Insane quotes for ground mount
- Thread starter diygm
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whatwhatcom
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No idea on the production quality of these, has anyone ever tried them?
signaturesolar.com
EG4 BrightMount Solar Panel Ground Mount Rack Kit | 4 Panel Ground Mount | Adjustable Angle (Pre-Order)
Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL
signaturesolar.com
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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No idea on the production quality of these, has anyone ever tried them?
EG4 BrightMount Solar Panel Ground Mount Rack Kit | 4 Panel Ground Mount | Adjustable Angle (Pre-Order)
Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL
Robert Vinson
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EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
I bought the Premier MD140PHD. The lighter ones won't hold up on your 4707 (love that tractor) and you have plenty hydraulic flow for it. I bought an 18" and 9" auger. Already had a 12" I adapted from an old 3 pt auger. I've found I only use the 18" about 90% of the time. My neighbor had a 24" I used for the posts for my leanto (in the picture). I could see using one sometimes but it isn't worth buying one to me.
There is a Premier dealer about 2 hours from me. You can check their website for local dealers but they may sell direct if there isn't one close.
Earth Auger Drive Units | Premier Auger
Our hydraulic earth augers are easily adapted for use with a wide variety of equipment, offering a solution to meet every demand, however simple or complex.
www.premierattach.com
stratmister
New Member
These figures seem outrageous but are they actually, how much do you feel it should cost? You won't be able to save on the materials, cost of rebar, concrete and metalworks, might even cost you more since you can only purchase retail. Of course if you put in all the elbow grease you'll save on labor, digging, trenching, setting up rebar for footings, pouring concrete and the mounts. I think if you did all that yourself you might save half that cost in best case scenario.
Assuming not some DIY wood structure you might actually be able to save on materials since there is wide variations in what is available for "ground mounts" and how exactly they are designed. You either have large heavy steel pipes that typically aren't galvanized and cost a lot to have them galvanized or have to source lots of small 2" - 3" pipes (or similar) and put lots of parts together just for the structural components. That's why I was totally impressed with what Sinclair Designs is doing since they make ALL of the structural components themselves for a ground mount and send it out in one shipment. All of the structural components are galvanized to boot. I was quoted $6500 including shipping for a 13kW ground mount. You still have to install it obviously but that it by far the cheapest highest quality ground mount I've come across.
Very possible to do yourself. I also have to deal with Chinook winds on the front range and my mounts have worked well for 23+ years. I started with top of pole mounts (Two Seas, who is no longer around) and found their mount a bit lacking. So it was reinforced with some additional 2" pipe set in concrete and additional angle/steel channel at the top and bottom. If I had it to do again, would probably build the the whole thing from scratch. Probably something like 3" pipe posts and some steel (pipe or channel) for cross braces/runs. You will want to go at least to below frost line in your area, and possibly deeper. My original top of pole mount called for an 8" diam steel pipe set 6' in the ground. I can tell you that multiple smaller pipes not as deep would have been far easier and likely cheaper too. I know of a few folks that could not dig down deep enough and had an engineered buried concrete slab spec'd by an engineer.
Might be worthwhile to run whatever design you choose by an engineer. Or pay them to sit down with you and work the numbers for your design and/or share how similar designs in your area were done. As you know, our winds can't be ignored.
Might be worthwhile to run whatever design you choose by an engineer. Or pay them to sit down with you and work the numbers for your design and/or share how similar designs in your area were done. As you know, our winds can't be ignored.
MichaelK
Solar Wizard
WindWizard
Solar Enthusiast
I did my ground mounts with 2" galvanized pipe concreted 4 feet into the ground. I put the galvanized pipe into two 8" x 4' concrete tubes. I purchased most everything at home depot. It comes in around $500 or so for three panels. We have had some heavy winds and they seem to have held up so far. If you are interested then let me know and I can help with the details. They are adjustable so you can get the right angle for the month of the year.
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Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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I still believe in triangles. I would make those two uprights bipod or tripod, which would be infinitely stronger. And then perhaps double the number of panels per array.
I also made use of an existing chain-link fence, which has thinner walled pipe. That, I used a funnel and poured concrete inside the posts to prevent kinking, like bollards.
I also made use of an existing chain-link fence, which has thinner walled pipe. That, I used a funnel and poured concrete inside the posts to prevent kinking, like bollards.
stratmister
New Member
looks very nice, care to elaborate on the movable functions?
Zwy
Solar Wizard
3 foot diameter holes, 8.5 feet in the ground. Pipe is 6" SCH80. Next one I'm using 7" oil rig pipe, it's cheap.
Engineering design report states at 104mph wind there is 72,000 lbs of force at the bottom of the pole with the panels installed.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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The down side of being surrounded by trees is that they block the sun in the early morning and late evening. The upside is that they block the wind. 
ChillnGrill
Solar Enthusiast
My mount to satisfy my building department was 8650.00
MichaelK
Solar Wizard
The bottome T-section of the array frame is a 4" schedule 40 pipe that sits on top of a 3.5" schedule 40 pipe sunk 3' in concrete. This allows the frame to be rotated left-right to track the sun from East to West. The vertical panel members are welded to the horizontal portion of the T-section with hinges, so the frame can be tilled up and down to change declination. So, this allows both daily and seasonal adjustments. All members besides the pipe are all either full-channel or half-channel unistruts.
SilverbackMP
Solar Addict
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I have and use a Danhauser designed for low flow. Have like five augers from 9 inch to 24 inch. No issues running it with a Kubota MX5100. Doesn't spin extremely fast but clay will release with a little shake.
It also has mounts available for specific mini exes which will be in my future (I want the Kubota 057). I will just add some flow restrictors for this or for use on a higher GPM skid loader.
OzSolar
Whatever you did, that's what you planned.
Way back in the day when panels were $4/watt it made a lot $ense to pull out all the string on both automatic and manually adjustable racking. But now just a little bit of shopping around and buying in roughly 5kW increments you can have new panels delivered to you door for less than 50 cents/watt including shipping and liftgate if needed. Used panel in 10kW increments can possibly be had for 30 cents or less I suspect.
Anyway... if you've got the room it can make more sense to oversize your array than to fiddle around with season adjustment or tracking. Watts are cheaper than concrete and steel.
Anyway... if you've got the room it can make more sense to oversize your array than to fiddle around with season adjustment or tracking. Watts are cheaper than concrete and steel.
Zwy
Solar Wizard
Yes and No.
Around here we get this fluffy white stuff that sticks to PV panels. My array is tilted in winter to 65 degrees off horizontal. White stuff doesn't stick to the panels well. I can go to a town 3.5 miles from here with fixed around 45 degrees, they go for days or even weeks if it is cold, and that white stuff is glued on there. No so bad with micro inverters, which those panels have, but not good for my 8 panel series strings.
Adding more PV won't get that white stuff off.
Right now at equinox, 45 degree tilt. Summer solstice 30 degrees. I can also drive my lawnmower under it. There is this green stuff that comes out of the ground that gets long if it isn't cut and I'm not getting sheep.
Rather than a really heavy duty ground mount, wouldn't you be money ahead and solar ahead to create opposing ground mounts, mounted on a 45 degree angle, running north>south? Like an "A" frame? This design would eliminate uplift because the panels facing east and the panels facing west would shield each other from the wind.
It seems like you could install such a system with basic mounts and spend your saved money on more solar panels and therefore more production? Interested in feedback for such a design?
It seems like you could install such a system with basic mounts and spend your saved money on more solar panels and therefore more production? Interested in feedback for such a design?
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