Post your Ground Mount Setup: No questions or comments on the setup. (pictures only)

[revinger]

i have two separate systems. one for garage/shop and the other for the house. oldest panels are the smaller pole mounts that went up in 1999. others have been added in batches. all of the like sized panels on ground mounts have been added in the last 12 months.

ground mounts are eco-worthy mounts bolted to retaining wall blocks with additional ballast on top of each leg.

i hand dug the hole for the big pole mounts by hand 17 years ago. was. it interested in repeating that level of effort again

house has around 7kw of PV and shop around 3kw

 

[Banjoman]

 

[SpeakItAloud]

I live at 45.86° lat. in NE South Dakota. My solar room is in the machinery shed, which is 50' from the power isolation switch on our power pole, and I run a cord to plug into the receptacle for the house and farm buildings. The best location I have is on the South wall of this building for the solar panels. This is the only large, unshaded, South-facing roof on the farm, but the metal roof is not sloped enough to shed the snow we receive each winter, and it is too high and dangerous to brush panels off if mounted on the roof.
Last year I mounted panels to plywood and hinged them on the side of the wall, and I was then able to change the angle to keep them perpendicular to the Sun. However, it didn't make that much difference whether it was perpendicular or flat against the wall, so that is the reason it is how it is now. I will take the 900W of hinged panels down and mount twelve 430W panels in its place.
The bi-facial panels, that I had mounted vertically on steel fence posts, I mounted on the Eco-Worthy dual-axis, which will power the Airspool mini-split that will supply heat in the cold months (advertised even down to -22F) and keep the batteries cool in the hot months. Though, our temperatures often drop to -40F or less for a few days every year, so I will use an axillary heater again this year.

UPDATED 10-10-25
Completed adding the 4750W solar panels. It was difficult alone and it took me about 2 per day for 5 days as weather allowed. Almost completed my "solar room" in the machinery shed. Just have to wire it, add the Airspool mini-split, and make the door. I hope to have it completed this month. It will save approximately $4800 in electricity costs per year for the farm. The savings should cover the equipment build in less than 5 years.

 

[MountainMatt]

30 Aptos 410w/513-bifacial black frame and black Integra Rack Ballast 40°.

 

[oppyland]

Just finished installing today. I used 3 of the Eco-Worthy kits. The kits have short pieces of unistrut for the horizontal pieces, which have too many splices and tend to sag, so I replaced them with 10' sections from my local Menards. The bases are called "deck blocks" also from Menards. I have 8 - 400w panels mounted to this array. It's very sturdy.

 

[Flunkyboi]

Well, the first array was like a gateway drug. Back in April I got my solar shack up and running. This week I doubled the array on the Shack, but instead of being the roof material, the addition is a wood ground array. Today, these new panels were out performing the roof array. 2430w possible, but it was providing over 2kw. I'm happy.

 

[haro450]

Array is 44 panels at 410 watts. They are Bi-facial not sure if ill get much off the backside. Waiting on Power company to change over meter. Already passed county inspection.

 

[haro450]

Very nicely done! I seriously considered doing this recently on my 24'x16' rear patio (1/2 faces South) or on my south facing wrap-arounds. For various reasons I decided against & to go with my self designed ground mounts with pillow block bearings & spring cross pins for 1/4ly single manual tracking.

So in curious, is the middle a water flow channel? Maybe a bit of air flow in to the outdoor living space as well?

The original intention was to have a covered water proof parking area for boats and equipment. But it is far from water proof even with weather stripping along the edge of every panel. I think there is to much inconsistency in the lumber for it to be water proof. panels are attached to structure using Unistrut. The building in the background is a shop not a house. The array itself is tied to a 40 ft connex. The connex is 8ft tall. Array face is roughly 42ft by 20ft.

 

[XeonPony]

Hello, I am a refuge from Other power forum (RIP)

Been off grid for over 10 years.

1.5Kw Fixed, 540watt tracking

 

[XeonPony]

My very first system: Whopping 120 watts in theory, I never saw better then 50 watts out of it with a Mppt 15amp Morning star

BC, Sunshine Coast.

 

[jamalc6996]

 

[SA_LS]

Progression of my array. Started with 12 Q Cells 420s expanded to 16 and ended up for now with 24 total in 2 strings.

 

[drps10]

Wow, I didn’t think this would be as big of a thread when I thought about it! Nonetheless, I finally get to contribute!
Northern Ohio - 30 panels 410w. 50’ wide 30* angle. Ready Rack Solar about $4000 (2025 prices)

 

[CJ Solar]

30 panels 530w, still cutting trees, trenching, conduit and wire.

