DIY Ground mounted Solar Panels with adjustable angles
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- DIY Ground mounted Solar Panels with adjustable angles video shows how to make your own 2X4 solar panel frames and mount them to the ground. Shown are two panel arrays with five 100-watt solar panels in each array. The total maximum output is 1000 watts. I will make a separate video showing how to wire the panels with MC4 connectors. See more details on this instructables site www.instructab...
#diysolar #groundmountedsolarpanels #diysolarpanels #adjustablesolarpanels
More details on this project on the instructables web site: www.instructables.com/id/Ground-Mounted-Solar-Panels-With-Adjustable-Angles/
I like it. Looks nice and can be locked in the down position if you know a storm is coming
Very cool. I have 100w and getting another 200w panels and 1.2kWh battery this friday. Cool video man, tnx for sharing. +1
Sounds great!
Excellent DIY project.
Thanks for sharing.
great job !
You gave me some ideas ..Thanks
Glad I could help!
Looks great. So, the solar panels are not screw/attached to the frame?
They are just captured by the frame with PVC and aluminum?
Yup... been there few years now and still fine
Brilliant!
Great idea
holy fuck ricky we have solar panels
Very Nice
EXCELLENT!!!!
Had the same idea too, just not with so much wood...
going with 100w cost to much it cheaper with bigger panels i 10 235w 24v for $102 a panels . but looks good
Good point
I bought 20, 245 panels from santansolar for $950
But when a 100 watt panel goes bad you only lose 100 watts. Being that most come from China it may be wise to have several 100 watt panels these days.
Not sure why people are using wood for frames when panels are lasting 30 years. The wood will rot away long before the panels are worn out and will require replacement. Not to mention damaged panels when the wood fails and panels go flying in a storm.
Pressure treated wood is used and recommended, and in this above ground application, it should last as long as the panels.
Nice diy project. Smiled when I saw your wife helping. Something to be proud of for sure.
You're my hero.. A new use for a reciprocating saw.. Cutting up the sod!
Dang it! I rushed to comment the same! Easiest way to remove sod - recip. Saw!!!😂
hi, i'm dwi from Indonesia. Can i use and share your video for my student to explain how to make ground mounted solar panels? Thx
Hi Dwi, yes by all means and if you make some progress I would appreciate you sending me some pictures and related info. Good luck!
I like the stain color.
Interesting for off grid but I chose 300 watt panels which are about 50 cents a watt instead of 100s and the energy density is better. I also use grid tie inverters .. run the meter backwards in summer not in winter.Either way I lowered my bill by almost 100 / month for an investment of under 2000 With cheaper panels I was able to just add more panels and avoid the whole adjust ability part. If I need 1200 watts and I'm not optimal I added 2 extra panels and met my goal. (have 1800 watts worth of rated watts but get about 1200 on average) but no fuss and I used all UL approved rackign hardware that will pass any inspection. (Iron ridge system) It's been installed 2 and a half years and we are delighted with lower bills.
I dont have the space so will be forced to place on shed. I have also several 100 watt panels. I'm doing power back up and grid tie setup.
I'm in my mid 30's, but I don't think I would ever have the strength do this on my own. You sir, are full of stamina and blessed with amazing skills; my hat goes off to you...
Thanks very much but I’m sure you are under rating yourself.
looks pretty solid. Thats not going anywhere.
Yes, we have high winds on a regular basis so had to allow for that in the design. Working good.
I want to do a ground mount where I can change the angle by season. This gives me some ideas, though I'm attracted by 400w modules. I also want to be able to walk under it, but those are details.
This is the first ever video I watched from your channel. I never thought I'd see someone use a saw to cut grass. Nice one. Love the build.
Thanks 👍
This looks awesome, Haven't seen the video but here's a like, thumbs up.
The rod on top of the drill is a depth gauge where you don’t need the tape on the bit
I have 17 kw worth of panels I got for cheap. Not worth ground mounting in a giant array so I “ground” mounted them using old railroad ties and tie downs. Gets me a 30 degree angle but it’s pretty much a set angle. Your is beautiful but I imagine the wood for mine, all 75 of them, would be more than the panels. Nice to see a craftsman at work.
Thanks... guess whatever works. Haven't seen any real deals on panels around here.
