Whenever I welded Zinc plating & inhaled the fumes, I would go down with "Weld Fever". Was on car body for 10 years. No doctors knew what it was & it took another 12 years to discover the phenomenon. Good thing you were outdoors welding that frame. I just built my rig out of timber with a hybrid inverter, next step batteries. Love the vids, thanks for sharing!
Bro I just got quote for 10 panel pole mount from MT for $4.2K!! Didn't think this was that expensive. I'm going to attempt your setup rather than get my pockets raided! Dark days ahead, they mean to collapse petro dollar.
Great way to get adjustable tilt, and I love the tall mounts! But I have much better results hammering hinges in a vise, and prefer fasteners to welding.
Late to the Party, loved the Vid! At 12:00 flip the "adjuster bar" around so the bolt goes through the pre-drilled hole in the track/bar. This will keep it from falling off completely yet still allow it to move. ;)
Just ordered my welder, I know how to weld but haven’t needed to weld till now. I had two professional welders living near by but they both passed on in the last 6 weeks. Meanwhile I am going to start putting up my Solar Array in the spring. So I am getting everything I need together now.
I really like your idea. The storms here in Arkansas get pretty bad so I'am going to put three hinges and three vertical bars on the frame instead of two.
And make sure when using a grinder to cut metal, the sparks should be going away from you and no guard. That way if the blade binds it pushes the cut off wheel directly towards you. Lessons learned the hard way are ones you don’t soon forget.
This is high tech for sure. Love it. Utilising a prebuild fence is next level. 2 for the price of 1 deal. Very clever and also uses logs is double awesome. Its kinda a waste putting in so much cost into a system which does nt have added benefits like current solar racks not using buildings etc thus extra cost for not extra benefit in my logic as ppl are kinda creating a solar building which is one dimensional and im trying to avoid it so im totally impressed. By far one of the best designs/diy. And also protects the fence and adds extra height for kangaroos in my case not to jump into my veggie patch etc. Well done.
Hey Martin. Thank you for this valuable video. Keep up the great work. Instructional Prepper videos living off grid are truly needed more from the community. Thank You! I am prepping in Boston. Keep prepping supplies guys and stockpile what you can afford.
Brilliant Martin!,wood is carbon neutral+ looks far nicer than metal poles. BUT “purepoint energy’s” solar website says the distance panels should be from trees is 2.5x’s tree height!, this seems VvV excessive!, vmany arrays including yours wouldn’t be possible if this “rule if thumb” is followed. I think 2.5x’s is ridiculous!, I hope you& others agree?. My trees are just over 50ft & I can prune any dead branches safely with a decent extendable pole on sturdy step ladder, if it was a big branch I would cover the panel with a plastic or wooden panel ........ If I was to place my solar panels 125ft from my trees I would have to cut down 1group of trees on the other side of my garden&place my panels on my neighbours land😅🤦♂️
Hello my friend. I have been working on the solar panel and designing and installing it for about 9 years. I am happy to work together to develop our activities.
Marty, thanks to you, I was able to install an of grid DIY solar system to my tiny house. I am so happy with it, there have been many times that I dance around at night and say, "Nany Nany Boo Hoo" to the local electric company. The only problem I am having issues with is my tankless hot water, I have a Stiebel Eltron Mini 3-1 and a 3-2 which are in the tech specs of the the tested both and they both trip my 48 volt Aimes Inverter charger, Renolgoly Charge Converter, 2 710 solar panels, 30 amp breaker to the heater on its own 10 gauge wire. Any help would be appreciated.....
Auhhh. Great system. Same idea as what in developing only mine will have a motor that rotates the panel from and east angle, to a flat position, and then a west angle all controlled with the flip of a switch. The next 5 panels I will use your idea of unistruts rather than modifying the framing I got from signature solar.
Solar is awesome, neat thing is yon tilt them down to wash them or if the snow covered them up too much it would be easy to clean that off. We had 6 inches one day and even with tilt my panels were not happy nor was I as they are on the roof. I am talking them down and going to do a ground mount now.
