The other day I was at HD and was looking at these Super struts and I searched youtube how to build ground solar rack using super struts and bam you pop up. Thank you so much for sharing. Dont worry about negative people. Oh I do live next city over Richmond TX. So will use the 26 degree angle :)
What a difference a few years makes. These struts are now around 35 each at the local HD. Still probably the best way to do this though. Thanks for the video.
Great video that I personally recommend following VERBATIM! Being frugal and time aware I bought the “shallow depth” super strut at Home Depot as I saved $5 dollars per rail and time as they never seem to have the greater depth in stock ! Then my problems began. The spring nut only fits the deep well product, …screws bind on the metal back plane as there is less depth so a much greater attention to screw selection must be observed. Screws must be much shorter. After initial build I was concerned about the rigidity of the shallow well bar so I built a wood frame that allows horizontal placement of 2X4s to anchor the horizontal bars… so my experience was a time consuming pain in the ass ! Moral of the story.. when good folk take time to make a good video with links to all the supplies one needs.. follow it ! Disclaimer.. I am not an electrical engineer, just a poor dude with hobbies I can’t afford.😊
Thanks for sharing! I had looked at some other superstrut & unistrut solar mounts on TH-cam but with smaller arrays. Your system will work well with larger arrays and appears to be sturdy and strong. You are right about saving a considerable amount of money using these aforementioned materials as opposed to using other metal mounting systems. This was a well structured & detailed presentation.
Nice. I note that you have no shear constraints, i.e. wire rope connecting the upper and lower superstrut nodes diagonally. This would significantly strengthen your structure. An efficient structural support must resist shear (wind loads), as well as gravity loads. Good video. I plan a superstrut ground mount for my 50 panel system. Well done.
Hello from north Texas. Thanks for the video. I had considered using superstrut for panels attachment and schedule 40 3” pipe for foundation into the ground. Also I have considered pivoting on center crossbeam somehow. Maybe seasonal tilt is not worth the cost/complexity here in Texas. Something to ponder. Thanks again for the video. All the best from north Texas.
It also makes the panels less vulnerable to wind having the low edge close to the ground and having the fence close behind toward north that blocks the wind. Which hedges berms other plants etc can also do this though taller trees may not be a good idea since limbs can fall and hit the panels
Should have used the thicker steel 12 ga Unistrut and filled holes with concrete instead of just putting back the dirt. Also a few diagonal supports . . .
You can also make connections to posts vertical and next layer toward panels of horizontal instead of vertical and you can add horizontal support to the posts any weight you want and overlap ends and not need to cut or weld.
You do not have to weld the unistrut together they have straight brackets that attach 2 pieces together with 2 bolts on each side but they will bend some here under force of particular directions.
All things get more expensive these days super / unistrut goes for $36 dollars for a 10 foot span on the east coast. I’m seriously considering finishing my latest mount in wood that goes 2x4x10 for 8 bucks a board pressure treated. Also I’m sure all the bolts ect have skyrocketed… luckily a deck screw is still “affordable”. Pros cheaper.. cons less expandable with ease, wood carpenter bees go crazy for even treated wood here… and it doesn’t look as good as your mount ! Not to mention more difficulty in grounding. A poor guy can’t win.
The angle of the panels should be equal to the latitude where you mount them so he is at about 26 degree north latitude in Kaddy Texas area. Just look up the latitude of town you live in on internet or if you have smart phone etc GPS coordinates. In the northern hemisphere US etc it will be the number NORTH coordinate.
If you are using offgrid you need to observe the setbacks for the lot but may not need a permit if its not Grid tied . Many places use the value of the project like over $1,000 to need a permit but you need to ask your local code office. The value can be just the frame of unistrut not necessarily the panels and certainly not the inverters wiring etc unless you are going to sell back to utility then all will need permitting and have permission from local utility company etc. You can connect the grid to your inverter as long as it can't feed back to grid without a solar permit.
I have a question for you and all your viewers I’m getting ready to build a more permanent mounting system for my panels I have considered metal but I myself personally am somewhat afraid of a metal mounting system,,, now let me tell you why. I have heard stories of lightning strikes they say that lightning will find a metal mounting structure faster than it would wood mounting structures I myself do not really know,,,have you or any of your viewers had a lightning strike using metal mounting fixtures and things? If you use a ground wire on your metal mount and panels would that prevent lightning from coming in your shed or building?
You must ground your solar panels and metal mounting structure per the NEC. It will help prevent the lightning from traveling along the PV wires. If you don't ground it the lightning is very likely the travel along the wires and fry the electronics at the other end. It should be considered mandatory to ground all metal frames and structures regardless of the other materials used.
you didn't go into detail how you did the end clamps using the square washers. There is nothing holding up the outer end of the washer, so how do you deal with that?
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The other day I was at HD and was looking at these Super struts and I searched youtube how to build ground solar rack using super struts and bam you pop up. Thank you so much for sharing. Dont worry about negative people. Oh I do live next city over Richmond TX. So will use the 26 degree angle :)
What a difference a few years makes. These struts are now around 35 each at the local HD. Still probably the best way to do this though. Thanks for the video.