Good job! I did 10 panels recently before I found your video. Very helpful, you give me some good ideas. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
How did you mount them? I am starting a 12 panel ground mount soon
Bob you're brilliant. I am building your panels now. You have the best engineered DIY panel support system TH-cam. I didn't have any cement to support the panel for a foundation so I just added a 4x4 square frame for my foundation to attach the frames you designed. Mine are going to sit on patio stones which will be leveled on the ground which is not level at all. I will use my tractor to try to level the ground as much as possible. Thank you sir for sharing your system, you saved me a lot of money. Bless you!
Thank you very much and good luck with your solar project.
love your design should do update on your solar array, what controller and battery bank etc.
Do you have a follow up with respect to the comparison energy generation for the two different angles? Also of the 1,000W system, how is your battery bank set up and how do you utilize the "free" energy?
Nope I haven't had time to get any useful info to publish up to this time.
Are you planning on adding maybe a couple of electric actuators and make the whole system automatically adjusted?
Was considering that idea but at this point I have it on hold. But fairly easy to do with this design.
"Maybe" at your latitude it's worth doing, but here (42 deg North), changing angle only amounts to about 5-6% gain. Tracking east-west gives about 15%. I built active trackers for 3 of my arrays back when panels were $4/watt. Now at 50-60cents/watt, it is simply cheaper to add a few more panels and forget tracking.
I'd also be concerned how those would hold up to wind.
I still have to look at the angle influence on output. But the frame has to be mounted somehow and hinges are a good way to go. They allow for easy initial angle setting and they are forgiving regarding any movement in the structure under varying wind and temperature conditions.
This exactly. IT's always cheaper to add extra panels to compensate for losses due to non-optimal angles. Investing in trackers or adjustments makes a build more expensive AND introduces a bigger chance of failures.
The perfect packaging of the new panels is admirable, in my country the suppliers deliver in a simple box that arrives broken and with the panel frame dented
Yes they are packed quite well and the packing material is useful for other projects.
If you would have aligned the “front” of the panels to the other side of your walkway, you would have had part of the walkway available to use.
Makes sense but the walkway is not used at all so that’s the reason for the design shown.
Now just need to mark the month on each bolt hole to know where to adjust it each month... sweet design.
That would be cool
thank you for sharing, will be the basis of the panel mount i will be making, very practical / adjustable, perfect for what i need.
Glad it was helpful!
This is what I had in mind for my panels when I set my system up. My only difference is using the stainless corkscrews you put in the ground to put your dog lead on and attaching my 4 x 4s to those to anchor them in the ground. That will make leveling pretty easy as well as keeping them above the ground and pretty well anchored down against those unpredictable Ohio winds.
Thank you for the actualization of what I mostly in my mind.
Brilliant! Well done! I am going to do something very similar very soon. I came to a similar design in my head but was having a hard time figuring out what to do at the top where the panel rack connection needs to be able to connect at different points for the various angles. Your idea is perfect! Thank you!
Thanks!
My question is.... Weather the adjustable wooden hide some of solar panels
No the adjustable arms never cast a shadow on the panels because the panels are facing south.
excelent video, I will do the same as you. thank you.
Thanks you!
How do you deal with the shadows from the back braces?
Not a problem as the panels are pointed south and the structure shadows have practically no bearing on the output.
Those holes are way to close to the edge of the concrete slab if you ask me.
Yeah I thought I was pushing it too but they have been there now for several years and no cracks.
Good job, Mr. Kelland !
Not much point in using 100 watt panels when you can buy 300 watts for less, see solarsteals
I ended up buying 100 watt solar pannels, but because nobody was selling anything higher than that in my area. In a years time, i had bought 4. I see online you can buy 300-watt solar pannels for like $64 each. But only if you buy $1500 worth of them 😂
@@ricardofranco4114
Santansolar ships sometimes for $150 for a pallet. I got a pallet of 20 used 250 watt panels with shipping for $880.
I really like this design. I was wondering if you electrically bonded all the pannels, and and if so, how.
No I didn't do bonding as you suggest. Not separately, electrically, grounded.
@@BobKelland I'm not an electrician so I wasn't suggesting anything. I'm trying to figure out if it needs to be.
You said yours is grounded, can you describe how or what you did to make it grounded. Are you using microgrid tie inverters or using one big inverter for the group.
u get to ground every panel
Awesome project pro tip used home solar panels are alot cheaper than those colemans
Yes I know that now
@BobKelland I picked up 16 300 watt panels and all the mounts with optimizers for 500 bucks what a steal!
Nicely done old-timer might steal your idea love it
Hope so!
