To Bi-Facial or not Bi-Facial

[OffGridForGood]

I have no experience with factory-built racks, I prefer to build my own from unistrut /steel/timber to suit the purpose and location I have.
- I Agree with OzSolar - You may regret installing too close to the ground.
If you do go with the bi-facials keeping them raised above the ground will increase the benefit of that type of panel.
To me, a raised set of panels should be an opportunity to get a seconday use - shade, storage, rain-harvesting, cooling effect for something else - place to park a car? If you spend the money to build a raised surface for the PV, why not also get a useful space under the PV for something else you need? {I built a 26'x26' carport this fall, for two vehicles, but it's "real" purpose is to support my next PV expansion in Spring 2023}
One caution: if you build a raised PV support stucture, be sure you carefully consider wind loads including up-lift forces.
Hope this gives you some things to consider.

 

[Y2KINDYZ]

I have no experience with factory-built racks, I prefer to build my own from unistrut /steel/timber to suit the purpose and location I have.
- I Agree with OzSolar - You may regret installing too close to the ground.
If you do go with the bi-facials keeping them raised above the ground will increase the benefit of that type of panel.
To me, a raised set of panels should be an opportunity to get a seconday use - shade, storage, rain-harvesting, cooling effect for something else - place to park a car? If you spend the money to build a raised surface for the PV, why not also get a useful space under the PV for something else you need? {I built a 26'x26' carport this fall, for two vehicles, but it's "real" purpose is to support my next PV expansion in Spring 2023}
One caution: if you build a raised PV support stucture, be sure you carefully consider wind loads including up-lift forces.
Hope this gives you some things to consider.

Thanks guys,
I was thinking of having the array up at least 5" at its lowest point. If I used these I would raise them front to back and try and make a shaded area for vehicles or some other way of utilizing the shade. I know I would definitely need bracing between the arrays in front and back. I also found these from RPS

Scalable Solar Panel Ground Mounting

Finally there is an affordable and easy-to-install mounting systems for larger panels and arrays at fixed angles. The new Scalable Solar Panel Ground Mounting by RPS is the quickest way to plan for mounting a large array. These Ground Mounts are built using the tried-and-true post & beam...

shop.rpssolarpumps.com

I have an email sent to them and see if they can be used with the BI-Facial panels.

 

[Warpspeed]

You may need to think seriously about wind loading as well.
Probably fine from three directions, but if the wind ever gets underneath from the back, watch out !!

That can be mitigated with a solid wall, a building, or having some very strong foliage located directly behind the panels.

 

[OffGridForGood]

You may need to think seriously about wind loading as well

Depending on exposure and local wind conditions, the wind loads can be significant (10-50PSF/0.5-2.25kpa are common) and often the one not well understood is uplift, since gravity is the primary focus on structural design, it is easy to overlook shear & uplift wind forces. If your array faces South and is exposed on the North, and the prevailing winds are say from the North! watch out!
Keeping the lower edge of the sloped aray well above the ground, to reduce the funnel effect, will ease some of the wind loading generated.
Imagine a PV panel of 2sm (20sqft) in area with a wind load of 50 PSF (2.25kpa) this is 1000lbs force (4.5kn) - now multiply by say 18 panels in the array. Check your local building codes for guidance on wind loading, and consider the site conditions, effects of other buildings structures (present or future planned) be careful relying on vegatation for wind protection, it can be lost in a storm and you lose it's protective effect.