Great video and clever design. A couple questions: could the frame be bolted together instead of welded? And do you have a parts list available? I love the adjustability!
Nice construction! 👍 But you should get some welding gear. At least some leather gloves and an old leather jacket. Those sparks can cause some nasty burns.
Thankyou..very helpful and informative..i have watched few of your series already..Will carry out this kind of solar project in country..Regards from Papua New Guinea
I really like the adjustable strut at the bottom right where you can get to it to change the angles of the panels. I want to adapt your ideas to mount these on the South edge of the single story roof on my house and put a 3 foot length of strut on the wall with standoffs to serve as the adjustment tracks to slide it in. I think it will work just fine. I "could" add some acme threaded rods to the adjusters and move them all at the same time perhaps automatically motorized even for the elevation adjustments during the day.
Nice. Wish someone could figure out how to make full size panels not take up a lot of space in a suburban yard. That and can't put above the fence line like this great solution. Jonesin' for a 4 panel hobby and emergency system.
When that bar slid off the loose bracket, visions of Moe, Larry and Curly popped into my head! Funny stuff you do sometimes, brother! Nice! Keep it coming! During your build, I was thinking that you were building a Solar Tracker setup, (so your panels would swivel on their axis to capture more sun). I was disappointed, somewhat, when that wasn’t the plan after all! I’m learning from you, nonetheless! Thanks!
The holes DO line up. You need to move it over a half inch and then you'll have a tiny piece sticking over that you can cut off if you like. You'll have about an inch in between the two panels.
Hi Martin. Love your fun and educational videos. Fantastic that you're family is onboard with all this. I'm still working with that. Is there any chance you could make up a bill of materials for the uni-strut used so I could get this up in short order. I'm only going to put up 4x300w panels using 3 Tamarac logs. Thanks
Cool stuff, Maybe mark on adjustment bars degrees or just summer/winter? for easy adjustment. I think you can look up ideal angles based on your location
081320/1911pst. Sir, if you have not yet procured the main component viz: charge Controller may I suggest VICTRON MPPT , that I’m using? It’s safe, easy and simple to use, plus the device has built in Bluetooth, and all the parameters of charging, discharging cycles, can be monitored on your iOS and or Android devices. There are several enhancements sold by VICTRON, which please check at their URL. Good luck and 73s..
I got a quote from a company in china to import to the UK 32 x 500KW) of solar panels including VAT and import duty just over £2,000 GBP, £10,000 including batteries and invertor.
Martin, you need to have really good ventilation when welding galvanized steel. The fumes from the galvanizing are highly toxic! At least a fan to sweep the fumes away from you. By the way, awesome job on the ground mounts.
@@at347est I love watching videos. It's obvious since he's using the cheesy handheld welding shield and plastic chipping hammer, no welding gloves, that he's very new to welding. And you're obviously not aware of the many hazards associated with welding. Have you ever had UV burns from welding? It's worse than sunburn.
🔥 *WATCH OUR OFF GRID CABIN BUILD FROM THE BEGINNING* th-cam.com/video/MGfugfuzFJk/w-d-xo.html
Umm sarah dady, why you not speak indonesia to?
I think it will be interesting if there are outsiders who use 2 languages, so that they can attract Indonesian and your country's audience
Yes. Checkout my Indonesian channel Pak Martin.
Notification Squad 🇺🇸🇮🇩💞✨
Whenever I welded Zinc plating & inhaled the fumes, I would go down with "Weld Fever". Was on car body for 10 years. No doctors knew what it was & it took another 12 years to discover the phenomenon. Good thing you were outdoors welding that frame. I just built my rig out of timber with a hybrid inverter, next step batteries. Love the vids, thanks for sharing!
Bro I just got quote for 10 panel pole mount from MT for $4.2K!! Didn't think this was that expensive. I'm going to attempt your setup rather than get my pockets raided! Dark days ahead, they mean to collapse petro dollar.
That was short and to the point. It sure looks functional and sturdy for solar panel use. Stay Safe and Stay Free
Great way to get adjustable tilt, and I love the tall mounts! But I have much better results hammering hinges in a vise, and prefer fasteners to welding.