I was looking for someone using superstrut for solar panel - this video was exactly what I was looking for
Engenius use of Superstrut, best design I have seen so far. Very nice, thanks for sharing
Great video that I personally recommend following VERBATIM! Being frugal and time aware I bought the “shallow depth” super strut at Home Depot as I saved $5 dollars per rail and time as they never seem to have the greater depth in stock ! Then my problems began. The spring nut only fits the deep well product, …screws bind on the metal back plane as there is less depth so a much greater attention to screw selection must be observed. Screws must be much shorter. After initial build I was concerned about the rigidity of the shallow well bar so I built a wood frame that allows horizontal placement of 2X4s to anchor the horizontal bars… so my experience was a time consuming pain in the ass ! Moral of the story.. when good folk take time to make a good video with links to all the supplies one needs.. follow it ! Disclaimer.. I am not an electrical engineer, just a poor dude with hobbies I can’t afford.😊
Thanks for sharing! I had looked at some other superstrut & unistrut solar mounts on TH-cam but with smaller arrays. Your system will work well with larger arrays and appears to be sturdy and strong. You are right about saving a considerable amount of money using these aforementioned materials as opposed to using other metal mounting systems. This was a well structured & detailed presentation.
Nice. I note that you have no shear constraints, i.e. wire rope connecting the upper and lower superstrut nodes diagonally. This would significantly strengthen your structure. An efficient structural support must resist shear (wind loads), as well as gravity loads. Good video. I plan a superstrut ground mount for my 50 panel system. Well done.
Do you have videos on this?
Great video just what I was looking for. I live in Wisconsin but it will still work.
Hello from north Texas. Thanks for the video. I had considered using superstrut for panels attachment and schedule 40 3” pipe for foundation into the ground. Also I have considered pivoting on center crossbeam somehow. Maybe seasonal tilt is not worth the cost/complexity here in Texas. Something to ponder. Thanks again for the video. All the best from north Texas.
Great solar ground mount video - thanks for sharing
It also makes the panels less vulnerable to wind having the low edge close to the ground and having the fence close behind toward north that blocks the wind. Which hedges berms other plants etc can also do this though taller trees may not be a good idea since limbs can fall and hit the panels
Great video!
This is awesome savings thank you so much for showing great idea. Wow that's a huge solar panel system you can power your whole block
Should have used the thicker steel 12 ga Unistrut and filled holes with concrete instead of just putting back the dirt. Also a few diagonal supports . . .
You can also make connections to posts vertical and next layer toward panels of horizontal instead of vertical and you can add horizontal support to the posts any weight you want and overlap ends and not need to cut or weld.
You do not have to weld the unistrut together they have straight brackets that attach 2 pieces together with 2 bolts on each side but they will bend some here under force of particular directions.
Now $35 each at my homedepot Phoenix az
Most likely going up…due to supply and fuel costs.
Did you have to get city of Houston to approve the plan for construction?
of course not. his concrete needs to be like 4ft deep to be to code. Not like it matters but they'd want it way deeper
All things get more expensive these days super / unistrut goes for $36 dollars for a 10 foot span on the east coast. I’m seriously considering finishing my latest mount in wood that goes 2x4x10 for 8 bucks a board pressure treated. Also I’m sure all the bolts ect have skyrocketed… luckily a deck screw is still “affordable”. Pros cheaper.. cons less expandable with ease, wood carpenter bees go crazy for even treated wood here… and it doesn’t look as good as your mount ! Not to mention more difficulty in grounding. A poor guy can’t win.
The angle of the panels should be equal to the latitude where you mount them so he is at about 26 degree north latitude in Kaddy Texas area. Just look up the latitude of town you live in on internet or if you have smart phone etc GPS coordinates. In the northern hemisphere US etc it will be the number NORTH coordinate.
Lat. -10% for year-round best performance.
Did you need to pull a PERMIT? Did this pass an electrical inspection?
If you are using offgrid you need to observe the setbacks for the lot but may not need a permit if its not Grid tied . Many places use the value of the project like over $1,000 to need a permit but you need to ask your local code office. The value can be just the frame of unistrut not necessarily the panels and certainly not the inverters wiring etc unless you are going to sell back to utility then all will need permitting and have permission from local utility company etc.
You can connect the grid to your inverter as long as it can't feed back to grid without a solar permit.
@@teekay1785 But this is GRID-TIE ...
@@MrSummitville You cannot sell back to the electric utility company or feed power back on utility line without a permit period.
I don’t see the video on how to pass the inspection for grid tie
How much does your entire ground mount solar system cost (with panels etc)
Looks like you extended the vertical superstrut to make a bit over 10 feet
I have a question for you and all your viewers I’m getting ready to build a more permanent mounting system for my panels I have considered metal but I myself personally am somewhat afraid of a metal mounting system,,, now let me tell you why. I have heard stories of lightning strikes they say that lightning will find a metal mounting structure faster than it would wood mounting structures I myself do not really know,,,have you or any of your viewers had a lightning strike using metal mounting fixtures and things? If you use a ground wire on your metal mount and panels would that prevent lightning from coming in your shed or building?
You must ground your solar panels and metal mounting structure per the NEC. It will help prevent the lightning from traveling along the PV wires. If you don't ground it the lightning is very likely the travel along the wires and fry the electronics at the other end. It should be considered mandatory to ground all metal frames and structures regardless of the other materials used.
Cool
Would this mount work for SIX 200 watt panels? or would I need something smaller, how many struts do I need in total?
you didn't go into detail how you did the end clamps using the square washers. There is nothing holding up the outer end of the washer, so how do you deal with that?
Yes, that is something that is overlooked in the video. I am wondering the same thing
Please post the URL to figure out the angle of the solar panel
see my comment
My favorite TH-camr Ashera star goddess is from Katy Texas. I guess everything come bigger in Texas so they say.
Are you using microinverters?
How’s it handle wind
Can you please show how to dig the holes?
A post hole digger would do the trick
Socks with Flip Flops? How old are you.................................................
A very poorly designed rack. No diagonal braces. This rack will fail.
Bad design and not strong enough for high winds.
dude BE NICE!!