diy solar

diy solar

Does a suitable roof hook exist?

X

xt600

New Member
Joined
May 23, 2024
Messages
5
Location
Cornwall UK
I'm trying to fit rails to a concrete tiled roof. This adjustable hook sits 20mm off the tile at it's lowest setting, which simply won't work. I need a hook with a lower height, 30mm would give me a 5mm clearance off the tile. I can't seem to find anything suitable, has anyone here experience with concrete tiled roofs?
 

Attachments

  • hook.jpg
    hook.jpg
    358.3 KB · Views: 11
What is the need for a lower hook? An air gap under the panels will aid in cooling and with result in a higher PV yield.

20mm is not very far off the roof, and IMO probably not high enough.
 
robby said:
I used Quick Hooks low profile version on new clay tiles.
They are not cheap but they are super strong.
https://www.solarelectricsupply.com/solar-panel-mounts/roof-mounts/quick-mount-pv/quick-hook
You still need to Angle grind off a small bit of the tile covering the hook.
Click to expand...
Thanks Robby, but at 1.89 inches this is too big meaning having to slot and flash each one. Looking for something around 30mm so that it just needs a small amount ground from the underneath of tile.
 
Kuma said:
Dont know if Ironridge is available in the UK. Worked good on my tile roof.

A
Click to expand...

Kuma said:
Dont know if Ironridge is available in the UK. Worked good on my tile roof.

Click to expand...
At 33mm this is the closest so far, but as you say, not available in the UK...
 
Lt.Dan said:
What is the need for a lower hook? An air gap under the panels will aid in cooling and with result in a higher PV yield.

20mm is not very far off the roof, and IMO probably not high enough.
Click to expand...
This is about how the hook sits under/over the tile, not the overall finished height of the panels.
 
If you are trying to get the Tile to lay flat back on the other tiles an be perfectly inline then that is going to be literally impossible. I spent about 10 Hours talking to Hook companies and roofers. You can cut out a bit depth and get a notch on the old time concrete tiles but Clay Spanish tiles are much thinner.
In a proper installation the tile that the hook comes under is going to be lifted up a bit but that does not matter. The water still channels away and the tile is still secure and once the Panels go up you won't even see that anyway.

Take @Lt.Dan advice, 30mm is too close to the tiles. You are going to be killing almost all the Air flow under the panels and barbecuing them in the Summer. I put mine at about 40mm to the bottom of the panel from the peak of the tile. This was the lowest height that they would recommend when using their hooks. In hindsight it was kind of a tradeoff to get better aesthetics but I probably would have been better going to 50mm
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Bop
My guess is that they always sit up a bit, unless you want to grind the underside of the tile a bit to sit flush. I think any grinding is risking the integrity of the tiles, mine always break easily.

I've put solar on two houses with tiled roofs.
 
xt600 said:
I'm trying to fit rails to a concrete tiled roof. This adjustable hook sits 20mm off the tile at it's lowest setting, which simply won't work. I need a hook with a lower height, 30mm would give me a 5mm clearance off the tile. I can't seem to find anything suitable, has anyone here experience with concrete tiled roofs?
Click to expand...

I've been working on a plan for a tile roof and built a small section for experimentation. This is in the USA (Florida) and the house has US "W" style tiles. I bought samples of 5 systems, 3 hooks and 2 replacement flashing.

Here are the hooks:

1716692747739.png

The far one is Ironridge All Tile Hook, Middle one is Unirac, closest one is Ironridge Quick hook.

The clear winner is the Ironridge All Tile Hook.

1716692973197.png

The tang is adjustable to 3 lateral positions and has a certain amount of vertical adjustment. In the above photo, it is adjusted to minimum height which just clear the trough of the down slope tile. In this position, the vertical clearance at the tile edge is 33 mm and it slopes up to 41 m by the vertical tang.

You grind out an exit path in the tile f the tang and then it looks like this when done:

1716693254892.png

You don't want the tang to touch the tile so that when it heaves up or down in the wind, it doesn't crack the tile.

The Unirac is way too high and has no adjustment. The Quick hook is too big and costly.

The two replacement flashing types were not good in my view. They replace the tile with a metal flashing and it looks ugly. It does save the tile grinding, but that is really not that bad and the metal flashing has extra steps to put down.

I have no idea what the legal and logistical issues would be with using this hook in the UK. The tile there is built to different dimensions I am sure. One thing I notice is that the tile is rarely nailed or screwed down, it seems to be mostly hooked on battens, which makes it easy to lift up and work on.

Mike C.
 
@mciholas that works well with concrete tiles but clay tiles are less than half the thickness, so grinding is not an option.
I picked Quick Hooks because they are twice as thick.
Hurricanes are a concern for me.
 
robby said:
I picked Quick Hooks because they are twice as thick.
Hurricanes are a concern for me.
Click to expand...
Quick Hook is extruded aluminum and depends on ears slid into channels:

1716722374686.png

All Tile Hook is stainless steel which is a much stronger material naturally, roughly 2.5 times as strong per unit size.