I love that idea the way mount the solar panels. I was going to mount mine on my roof I like yours better so think you for the video
I’m glad it was helpful.
As soon as welding was involved I am taking plan B.
I was wondering if they could be bolted together instead of welded. I have no welding equipment.
Welding !?! Might as well saying, Let’s build a Rocket ship , Jeff Bezos
@@Aelanna mechanical fittings (bolts) will always be stronger than welding, welding is pretty easy with a bit of practice
@@danb2160 anyone can do this. Be a man.
Late to the Party, loved the Vid! At 12:00 flip the "adjuster bar" around so the bolt goes through the pre-drilled hole in the track/bar. This will keep it from falling off completely yet still allow it to move. ;)
Just ordered my welder, I know how to weld but haven’t needed to weld till now. I had two professional welders living near by but they both passed on in the last 6 weeks. Meanwhile I am going to start putting up my Solar Array in the spring. So I am getting everything I need together now.
I really like your idea. The storms here in Arkansas get pretty bad so I'am going to put three hinges and three vertical bars on the frame instead of two.
And make sure when using a grinder to cut metal, the sparks should be going away from you and no guard. That way if the blade binds it pushes the cut off wheel directly towards you. Lessons learned the hard way are ones you don’t soon forget.
I like your ingenuity of your mounting system. However, I am skeptical of how it will stand up during a severe storm with high winds?
Martin ,I sure could use your help in WV. I'm all by myself trying at 61 to do this stuff alone out here.
This is high tech for sure. Love it. Utilising a prebuild fence is next level. 2 for the price of 1 deal. Very clever and also uses logs is double awesome. Its kinda a waste putting in so much cost into a system which does nt have added benefits like current solar racks not using buildings etc thus extra cost for not extra benefit in my logic as ppl are kinda creating a solar building which is one dimensional and im trying to avoid it so im totally impressed. By far one of the best designs/diy. And also protects the fence and adds extra height for kangaroos in my case not to jump into my veggie patch etc. Well done.
Man you are very inventive. You have provided me with a solution of great value. Thank you!
your mechanize system is very logical
Hey Martin. Thank you for this valuable video. Keep up the great work. Instructional Prepper videos living off grid are truly needed more from the community. Thank You! I am prepping in Boston. Keep prepping supplies guys and stockpile what you can afford.
We are. Nice to meet you.
@@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving Nice to meet you.
Thank you very much
(I am from Thailand )
Welding zinc is no joke. Its a long story ultimately wound up with me being in the hospital.
Brilliant Martin!,wood is carbon neutral+ looks far nicer than metal poles. BUT “purepoint energy’s” solar website says the distance panels should be from trees is 2.5x’s tree height!, this seems VvV excessive!, vmany arrays including yours wouldn’t be possible if this “rule if thumb” is followed. I think 2.5x’s is ridiculous!, I hope you& others agree?. My trees are just over 50ft & I can prune any dead branches safely with a decent extendable pole on sturdy step ladder, if it was a big branch I would cover the panel with a plastic or wooden panel ........ If I was to place my solar panels 125ft from my trees I would have to cut down 1group of trees on the other side of my garden&place my panels on my neighbours land😅🤦♂️
I think it will depend on how low the sun is in the winter. Up north it is pretty low.
Y’all are doing a fantastic job, keep pressing forward! Homesteading is hard, but worth it.
It is really thoughtful of you to do videos like these sharing knowledge with others. Great job!
Thanks. Good plan. Like the idea of hooking those hinges.
Hello my friend. I have been working on the solar panel and designing and installing it for about 9 years. I am happy to work together to develop our activities.
Bam, bam, bam-wham-a-lam, BAM! 😄 Nice design!
Nice design I went with the solar tracker I love it gives us about 1- 1 1/2 hour of sunlight! Thanks for sharing! God bless!
Tony n Lee Ann
Pilot holes make drilling easier.
