Pieces and parts

[Hdonly]

Got my pieces and parts in. Working on the mounting of my four 100 watt panels.

 

[snoobler]

Depending on your peak winds and your panel area, your pole may be insufficient. The pressure loads due to high speed winds on a flat plate on a pole with a moment arm can be pretty impressive. A 30 mph wind perpendicular to that array will put be an 800# load. 50mph would be about 2200#.

If it's 10' in the air, that's 8000 and 22000 ft-lbs of torque, respectively trying to snap the post.

 

[Hdonly]

It's a 10" pole (was a telephone pole) buried six feet in the ground. I will be cutting it off about five feet from ground level. My panels measure about 31/2' x 6'.

 

[snoobler]

I nabbed the size from Renogy's specs somewhere. 23 sq-ft in total after rounding, so if they're really 3.5x6, then loads will be about 10% lower.

 

[Hdonly]

Well, my panel mount survived Hurricane Sally. I didn't get much more than 45-50 mph winds here. I watched my panels out of my window. The shook a little bit, but not too much. Everything looks good after it was all over.

 

[Hdonly]

So many projects going on (and I am getting older and slower), but I finally got my panels, charge controller and batteries hooked up. I read somewhere that recommended a disconnect on the panels. I found this 60amp 220vac disconnect at Home Dpot for less than $9.00. Pulled the guts out of the box and mounted it on my board. Now to get the rest of this project done.