angled single slope option would be really nice but I didn't find any.

www.vevor.com

VEVOR Woodwork Pergola Kit Elevated Wood Stand Kit with Steel Brackets Modular Sizing Pergola Brackets Boot, Shoulder and Lag Bolts for Hunting Blind, Deer Stand Bracket 4 x 4 inches | VEVOR US

Upgrade your outdoor space with VEVOR Pergola Kit, featuring powder-coated carbon steel for rust resistance and easy-install brackets for a stable build.
www.vevor.com www.vevor.com
Click to expand...
Did you look at Iron Ridge or these?

Solar Panel Racking Systems | Hollaender Mfg Co

Find Your Solar Fittings Speed-Rail® Pipe Fittings for Solar Mounting Systems Hollaender® designs and manufactures structural aluminum pipe fittings…
www.hollaender.com www.hollaender.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
Looking for ground Mount opinions + solar pathfinder?
Replies
24
Views
2K
Nan_wpg
N
K
Ground mount ballast type
Replies
16
Views
969
Lt.Dan
Lt.Dan
Disturbedfuel15
Used vs new panels for roof mount
Replies
15
Views
733
Quattrohead
Quattrohead
U
Qcells Q.TRON XL-G2 and similar larger format bifacial panels for ground mount
Replies
2
Views
133
uvtinkerer
U
L
Cheapest possible galvanised steel ground mount.
Replies
3
Views
459
Luk88
L

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top