Marty, thanks to you, I was able to install an of grid DIY solar system to my tiny house. I am so happy with it, there have been many times that I dance around at night and say, "Nany Nany Boo Hoo" to the local electric company. The only problem I am having issues with is my tankless hot water, I have a Stiebel Eltron Mini 3-1 and a 3-2 which are in the tech specs of the the tested both and they both trip my 48 volt Aimes Inverter charger, Renolgoly Charge Converter, 2 710 solar panels, 30 amp breaker to the heater on its own 10 gauge wire. Any help would be appreciated.....
Of course, you could just bolt the cross peices onto the frame if you have no welder, drill and bolt the hinges to the U channel too.
Why wouldnt you introduce a small gap between the panels so the holes can be used without drilling and weakening the strut?
Thanks for sharing
Auhhh. Great system. Same idea as what in developing only mine will have a motor that rotates the panel from and east angle, to a flat position, and then a west angle all controlled with the flip of a switch. The next 5 panels I will use your idea of unistruts rather than modifying the framing I got from signature solar.
Solar is awesome, neat thing is yon tilt them down to wash them or if the snow covered them up too much it would be easy to clean that off. We had 6 inches one day and even with tilt my panels were not happy nor was I as they are on the roof. I am talking them down and going to do a ground mount now.
Ever heard of a saw horse to support your metal cutting. You nearly ended up in hospital at 10:59. Still, good job.
Lol, same time frame when I went to the comments to see if anyone else saw that 😬
@@Hilaire_Balrog Other times on his other videos as well. Frightening.
Great video and clever design. A couple questions: could the frame be bolted together instead of welded? And do you have a parts list available? I love the adjustability!
I would bolt it using spring nuts, faster and no welding
I agree Spring nuts way faster and unistrut makes every bracket you can think of including module mounts.
Although that will add cost.
Very nicely put together
Nice construction! 👍
But you should get some welding gear. At least some leather gloves and an old leather jacket. Those sparks can cause some nasty burns.
...lookin' good, nice job...keep safe..
Dude, You ROCK!
Very awesome! We need to build our racks. Thanks for sharing 😀
inspiring ...
thanks the vid Mr. Martin
regards from Indonesia ☺
Another great video.
Thank you and God bless
This is great! Just one thing- pretty sure Unistrut is galvanized. Not good to weld. Grind to clear metal or you run the risk of "fume fever".
I agree to be safe and paint with zinc paint after that maybe?
AWESOME design n I will be using this...Thanks
I really like your videos. I'm from Brazil
Thank you, I need to build a solar array
Thank you for the video. God blessings to you and the family keep it up
Thankyou..very helpful and informative..i have watched few of your series already..Will carry out this kind of solar project in country..Regards from Papua New Guinea
Came over from mountain beaches! Y’all have a beautiful place!
Thanks for giving them a look Brenda. You're going to love them.
Note to all Americans use mms it’s far easier than inches, in the UK we use both and we mostly choose to use mms
Nah.. mm is only easier when working with measurements that are small like 6in or smaller.
Greate job Martin.
I really like the adjustable strut at the bottom right where you can get to it to change the angles of the panels.
I want to adapt your ideas to mount these on the South edge of the single story roof on my house and put a 3 foot length of strut on the wall with standoffs to serve as the adjustment tracks to slide it in.
I think it will work just fine.
I "could" add some acme threaded rods to the adjusters and move them all at the same time perhaps automatically motorized even for the elevation adjustments during the day.
I use several harbor freight welders on my channel and even this one works great.
Nice. Wish someone could figure out how to make full size panels not take up a lot of space in a suburban yard. That and can't put above the fence line like this great solution. Jonesin' for a 4 panel hobby and emergency system.
When that bar slid off the loose bracket, visions of Moe, Larry and Curly popped into my head! Funny stuff you do sometimes, brother! Nice! Keep it coming! During your build, I was thinking that you were building a Solar Tracker setup, (so your panels would swivel on their axis to capture more sun). I was disappointed, somewhat, when that wasn’t the plan after all! I’m learning from you, nonetheless! Thanks!
Try a .049 cutting blade they cut metal like butter.
