Looking for suggestions for solar panel mounting rails on solar pergola

[Tkmlinus]

Still well in the planning phase, but I'm planning on building an approximately 21 ft wide x 7 ft long solar pergola and looking to mount 8 Hyperion 400 watt bifacial solar panels on it. The panels are 68 in x 44.7 in x 1.18 in. I want to mount them in landscape orientation 4 wide and stacked 2 high. I figure I need two 8 foot rails for each pair of panels, making a total of eight 8 foot rails needed. I am currently looking at the 7 foot sections of Iron Ridge XR100 on Signature solar which I could add a bonded splice along with a 1 foot section to to make 8 foot rails. I figure this way it will run 40-50$ a rail. Are there any better/cheaper options out there that I should look into? Thanks in advance!

 

[42OhmsPA]

I'd look at unistrut / superstrut, some mid clamps, end clamps, bolts, and strut nuts.
Strut prices at electrical supply stores are normally much better than box stores.

If you don't want strut check out Tamarack, NAZ Solar Electric is a great supplier.

 

[rseech02]

Sorry to hijack, but looking to do something similar but larger, was wondering if the rails could replace what would normally be purlins on a diy pergola. More relevant to your question I've also been considering tamarack, sunmodo, and also rail-less, with wooden purlins, quick bolt, qb2's.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I don't see why they couldn't replace them, everything would still get locked together. I'm not an engineer but I tend to over engineer.

 

[GXMnow]

This is what I used on my Pergola build.

Amazon.com

I have no connection with this product other than I spent my own money to buy it and I am very happy with the result.

They have a kit for 4 panels and a kit for 8 panels. The 4 panels is for under 300 watt size though. My 400 watt panels would not fit 4 on the 4 panel kit. I bought one of each (4 and 8 panel kits) and had enough hardware to mount my 10 x 400 watt panels with some rail and clamps left over. I did use all of the L feet though. The price is not bad when you figure in all the hardware included. The "88 inch" rails are almost 89 inches. But keep in mind the splice uses the same slot as the L feet and the panel clamps. So you need to plan out where the feet, panel clamps, and splices will fall to make sure you don't have interference. I spliced 3 rails end to end, but then cut 30 inches off one end and 14 inches off the other end. That moved the splices so the 42 inch wide panels all cleared and I have a few inches of extra rail out each end as well.

If you need a little more than the 4 panel kit, the 8 panel kit is a much better deal. Not only do you get double the rail and panel clamps, you also get 3 times the splices for less than twice the cost.

Not sure I would trust the rail as a complete purlin replacement. They are pretty rigid, but once they do bend, they will lose their strength fast, unlike wood. I have a wood cross bar about every 4 feet to support the rails. These aluminum extruded rails are not as strong as unistrut or super strut, but they are much lighter and all the included hardware is excellent stainless steel and aluminum. It even came with wire clips and grounding lugs.



This was while I was putting them up. The adjustable height panel clamps are a loose fit. I wrapped electrical tape arounf them so the parts would not fall apart while putting the panels on. Once tightened down, the tape serves no purpose. I am sure the weather will get rid of it fairly quick here.