Sinclair Sky Rack ground mount

[DThames]

Installing for my sister, 32 panel array 455w per panel, Sinclair Sky Rack ground mount. The posts are made to be driven about 7 feet into the ground, but not where we live. Backhoe and concrete is our solution. Recommended 24"x60" concrete footing per post, if you can auger that size of a hole.

Sinclair forms this material in their own facility in MI. Pretty heavy material and well formed.

Not affiliated with Sinclair.

 

[I Just Cant Anymore]

Looks great. It’s a nice system, well thought out and very flexible for installation purposes. I just finished mine as well and couldn’t be happier.

 

[DThames]

We are out in the country, no building inspector. So for the power company to allow us to generate to the grid, they require a contractor licensed master electrician to inspect and report to the power company to ensure NEC compliance. I was touring the electrician through the install and when we got the the array he said, "This is nice, who did this work?" (or similar words) I was proud to say, "We did." The Sky Rack system gave us a great platform for a good looking array.

 

[HRTKD]

When I saw the size of your footings I thought that was overkill. But since you have only four posts/footings, it makes sense. Good looking rack!

 

[pjv]

@DThames, I’m about to put in a very similar ground mount array (32, 400W panels). Where we live, pounding the posts into the ground is not a problem.

We can locally source the Sinclair sky rack components for our install at a great price with negligible delivery cost with one wrinkle: this local source only has available the Sinclair 4x7 C-channel posts (not the 4x9 posts which are a little thicker, apparently).

Because we are doing seasonal adjust racking, Sinclair specs using the 4x9 posts for the added beefiness. Our only recourse if we want to use the 4x9 posts is ordering direct from Sinclair at very significant additional cost overall and particularly for delivery which goes from next to nothing up to about 1/3 of the total component cost.

Having done this install, which posts did you use and do you have any thoughts about 4x7 vs. 4x9 posts?

Thanks!

 

[Balrog006]

@DThames, I’m about to put in a very similar ground mount array (32, 400W panels). Where we live, pounding the posts into the ground is not a problem.

We can locally source the Sinclair sky rack components for our install at a great price with negligible delivery cost with one wrinkle: this local source only has available the Sinclair 4x7 C-channel posts (not the 4x9 posts which are a little thicker, apparently).

Because we are doing seasonal adjust racking, Sinclair specs using the 4x9 posts for the added beefiness. Our only recourse if we want to use the 4x9 posts is ordering direct from Sinclair at very significant additional cost overall and particularly for delivery which goes from next to nothing up to about 1/3 of the total component cost.

Having done this install, which posts did you use and do you have any thoughts about 4x7 vs. 4x9 posts?

Thanks!

Are you getting actual Sinclair materials? If so why doesn’t your supplier provide the proper size posts?

Can you just get the posts you need directly from Sinclair and source the rest locally? Give Kyle a call.

 

[Balrog006]

Installing for my sister, 32 panel array 455w per panel, Sinclair Sky Rack ground mount. The posts are made to be driven about 7 feet into the ground, but not where we live. Backhoe and concrete is our solution. Recommended 24"x60" concrete footing per post, if you can auger that size of a hole.

Sinclair forms this material in their own facility in MI. Pretty heavy material and well formed.

Not affiliated with Sinclair.

Sinclair is a great, easy, fast and professional system. It does cost somewhat more than diy options, but for those with inspection and permit requirements, it’s a fabulous system, and I love the seasonal adjustment.

 

[pjv]

Are you getting actual Sinclair materials? If so why doesn’t your supplier provide the proper size posts?

Can you just get the posts you need directly from Sinclair and source the rest locally? Give Kyle a call.

Yeah, actual sinclair materials. The local-ish supplier does not stock the 4x9 posts, only the 4x7 posts.

We did call Sinclair and they strongly recommended the 4x9 posts for the season adjust jacks so we did in fact end up buying those posts directly from Sinclair and the rest from the local supplier. Although the difference in price between the 4x7 posts and the 4x9 posts was negligible, the shipping cost of buying the 4x9 posts from Sinclair nearly doubled the cost of those posts delivered. That’s why we were hoping to be able to use the 4x7 posts.