Maybe connect those two angle adjustment bars with a crossbar to prevent any asymmetric pressure on the panels and frames as you adjust the tilt..
Mr.martin apa kbr ..?
Slam dr Indo.. semoga keluarga sht sll.
👍👍👍good job.
Thank you so much for ideas how to avoid extra 500 EUR spent , as for me at least. ))
The holes DO line up. You need to move it over a half inch and then you'll have a tiny piece sticking over that you can cut off if you like. You'll have about an inch in between the two panels.
Great job. Thanks for links!
4:05 welding near solar panels?!? Isnt it dangerous for PV?
Nice! Glad I found your channel! Just got some panels for my off grid yurt and I think your mount design is a winner winner chicken dinner!
Hi Martin. Love your fun and educational videos. Fantastic that you're family is onboard with all this. I'm still working with that. Is there any chance you could make up a bill of materials for the uni-strut used so I could get this up in short order. I'm only going to put up 4x300w panels using 3 Tamarac logs. Thanks
Cool stuff, Maybe mark on adjustment bars degrees or just summer/winter? for easy adjustment. I think you can look up ideal angles based on your location
I showed how to figure out the angle in a previous video. If you care to look for it.
Jangan lupa istirahat, ngopi sambil makan pisang goreng ya Mr martin
Try wing nuts for quicker adjusting. Won't need a wrench. :)
Why weld went you can put a scews and nut on it?
I like welding.
Cheers s Martin great job 5*****
Great ideas for mine , thnx !
Kreatif.....efisien...terukur....hebat.......
Really really nice work man
Thats pretty stinking cool marty!!
Portable band saw would be the best way to cut the strut
Nice! I also have mine here, although I still need to add in the charge controller!
081320/1911pst. Sir, if you have not yet procured the main component viz: charge Controller may I suggest VICTRON MPPT , that I’m using? It’s safe, easy and simple to use, plus the device has built in Bluetooth, and all the parameters of charging, discharging cycles, can be monitored on your iOS and or Android devices. There are several enhancements sold by VICTRON, which please check at their URL. Good luck and 73s..
Yaaaasssss! I needed this. Thank you 😊
great video, Im building one similar. thx for the idea
This will ultimately fly away in the first good storm.
Guess we haven’t had a good storm yet 🤣
@@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving Here's hoping you never do! Truly.
@@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving 😆
Nice system and good work
The problem you made was putting steel on aluminum, which will rust. But if you put stainless steel boults an washers between them, that will fix it .
Excellent video!
I got a quote from a company in china to import to the UK 32 x 500KW) of solar panels including VAT and import duty just over £2,000 GBP, £10,000 including batteries and invertor.
Pak martin sangat hebat sekali😊
Love and Hugs from Sapulpa Oklahoma
I just question your spot welding of the hinges. I think I will weld the full length of the hinge to the unistrut.
Great video thanks again I think i we’ll try on my set up
Here in Brazil we have a support cheap and with Just a click to lock the panels, It is from Photo Energy
good job Mr!
Good welding video
Good job.
I will use fasteners and avoid welding.
used 2 tape measures one from one side the other from the other side when you get the
same numbers together you have the middle
Martin, you need to have really good ventilation when welding galvanized steel. The fumes from the galvanizing are highly toxic! At least a fan to sweep the fumes away from you. By the way, awesome job on the ground mounts.
Do you need more ventilation than outdoors?
@@MartinJohnsonOffGridLiving "fan to sweep the fumes away from you"
If those fumes are rising up in your face yes, you do need a way to insure that you're always up wind. (Strong fan)
@@stonevalleyozark475 Should he also live in a bubble ? Do you not enjoy videos ?
@@at347est I love watching videos. It's obvious since he's using the cheesy handheld welding shield and plastic chipping hammer, no welding gloves, that he's very new to welding. And you're obviously not aware of the many hazards associated with welding. Have you ever had UV burns from welding? It's worse than sunburn.
You are so creative!
Nice job!
Nice setup :)
Love it!!! Material list please!!! Thank you!!!
great video, you always show a good things...
Excellent video thank you
Great idea thank you
looks good. nice job