mounting panels to treated-wood frame

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  • bcroe
    Solar Fanatic
    • Jan 2012
    • 5203

    #91
    Looks good to me. I did not bother with any concrete on my 5 year expectation, treated wood
    array (still looking decent at 7 years). The front and back posts are connected together at the
    40 inch depth by braces, it is going nowhere. No lateral bracing on any of my first arrays, the
    panels are supposed to stiffen them.

    My treated wood is held together with hot dipped galvanized bolts, no lag bolts. I was
    able to keep a hole through a 2 x 6 centered by pre drilling almost everything on a drill press.
    Bruce Roe
    Last edited by bcroe; 05-19-2020, 12:35 PM.

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    • SunEagle
      Super Moderator
      • Oct 2012
      • 15126

      #92
      Originally posted by hueycol
      Your setup using treated wood and hot-dipped galvanized bolts sounds like a sturdy and long-lasting solution. It's great that you took the time to pre-drill and ensure everything is aligned properly. Your approach with no lag bolts and relying on the panels to provide stiffness is an interesting one. It's impressive that your array has held up well for 7 years!
      Hello hueycol and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

      You do understand that this thread is over 3 years old.

      Comment

      • J.P.M.
        Solar Fanatic
        • Aug 2013
        • 14939

        #93
        Originally posted by SunEagle

        Hello hueycol and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

        You do understand that this thread is over 3 years old.
        Yea, and I'd be wondering how the wood frame is holding up.

        Comment

        • bcroe
          Solar Fanatic
          • Jan 2012
          • 5203

          #94
          Originally posted by J.P.M.

          Yea, and I'd be wondering how the wood frame is holding up.
          .

          The wood frame is holding up pretty well reaching 10 years old.
          It looks pretty much the same as this 2013 picture. It was originally
          intended as a 5 year experiment, with possible life to 10 years.
          Apparently a lot of luck caused it to perform very well in helping
          the system deal with clouds and snow, and now smoke haze.

          I learned a lot of what works here in northern IL , and built more
          permanent stuff with concrete and rebar underground, 6061
          aluminum and 18-8 SS hardware above. There is a layout on
          paper of upgrading everything and moving panels. But as it
          already exceeds the annual 28,000 KWh I require, some failure
          of the wood may be needed to cause action.

          Certainly all the wood is expendable, metal through it very soon
          cannot be removed or used again. The panels are in contact
          with aluminum rail, still serviceable. Perhaps not obvious, the
          array follows the 10% grade of this land, the bottom of a panel
          at the high end is about level with the top of a panel at the low
          end. I consider efforts to make solar perfectly level on slopes
          to be a waste, and even counter productive for such things as
          maintenance and snow clearance.

          I also do not care for all the slip bolt channels and edge clamps
          used to speed up installations. All assembly holes are purpose
          drilled through here. Bruce Roe

          DSCN0721.jpg

          Comment

          • J.P.M.
            Solar Fanatic
            • Aug 2013
            • 14939

            #95
            Originally posted by bcroe
            .

            The wood frame is holding up pretty well reaching 10 years old.
            It looks pretty much the same as this 2013 picture. It was originally
            intended as a 5 year experiment, with possible life to 10 years.
            Apparently a lot of luck caused it to perform very well in helping
            the system deal with clouds and snow, and now smoke haze.

            I learned a lot of what works here in northern IL , and built more
            permanent stuff with concrete and rebar underground, 6061
            aluminum and 18-8 SS hardware above. There is a layout on
            paper of upgrading everything and moving panels. But as it
            already exceeds the annual 28,000 KWh I require, some failure
            of the wood may be needed to cause action.

            Certainly all the wood is expendable, metal through it very soon
            cannot be removed or used again. The panels are in contact
            with aluminum rail, still serviceable. Perhaps not obvious, the
            array follows the 10% grade of this land, the bottom of a panel
            at the high end is about level with the top of a panel at the low
            end. I consider efforts to make solar perfectly level on slopes
            to be a waste, and even counter productive for such things as
            maintenance and snow clearance.

            I also do not care for all the slip bolt channels and edge clamps
            used to speed up installations. All assembly holes are purpose
            drilled through here. Bruce Roe

            DSCN0721.jpg
            Thank you.

            J.P.M.

            Comment

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