DIY Ground Mount Solar System

[Sader762]

Got all panels installed the last two days and now starting to work on the distribution boxes.

 

[TK1979]

Got all panels installed the last two days and now starting to work on the distribution boxes.

Looking good!

 

[DrewLoker]

Yes, that footing is below grade to accommodate the electrical to that central location. ..I think I’m pretty good here.

I am glad Hedges said something. I was looking to see if the concrete grade had been brought up. It may last longer than you, but at least here in SETexas, if the steel (or wood) is below grade, it is going to give way. I have learned the hard way with wood and steel...and it didn't take 10+ years. I would at least keep the area clear...don't back fill dirt on top of the concrete. And level it out, with a way for water to escape eventually.

Looking awesome!!

 

[Sader762]

I am glad Hedges said something. I was looking to see if the concrete grade had been brought up. It may last longer than you, but at least here in SETexas, if the steel (or wood) is below grade, it is going to give way. I have learned the hard way with wood and steel...and it didn't take 10+ years. I would at least keep the area clear...don't back fill dirt on top of the concrete. And level it out, with a way for water to escape eventually.

Looking awesome!!

Help me out here because I’m pretty confused. How can Sinclair ground mounts be directly driven into the ground without concrete but yet 6 feet of concrete with 8” of dirt on top will cause them to rust out? I’m genuinely confused on that. Also, professional installers (like Engineer 775 Scott) has installed many of these the same way I did. Not attacking, asking the for experienced input with the Sinclair Skyrack 2.0 systems.

 

[Sader762]

I’ve been on vacation so no new updates.

hoping to have everything outside done this week and I will start on the shop inside section this week. I’ll post pics of my progress as I can.

 

[Millennium]

I'm curious, don't y'all have Blue Stake, or a similar company, that comes out and marks utility lines before you dig?
This is a free service in AZ.

Arizona Blue Stake is now Arizona 811!​

That’s the message Arizona 811 is sharing statewide in 2015 as it began its 41st year with a new name, new look and new logo.
Established in 1974, Arizona 811 celebrated four decades of service in 2014 by changing its name to include “811” – the national number to call so utilities can be marked before digging. That’s right – no matter what state you’re digging in, just call 811 to “know what’s below” at your dig site.

 

[RV10flyer]

You, sir, have not experienced home ownership in rural America. There is no natural gas within about an hour's drive of our home but probably 90% or more of the homes around us have one or more propane tanks. Our property has two homes on it (we live in one, the other is a guest house). There are two 500-gallon above-ground propane tanks sitting about 25' from one of those homes (the legal minimum), feeding that building and the nearby backup generator. But there's also a pipe running underground behind that closest building, then under the lawn of the other building, to feed main building #2. It must be 100 feet in length, and figuring out its exact path was a big headache after we purchased the property four years ago and installed an underground electric line to from the generator to the guest house. That's likely the type of line the OP is referencing, and they're very common in our part of the world. A truck pulls up and refills the tanks as needed, but where we live, that truck may need to wait a month or more to get in here if we have a major ice storm, which explains the big tanks.

BTW, we also built an exercise studio across the driveway from our house last year, which is where I installed my off grid solar. To heat it, we went with a propane direct-vent wall furnace (Rinnai), which is possibly the single most common heating appliance I see in our area. It's only 50-70 feet from those big propane tanks, but neither we nor the propane supplier wanted to run a line to it because we would have needed to cross the main electric line from the utility, and no one wanted to tackle that trenching job. So, in went two 120-gallon "fat boy" tanks, which can sit right beside the building (in a wife-approved location out behind it, actually). And when I build my new office later this year, after a lot of internal debate about how to heat it, what will I install? Yep - more propane, with yet another tank.

I've been trying like a madman to figure out how to reasonably create enough solar to power AND HEAT a new home we're building (7 miles from this property), without using propane or oil. Much harder than you'd think if you want to avoid the grid and don't wish to heat with wood. Propane here is a way of life come winter.

52,000W seem to work out for me. ??

 

[DrewLoker]

Help me out here because I’m pretty confused. How can Sinclair ground mounts be directly driven into the ground without concrete but yet 6 feet of concrete with 8” of dirt on top will cause them to rust out? I’m genuinely confused on that. Also, professional installers (like Engineer 775 Scott) has installed many of these the same way I did. Not attacking, asking the for experienced input with the Sinclair Skyrack 2.0 systems.

I THINK under ideal circumstances, it is probably not a challenge, and, even if in a wet location, would outlive me (not sure how old you are). But metal rusts, even galvanized, especially if below grade, and routinely wet. The product may be RATED or even guaranteed for ground contact, and lots of people do it, but generally speaking, if I put posts in to concrete, I have learned the hard way, metal and wood, to get the concrete above grade.

Take away? I wouldn't worry about it...but if you can, don't pile the dirt up over the concrete. And really, got no data on this, but the top point where the concrete is exposed, that is were it will rust out, on thinner gauge metal for sure. Maybe a directly driven post, with out concrete would actually have less of a chance of it rusting out.

I think the posts I have that rusted out, even though galvanized steel, did so because the concrete let the water sit right at the metal. Direct ground would have dried out faster, usually. So, I have learned to slope the concrete, and get it above grade.

But, having said all this, just noticed your posts, and it occurred to me to say something. I am still learning though. And, I am in SE Texas (not sure where in Tx you are), and with the humidity, things rust quick. Not like west Texas, where iron sits around slowly rusting for 100+ years.

Cheers!!

 

[Fisherguy66]

Little late to the game but where did you get your manual linear actuators for the tilting mechanism?
Thanks

 

[ksmithaz1]

Propane - I have 2 500 gallon tanks that I OWN.

Yes, that footing is below grade to accommodate the electrical to that central location. Seven of the nine posts are at or just below grade. This is precisely the way I have seen many people do this on YouTube videos, including Scott/engineer 775 do many of his earlier projects that had ground mount solar systems. This is a Sinclair sky rack 2.0 ground mount solar array. It is meant to be directly driven into the ground without any concrete if you have the ability to do so. I think I’m pretty good here.

The problem is once you pour concrete you just created a moisture sponge. Driving directly into soil water dissipates evenly assuming fairly regular consistency in your soil. Once you dig out a bucket and fill it with cement, water likes to collect and stay there, it will actually leech the moisture out of the surrounding soil.. Over time this will create issues with any post/pillar system, wood or steel, or whatever. This is minimized if you bring the concrete above grade and crown it.

If your ground perks really well and it isn't too rainy, and you don't have irrigation, and it drains well, you are probably Ok.