KevinC_63559
New Member
I have a 16x32 foot ex-data center that I'm thinking of modifying into a garage. Roof is East/West facing, so "ideal" for vertically mounted panels. I can modify the roof at will.
Was originally wondering about using 10' 4x4s and XXL panels, but those appear to be about a 1/10 of an inch too wide (sooo close) to put on 48" centers. The 4x4s would be locked in two placed, with the bottom extended down 2 feet into the building and cross braced at the bottom and at the roof emergence point. I THINK that would provide sufficient stiffness for wind resistance.
If I can stick with 48" centers it will match the trusses already in place, so that would be a good thing. Doing so would allow for 8 panels, which is handy for whatever voltage I might end up with. Be kind of nice to tie this buildings solar into my office, which is about 30 feet away, and which should have it own 48V system of batteries and inverters rather than having to make an independent system.
Garage will be the home for a Tesla Cybertruck presuming my 2018 order ever gets filled. I recognize that even (8) 500W panels is only going to dent the potential power needs of the Cybertruck, but I'm retired and don't drive daily, so maybe it would make a sizeable dent.
Anyhow, concerned about the wood warping and cracking the panels. Does anyone have experience using wooden poles to mount vertical panels? I could frame the top as well, which might help a bit, but the panels themselves would end up having a structure impact.
Thoughts?
Alternatives: Framing would be a lot more complicated, but if I staggered he heights of panels in a traditional south facing tilted method, I could get (3) rows of (4) across in the same space for a total of 12 panels, presuming a 45 degree tilt to optimize winter power. That's 12 panels vs. 8. I could even flat roof the building, but then I'd have snow load concerns. The framing complications would be eased by using wood, but again concerned about warpage stressing panels???
ps. I'm at 40 degrees north latitude. So per this calculator, 45 degrees is a decent winter angle and of course, is straight forward for construction.
Was originally wondering about using 10' 4x4s and XXL panels, but those appear to be about a 1/10 of an inch too wide (sooo close) to put on 48" centers. The 4x4s would be locked in two placed, with the bottom extended down 2 feet into the building and cross braced at the bottom and at the roof emergence point. I THINK that would provide sufficient stiffness for wind resistance.
If I can stick with 48" centers it will match the trusses already in place, so that would be a good thing. Doing so would allow for 8 panels, which is handy for whatever voltage I might end up with. Be kind of nice to tie this buildings solar into my office, which is about 30 feet away, and which should have it own 48V system of batteries and inverters rather than having to make an independent system.
Garage will be the home for a Tesla Cybertruck presuming my 2018 order ever gets filled. I recognize that even (8) 500W panels is only going to dent the potential power needs of the Cybertruck, but I'm retired and don't drive daily, so maybe it would make a sizeable dent.
Anyhow, concerned about the wood warping and cracking the panels. Does anyone have experience using wooden poles to mount vertical panels? I could frame the top as well, which might help a bit, but the panels themselves would end up having a structure impact.
Thoughts?
Alternatives: Framing would be a lot more complicated, but if I staggered he heights of panels in a traditional south facing tilted method, I could get (3) rows of (4) across in the same space for a total of 12 panels, presuming a 45 degree tilt to optimize winter power. That's 12 panels vs. 8. I could even flat roof the building, but then I'd have snow load concerns. The framing complications would be eased by using wood, but again concerned about warpage stressing panels???
ps. I'm at 40 degrees north latitude. So per this calculator, 45 degrees is a decent winter angle and of course, is straight forward for construction.
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