Help! Need Advice on a Fasica Solar Panel Support-Arm Fabrication

HydraGlide

Hello,
I have a Brightwatts Solar D/C Gable Fan (great product!) and I have the solar panel Vise-Gripped to the eave. Not looking good.
I'd like to purchase a stick of 1" strap-metal from Depot and bend a couple or more 90's into the metal to make support arms.
The panel is about 14" x 14" and is sitting on 1/2" marine plywood. I'd be attaching my support arms to the bottom of the plywood and then to the eave or maybe wrap the strap brace around half of the backside of the eave, like a "U" around the fascia board. I could also weld a connecting piece of 1x8 strap on each interior support-end that will connect the two, but only have the two opposing exterior straps s/s lag-bolted into the exterior with no connecting brace.
Imagine the strap metal braces replacing the existing shelf-angles shown, but the two supports continuing down the fascia, and then each strap wrapping around the 2x6 fascia, and then traveling up for another 3-1/2 to 4" behind the fascia and lag bolting with only (1) bolt (each). There will be a total of (6) 1/4 x 3/4 lag bolts in that single run of fascia (+ (6) s/s washers).
Any opinions would be appreciated. I called John Boker @ Brightwatts direct this morning. He said he'd look for related exterior support material when he arrived at his office, and call if he found any reference to aftermarket exterior eave supports. He didn't call, that's understood, so I've arrived here. Thanks. Free electricity is a freedom feeling.

dennis461

You are probably overthinking this, that small panel does not need much more support.  Why not just screw that 'board' to the fascia and take off the c-clamps, done.

(The brackets you have on there will rust out in a couple-several years.)

Estragon

One thing to be aware of is that the frame on most pv panels is aluminum. Any less noble metal (eg. angle iron, galvanized, etc) in electrical contact with it will corrode. How fast this happens depends on environment. Wet, especially coastal wet, will make it happen faster.

If I was doing a home-made frame, I would use aluminum angle or square tube for framing and stainless steel bolts, maybe with a piece of inner tube rubber as a gasket to minimize aluminum/stainless contact area.

If you're mounting the panel to (non ACQ) plywood, then mounting the plywood to the frame with separate connectors, there will be no electrical connection, so minimal galvanic corrosion.