Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

I'm looking for a ground mount system with an adjustable rear leg that is rated for at least 120mph. Most systems are rated at either 90 or 100mph.

Any Ideas?

Thanks
Philip

Comments

  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    now this is interesting and i guess i can understand why you may want stronger mounts, but how sure are we that the pvs will survive 120mph winds as they don't post wind ratings on them? hail impacts are one thing, but constant high winds or gusts are another.
    if in contacting the mount manufacturers that none of them can accommodate your requirements then you may need to have special ones made up.
  • Philip C
    Philip C Solar Expert Posts: 45
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    Typically most PV modules are rated for 50psf, even though this doesn't equate to an exact wind speed. When one takes the mounting method and environmental conditions, one can calculate a theoretical psf due to wind speed.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    A larger concern of 120mph wind, is the stuff it blows around at ground level. Chairs, strips of shingles, large trees, small cars. Most PV won't take that sort of impact.
    Make a plan to cover them with plywood, or remove.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • Philip C
    Philip C Solar Expert Posts: 45
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    That is a good point, does home owner's insurance cover a ground mount system?
  • Solar Guppy
    Solar Guppy Solar Expert Posts: 1,989 ✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    Homeowners coverage will be limited or excluded for PV if its not part of the insured structure, if your doing ground mount you will need to be very specific on your coverage and may possible want a rider explicitly covering the ground array.

    If you have 100+ mph winds, your PV's will be long gone, maybe the frames will remain but little else
  • Philip C
    Philip C Solar Expert Posts: 45
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    Living along the Gulf coast we will see winds exceeding 100mph, sooner or later ;)
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    I'd plan on a steel locking cable, and a pre-planed secure site to stack them. Trying to make a sail, not a sail, is silly.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg
    Homeowners coverage will be limited or excluded for PV if its not part of the insured structure, if your doing ground mount you will need to be very specific on your coverage and may possible want a rider explicitly covering the ground array.

    If you have 100+ mph winds, your PV's will be long gone, maybe the frames will remain but little else
    When I insured my poletop solar the insurance insured them like big satelite dishes. They consider them added contents of my outbuildings and pole garage. I think the extra coverage was about $25 per year in Pa.
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,730 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    My policy says that the tracker (or top of pole mount) must be adjustable to horizontal for high wind events that are forcasted. We just had mountain winter storm warnings for high winds just last week.

    Check your mounting bolts because in my experience they are the weak link. Just amazing how a slightly low torqued 5/16 hardware can completely come unfastened in 70 knots. We do see 100 knots up on the crests but I sure as h*ll would not want to live up there.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

  • Philip C
    Philip C Solar Expert Posts: 45
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    Just an Update

    Schletter has an adjustable ground mount system rated at 140mph + wind zones. The only problem here in the states, there is a 12Week lead time.

    Any other suggestions would be helpful

    Thanks,
    Philip
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Ground Mount with Adjustable Rear Leg

    I would guess stress on the frame work goes with the square of the wind speed:
    • 120mph^2 / 90mph^2 = 1.78x forces
    So, you would need almost 2x as strong as structure to hold the panels...

    You can use various hand books too calculate wind loading (see this website for some examples).

    Or look at hiring a structural/civil Professional Engineer (PE) to do the design for you with available hardware.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset