Repurposed harrows to adjustable tilt ground mount

[Gib]

Last December I placed an order for 32 445w solar panels, 2 Growatt inverters and 4 500 watt/hour LiPO4 batteries. The order changed a bit over the next 3 or 4 months. The make and number of panels changed to 36 Canadian Solar bifacial 445w solar panels. The inverters changed to 2 MPP LVX6048WP. The batteries changed to 6 LiFePO4 48V 100Ah rack mount battery packs. I placed the order from the Solar Power Store in Ontario.

From December until May I spent a lot of time checking out DIY ground mounts. Thanks for all the excellent information members on this forum share!
My wife and I were heading to her father's place for Easter dinner. I started to think about using old farm equipment for solar ground mounts. I left the farm 45 years ago so my farm equipment information is a little dated. I started looking in online used farm equipment sites. Eventually I spotted a 60' harrows that I thought I could work with. I called my brother, a retired farmer, and asked him to keep an eye out for used harrows of the type I was looking for. My brother happened to have an old one rusting away at home that I could have!

Attached are a few pictures of the original harrows draw bar and my conversion to adjustable tilt ground mount. I'm adding the panel supports this weekend and will update as I make progress.

 

[koppted]

Do you have, or could you make a video of the you adjusting it?

 

[Gib]

I'm going to test raising and lowering it with the ram when I finish the horizontal panel supports. I'll make a video and post it.

 

[Jordi]

Attention immediately grabbed to this:

 

[Gib]

Lol! My helper.

 

[Turkey Hollow Solar]

Very impressive re-engineering!

What kind of steel is that for the strongbacks you added?

Since the panels are bifacial, it makes sense to not shade the backsides if possible. Looks like your setup could be engineered to accomplish that. I looked, and was unable to find a ground mount system that did not have a strut channels or pipes that shade the backside.

You'll have the first harrows on your street that pays you back just sitting in your yard!

 

[Gib]

The strongbacks are made of 6" x 13' 3" heavy galvanized steel framing studs. I welded two together into an i-beam configuration.

I agree with you about not shading the backsides if possible. I compromised a little for cost. I found a person selling all the studs online for a good price.

In the attached picture I was putting up the first panel. The strongback is out of alignment. I had to remove the sheet metal screws from the horizontal rails and realign the strongback.

 

[Turkey Hollow Solar]

Its a very nice build, and I appreciate that you shared it. American ingenuity at its finest!

It looks like a fun project you have there...and a sensible path to energy independence. After seeing some of the creations people dream up on YouTube...cattle gates, mobile home trailer frames, shipping container hacks, all manner of wood builds, etc....yours gets very high marks for efficient use of material and elegance of the finished product....especially the tilt adjustment capability....that's brilliant!

You'll enjoy the bifacial panels. The output in winter has been very impressive for us, and our array is the first in the neighborhood to be clear of snow. We've paired them with the new APSystems DS3 microinverters, and the energy production is exceeding our expectations.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

Badd azz repurposing here folks. Hydraulics are handy as can be...

I am working on a gear reduction screw drive, "slow motion" tilting rack. the plan is to gear down low enough that it takes about one hour per shift. start first shift at 1000, the next at 1200, 1400, 1800 back to the 1000 position. nice and slow, straight dc with gear boxes and a small drive motor. wish me luck

 

[Gib]

The panels are all mounted! In these pictures I'm trying out the hydraulics. Fully extended, the array is at about 14 degrees off vertical.
I trenched and laid in about 120 feet of 8 conductor 12 awg teck cable yesterday.
I'll focus on finishing all the outside wiring before things turn cold.

 

[TOU47]

I absolutely LOVE this! ??

Since I have a tractor with hydraulics, I too may consider doing something very similar in the near future if I can find one. Can you give an update? Video?

Also, what size are the concrete blocks that you attached it to? Weight of them? We're you able to put all 36 panels on it? Thank you

 

[Kenny_]

This is great! I love it! Real DIY Solar!!

 

[Gib]

I absolutely LOVE this! ??

Since I have a tractor with hydraulics, I too may consider doing something very similar in the near future if I can find one. Can you give an update? Video?

Also, what size are the concrete blocks that you attached it to? Weight of them? We're you able to put all 36 panels on it? Thank you

Sorry for the late reply. The concrete blocks are 2.5x2.5x5 feet. Approximately 4000 lbs.
I was able to mount all 36 panels on it with room for about 4 more on the ends.
Last fall one of my welds let go on an outside lever on a windy day and the table folded up damaging two of the panels. (I'm an inexperienced welder. A diy learning experience).
I repaired the table and lever. I'm running with 34 x 455 watt panels on 2 MPP LVX6048WP inverters. I haven't been able to upload video to this forum. I'll attach a few snapshots. Since last fall I haven't had any other problems with the ground mount. I'm going to install a manual hydraulic pump as backup and for convenience. Maybe someday I'll add a pump and remote control for fun.
I've had a few more diy learning experiences with the MPP inverters but they are running well now. The inverters run in parallel, supplying power to the house and well. We have to be careful not to run the electric clothes dryer on high heat while cooking. The inverters switch over to grid and battery when solar drops off.