I didn't know one could buy 100 watt panels. You could replace those with actual solar panels and quadruple the output. Nice frame and adjustment design.
Hi ., the panels I used are (or at least were) readily available locally from a national retailer. I was aware that they were not necessarily the best choice but it was convenient at the time.
Very nice.
This was just a joy to watch based solely on your craftsmanship, sir. Thank you very much!
Thanks you very much!
That's good for different seasons but how about for sun rise and sunset. Need a way to pivot the panels in both directions.
obviously more involved and not sure that it is warranted in terms of overall output.
@@BobKelland I tested it yesterday when a brand new 300 watt panel. I tilted it 45 degrees and then kept tilting it to 80 degrees. I didn't see a difference in output.
@@Gary-ee3kq did you have a load on it?
@@BobKelland yes I'm powering my house grid panel with (5) 300 watt panels through a 240v inverter chaege controllercombo unit. I was only using 200 watts running the TV, and various lights, modem ect at the time.
I only tilted 1 out of the 5 panels in the 5s config.
@@Gary-ee3kq might be good to check output of a panel at various angles with just a resistive load using voltmeter and ammeter.
I'm curious how this worked out for you and what conclusions reached. Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see where you posted any further videos about it.
I had great plans to set up a comparison monitoring system but up to now it has been down the list of my priorities.
Love this. Will be doing it for my off grid home.
Buongiorno bel lavoro ingegnoso
Grazie!
Very nicely done.
Thank you very much!
Nice work 👍🏻 clever set up
Thanks 👍
Awesome job.
Thanks!
Well done video. Nicely designed pv panel rack. You must be pretty far up north to use a 76 degree tilt angle. I think the best year round tilt angle for non adjustable racks is about 5 degrees less than your latitude.... I believe?
Thanks bill, My intention is to experiment with different angles but other projects have slowed me down in that regard. Hope to get some useful info over time.
very nice.. are you happy with the results after a few years of use.?
We live in a challenging area weather wise and so far the panels have withstood every thing thrown at them. Only indication of wear and tear is a little loss of paint. As for electrical/power performance, all five panels are still putting out. Unfortunately I still haven't had an opportunity to do a real meaningful assessment of the overall performance.
Thanks for the demo it’s a good project nicely done. Question. Was there a need to ground the solar panels in the array. And also or include a fuse in the wiring of the panels to the charge controller??
Well I still have the panels floating without a ground but that is definitely a consideration you should make. You can never go wrong by fusing any circuit that you are concerned about.
Grounding???
Grounding helps to prevent electrical shock hazards and damage to the system caused by lightning strikes. Grounding provides a safe path for electrical current to flow to the earth in the event of a fault, ensuring that any potential electrical charge is dissipated.
To ground a 12-volt solar panel array, you can connect the negative terminal of the solar panels to a ground rod using a grounding wire. The ground rod should be made of a corrosion-resistant metal, such as copper or galvanized steel, and should be at least 8 feet long.
Very nice!
Thanks!
Nice job!!!!
Thanks!
Did you have much voltage drop from running the wires into your house?
No as I brought the wires of each panel separately into the house. So the voltage drop is very low over the relatively short distance.
Good job sir, thanks for sharing a good level of detail
Love your angle adjust design.
Thanks!
This was an excellent project. Great job!
Lovely
Nice work.
What was the results of the testing with the different angles?
Sorry had to put testing on hold for now. Will get to it soon I hope.
Very nice video. I’m think of doing something similar to avoid roof mounting. I would like to run 120v circuits on solar and leave high power 220 volt appliances to be fed by the utility. I’d be interested in the electrical side of this project. How do you connect to your home circuit panel. Size / type of your solar converter, DC to AC Inverter size, auto or manual switch over to/from utility?
I'm working on setting up a means of comparing outputs with different panel angles (but kind of slow getting it setup). You will find lots of references on interconnecting solar panel electrical output to charge controllers, batteries and inverters on the internet and elsewhere. (Eventually though I will be setting up a conventional system as you envision.)
Well done! Thanks for the video!
Thank you too!
What was the cost of materials?
It's been a while so I'd be guessing. Main cost is in the panels and I got mine at Canadian Tire. The cost of panels have gone down since I made this setup.
I mean just the rack, with out the panels.
Looks Great. My? What about the NFL. Wind?
Good question... the arrays have survived without damage through the highest winds we have to offer. But if I didn’t have that heavy walkway to use I would have had to do some serious work on an anchoring system.