In the test reports for the Quick Hook, the failure mode was "broken hook". For the failures in the All Tile Hook, the failure mode was lag bolt pull out. In other words, the All Tile Hook was stronger in the certification testing.

My install is in a hurricane region, west coast of Florida. I have no concerns about the strength of the All Tile Hook. The rails and panels will fail before the hooks do.

Mike C.
 
mciholas said:
Quick Hook is extruded aluminum and depends on ears slid into channels:

View attachment 217720

All Tile Hook is stainless steel which is a much stronger material naturally, roughly 2.5 times as strong per unit size.

In the test reports for the Quick Hook, the failure mode was "broken hook". For the failures in the All Tile Hook, the failure mode was lag bolt pull out. In other words, the All Tile Hook was stronger in the certification testing.

My install is in a hurricane region, west coast of Florida. I have no concerns about the strength of the All Tile Hook. The rails and panels will fail before the hooks do.

Mike C.
Click to expand...
Have you heard of IntegraRack?

IntegraRack IR-T1 No Penetration TileBallast™ Mounting System – Solar Power Distributors

solarpowerdistributors.com solarpowerdistributors.com
 
Siamac said:
Have you heard of IntegraRack?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Studied them with some depth. My comments on them:

diysolarforum.com

IntegraRack IR-T1 No Penetration TileBallast™ Solar Module Mounting System

Has anyone tried these mounts? They're about $12.65 per bracket. You need roughly 2 per panel, and it doesn't include the rail system so you have to get a separate rail system. Maybe Will can do a video? I'm willing to be a 'Guinea Pig'...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com

I could not buy one to try it out or I would have.

There is no way they can hold as well as the tile hooks lagged into rafters. If you live in a low wind place with nicely screwed down tiles, they might work. I don't think they are appropriate for a house in coastal Florida.

Mike C.
 
mciholas said:
Quick Hook is extruded aluminum and depends on ears slid into channels:

View attachment 217720


In the test reports for the Quick Hook, the failure mode was "broken hook". For the failures in the All Tile Hook, the failure mode was lag bolt pull out. In other words, the All Tile Hook was stronger in the certification testing.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to that Report.
I had both side by side and the Quick hook felt a hell of a lot stronger.
BTW there is zero chance of it sliding out of that channel and the channel is thick.
Even if the screw was gone it is such a tight fit that any weight or flex when tightening the panel rail down causes it to lock into the channel.
 

Attachments

  • 1716764661775.png
    1716764661775.png
    71.5 KB · Views: 5
robby said:
Do you have a link to that Report.
Click to expand...
Here:

Loading…

files.ironridge.com

1716782575813.png

All failures are the hook breaking. A lot of force concentrates in the ears that slide in the channel.

robby said:
I had both side by side and the Quick hook felt a hell of a lot stronger.
Click to expand...
Thicker aluminum will feel stronger but not actually be so.

The test report on the All Tile Hook showed failure of the lag bolts in the uplift case, not the hook itself.

Mike C.
 
mciholas said:
I've been working on a plan for a tile roof and built a small section for experimentation. This is in the USA (Florida) and the house has US "W" style tiles. I bought samples of 5 systems, 3 hooks and 2 replacement flashing.

Here are the hooks:

View attachment 217693

The far one is Ironridge All Tile Hook, Middle one is Unirac, closest one is Ironridge Quick hook.

The clear winner is the Ironridge All Tile Hook.

View attachment 217696

The tang is adjustable to 3 lateral positions and has a certain amount of vertical adjustment. In the above photo, it is adjusted to minimum height which just clear the trough of the down slope tile. In this position, the vertical clearance at the tile edge is 33 mm and it slopes up to 41 m by the vertical tang.

You grind out an exit path in the tile f the tang and then it looks like this when done:

View attachment 217699

You don't want the tang to touch the tile so that when it heaves up or down in the wind, it doesn't crack the tile.

The Unirac is way too high and has no adjustment. The Quick hook is too big and costly.

The two replacement flashing types were not good in my view. They replace the tile with a metal flashing and it looks ugly. It does save the tile grinding, but that is really not that bad and the metal flashing has extra steps to put down.

I have no idea what the legal and logistical issues would be with using this hook in the UK. The tile there is built to different dimensions I am sure. One thing I notice is that the tile is rarely nailed or screwed down, it seems to be mostly hooked on battens, which makes it easy to lift up and work on.

Mike C.
Click to expand...
Some good work there Mike :) That Iron ridge hook install in your last pic looks perfect, far neater than any flashing kit. If only it was available in the UK. There's also issues with compatibility with different manufacturers rail systems, and we are encouraged not to mix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Just begining DIY project
Replies
14
Views
558
12VoltInstalls
12VoltInstalls
B
Backup to a generator for prolonged grid down scenario
2
Replies
48
Views
4K
Jim Lee
J
C
Swap Trailer Microwave - Transformer based for Inverter Based Panasonic Microwave.
Replies
3
Views
443
Bud Martin
B
hammertoe1
Hi all - newbie residential DIY solar
Replies
14
Views
840
Hedges
Hedges
A
Getting 100W solar panel and a charge controller to work together
Replies
4
Views
499
Arbee
A

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top