 

[Balrog006]

Yeah, actual sinclair materials. The local-ish supplier does not stock the 4x9 posts, only the 4x7 posts.

We did call Sinclair and they strongly recommended the 4x9 posts for the season adjust jacks so we did in fact end up buying those posts directly from Sinclair and the rest from the local supplier. Although the difference in price between the 4x7 posts and the 4x9 posts was negligible, the shipping cost of buying the 4x9 posts from Sinclair nearly doubled the cost of those posts delivered. That’s why we were hoping to be able to use the 4x7 posts.

You did the right thing, too bad your local place is so fixed on just carrying one option.

For the minimal cost difference I wouldn’t be surprised if Sinclair simplifies their manufacturing ,supply chain, designs and distribution to only go with one post soon.

 

[moogambo]

Installing for my sister, 32 panel array 455w per panel, Sinclair Sky Rack ground mount. The posts are made to be driven about 7 feet into the ground, but not where we live. Backhoe and concrete is our solution. Recommended 24"x60" concrete footing per post, if you can auger that size of a hole.

Sinclair forms this material in their own facility in MI. Pretty heavy material and well formed.

Not affiliated with Sinclair.

Is your soil too hard to drive the posts in? I am trying to get the same set up, my soil is Sandy.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Is your soil too hard to drive the posts in? I am trying to get the same set up, my soil is Sandy.

I had so many giant rocks I like to never got my post installed.
Sand is not a problem.

I’m seriously considering Ground Ballast for the next add on.

 

[niktak11]

Someone on the West Coast needs to start offering a galvanized purlin based system like Sinclair does for the East Coast. In my recent quote nearly 50% of the cost was just shipping. If I had a couple million burning a hole in my pocket I'd do it myself lol

 

[QuantumEngineer]

Someone on the West Coast needs to start offering a galvanized purlin based system like Sinclair does for the East Coast. In my recent quote nearly 50% of the cost was just shipping. If I had a couple million burning a hole in my pocket I'd do it myself lol

Have you looked at Powers Solar Frame? I think they are located in Phoenix, Arizona. We used this on a system on my friend's farm. Did a 20 panel rack for $2500 or so, but that was a few years ago.

 

[Balrog006]

Is your soil too hard to drive the posts in? I am trying to get the same set up, my soil is Sandy.

I ended up doing blended foundations. I dug 3-4’ holes and hand drove my Sinclair posts the remainder of the way with a pile cap and a sledgehammer in my loamy sand, then also poured the spec’ed 0.75+ cyd of concrete around them. My mount is going nowhere…

 

[tellingson]

What do you guys do for grounding your panels that are connected to the Sinclair system? I installed mine a month ago, and I’m waffling on grounding since the panels are connected to a giant metal structure that has posts going 7-8 feet into the ground. Do I need to do any additional grounding? Or are my panels already grounded through the mount?

 

[niktak11]

What do you guys do for grounding your panels that are connected to the Sinclair system? I installed mine a month ago, and I’m waffling on grounding since the panels are connected to a giant metal structure that has posts going 7-8 feet into the ground. Do I need to do any additional grounding? Or are my panels already grounded through the mount?

Did you do direct to module bolting or do you have the clamps?

 

[tellingson]

Did you do direct to module bolting or do you have the clamps?

I have the clamps.

 

[niktak11]

I have the clamps.

Those clamps are bonding so you don't need to ground each panel individually but you do need to connect a ground wire from your house (most likely from your main panel) to the array.

 

[tellingson]

Those clamps are bonding so you don't need to ground each panel individually but you do need to connect a ground wire from your house (most likely from your main panel) to the array.

I thought Solar arrays needed to have a separate ground rod. Maybe I misread something though.

 

[niktak11]

I thought Solar arrays needed to have a separate ground rod. Maybe I misread something though.

I'm some jurisdictions they want a ground rod at the array. It still needs an EGC that goes back to the house for ground fault protection though.