 

[oldguynewsolar]

West facing addition to 10.8Kw south facing arrays. 9x450 bifacial panels (with planned Tigo optimizers). 4 6"x6"x8' posts buried in 2' of concrete. Iron Ridge XR10 racking (great stuff!) and 12ga Suoerstrut bracing. Cross arms to be used in lay flat configuration for storm mode. Rack is adjustable from 60 to 15 degrees seasonally. Only 9 panels since the EG4 MPPT 100-48HV MPPT CHARGER says it cannot take 10! Fun build.

 

[Hedges]

 

[spiker611]

Here's a video of putting the panels up:

36x 570W bifacial panels on a Sinclar mount. Hired a team to pound the posts and did the rest myself.

 

[solarcells]

Here's a more artisanal build featuring a 500W bifacial solar panel powering a small 12V water pump attached to an IBC tote.

Not pictured, I’ve since added a diagonal brace to further support the two posts driven a meter into the ground.

 

[Kenny_]

Well Okay goin' on two years and still propping my panels up on old fence posts....I really should build some kind of more permanent mount I guess...

 

[greg2k]

IronRidge mounting system on 2" galvanized pipe sourced locally. 18 footers 4.5' deep per the design tool. 100 80-lb bags of concrete was the hardest part.

 

[PowTon]

Goals:
"Temporary," floating, terrain following, cost, time effective, 1 man easy build from inexpensive and recycled materials, 115 wind load.
Materials and method:
All wood is #2 prime pressure treated. The backbone is a double 2x4 beam glued and screwed. The upper structure is glued, screwed and simson hurricane tied. Cinder blocks provide the base. The ground is mildly uneven and on a 10 degree westerly angle. The cinder blocks lay on the ground as the terrain dictates, and the structure is built off of them, in situ. So the structure follows the terrain. Some degree of float is built into the structure so it can move with frost cycles. The beam goes through the top of the cinder blocks. The cinder blocks are cored with concrete on the bottom for weight and strength. Silane/Silocane water sealer was applied to the blocks and an extra layer of concrete paint was applied at the point of ground contact. The base weight of the whole array is good to 80mph. I added weight to get to 115. The weight used was discarded pavers that were in the woods of our property. It kinda ruins the esthetic, but they were free.
The panels are screwd down with #14 structural wood screws and stainless washers. The end panels are attached with inexpensive stainless L brackets off of Amazon.
Wire from array to house is #6 aluminum. Direct burial @ about 45 cents per foot. 1.5% loss at 200 feet. I switch from aluminum to copper using Copkim insulated splice connectors from Amazon inside of a Cantex box from Home Depot. #6 bare copper ground/bonding wire is attached to panels with lugs from ebay. #6 copper runs with the aluminum wire back to the main service panel.
26 450 watt Sungold panels @ 35 degree angle and far enough from the ground for normal snow hight. 4 strings combined into 2. 2 strings of 7 and 2 strings of 6. I left extra room to add up to 10 panels for each string in the future.

​

 

[chill633]

Chiko Maximo 2-Car Carport with 18 x large format Phono Solar 590W bifacial panels for 10,650W nameplate. Finally up and running (and driving) on sunshine!

 

[Shalomhome]

9720 KW or solar. 24 panels total. 2 strings. Going to EG4 6000XP
Home made tilting array. Made with 4x6. 4’ in the ground. With 320lbs of concrete. 8 posts total. 4 on each array.
2x6x10” arms. And unistrut run perpendicular across the 2x6 arms
I’m using unistrut to lock in the adjustable array

 

[rahine]

42.9kW
(60) 715w Canadian Solar (CS7N-715TB-AG)
Sinclair Sky Rack Ground Mount

Installed panels myself hired a crew to do the concrete ballast. To much limestone in my area to dig or drive the post.

 

[Muskoka]

This is the ground mount portion of my system, rest are attached to my totally offgrid camp/house. All posts 45" deep (shovel), (4) 66lb bags of cement per post. Cables in conduit underground to camp/house. Fully adjustable, Dec 21 - 21 degrees, Mar 20 - 44 degrees, Jun 20 - 68 degrees, Sep 22 - 44 degrees. Large string 8 x 445w/495w bifacial going to a 500vdc input, 5500w hybrid SRNE rebranded 5000w inverter/charger. Smaller string is 3 x 265w joining 3 x 265w attached to the house. They feed a Midnite classic 150. Combined (5150w) feed a 24.6kwh LifePo4 battery bank. All panels facing south. Able to run ac all summer long, 24hrs a day, using a 12000btu mini split, plus all other devices, induction cooktop, microwave, fridge, computers, etc. Use the mini split for heat up until it's too cold for the unit to run efficiently. Have a woodstove for 3-4 months over winter, unless it's warm enough outside to run the mini split in heat mode.