Panel Mounting Options?

[pr3dat0r6sic6]

Hi all,

First off, I want to thank everyone for their help so far in my DIY solar journey. The members have been extremely helpful.
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered from Signature Solar and received:

• 16 × Solarever 455W Split-Cell Mono PERC Solar Panels (Dimensions: 82.44 x 40.86 x 1.37 in)Link to panels
• 40 × 6in Asphalt Mini Rail With Flashing Roof Mount for PanelLink to mounts

Their support helped me with the following layout suggestion:



I worked with my permit plan designer to move them more north to have more room to potentially add more panels in the future:



I started installing the mounts last weekend. The Signature Solar rep who helped me with the layout and purchase said the mounts should be installed on the sides of the panels. I'm just confused because the panels are about 82.5" wide when in landscape. My rafters are 24" OC. So, the edges of the panel don't line up with the rafters. Do I need to add blocking under the roof so that those mounts hit a stud?

I made a drawing to scale as best I could to show what I'm talking about:


Additionally, are there any advantages or disadvantages to mounting panels in portrait vs landscape mode? I think I might have to go portrait mode with the mounts clamping to the top and bottom of the panels unless you have a better solution?

I appreciate any advice or suggestions you can provide!

Thank you!

 

[wpns]

What mounts are you using? Usually the mounts are on the rafters, and hold the rails, and then then panels are mounted to the rails.

How are your existing panels mounted?

 

[ThaiTaffy]

As wpns stated and going off your 2nd attachment(mounting plan) the rails should be mounted perpendicular to your rafters then the panels mounted to the rails, seems the plan indicates 8 lengths of rails with 7 mounting points to rafters per rail.

 

[Q-Dog]

I looked at these and decided they would not work for my install because I would need to leave spaces between rows to make things line up. The spacing is determined by the size of your panels and the spacing of your rafters. The picture on the front page of the manual shows exactly how this works.

 

[pr3dat0r6sic6]

What mounts are you using? Usually the mounts are on the rafters, and hold the rails, and then then panels are mounted to the rails.

How are your existing panels mounted?

These are them.

6in Asphalt Mini Rail With Flashing Roof Mount for Panel | Black

The 6in Asphalt Mini Rail with Flashing Roof Mount provides a secure and weather-resistant solution for mounting solar panels on asphalt roofs, ensuring stability and durability while maximizing energy production.

signaturesolar.com

According to the manual for the mounts the attachment points have to be 200mm - 500mm from the edge of the panel.
So, the size of the safe zone area is:

19.69 inches − 7.87 inches = 11.82in
I went back to my drawing and added in green the safe zone:


It seems my options are:
1. mount them as shown with a gap between the columns of panels. There will be some wasted space. Not too big of a deal though this part of the roof isn't visible from the street so it wouldn't bother me too much visually.
2. Add blocking so I'm hitting a stud and mount the panels with no gap. I don't know what code would say about this if anything. The low pitch roof there is not much space in the attic so this doesn't sound fun to do.
3. Order different mounting hardware.

 

[wpns]

These are them.

6in Asphalt Mini Rail With Flashing Roof Mount for Panel | Black

The 6in Asphalt Mini Rail with Flashing Roof Mount provides a secure and weather-resistant solution for mounting solar panels on asphalt roofs, ensuring stability and durability while maximizing energy production.

signaturesolar.com

According to the manual for the mounts the attachment points have to be 200mm - 500mm from the edge of the panel.
So, the size of the safe zone area is:

19.69 inches − 7.87 inches = 11.82in
I went back to my drawing and added in green the safe zone:
View attachment 229502

It seems my options are:
1. mount them as shown with a gap between the columns of panels. There will be some wasted space. Not too big of a deal though this part of the roof isn't visible from the street so it wouldn't bother me too much visually.
2. Add blocking so I'm hitting a stud and mount the panels with no gap. I don't know what code would say about this if anything. The low pitch roof there is not much space in the attic so this doesn't sound fun to do.
3. Order different mounting hardware.

Option 1 sounds like your best bet, no gap means stress with temperature changes.

 

[wpns]

These are them.

So it just comes with that little section of rail and you have to get everything to line up perfectly?

 

[Q-Dog]

I would ditch those and use a real engineered rail system with flashed feet mounted into the rafters. You will have fewer penetrations through the roof and have a tighter install. Additionally, if you ever need to replace panels you may not have to change the existing rails and mounts.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

Wow that seems like a pita I would have mounted a normal rail set to them as pictured in the design then mounted it to the roof on every joist.

 

[pr3dat0r6sic6]

Guess that's what I get for just going with what signature solar rep picked out for me