Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted.

rollandelliott
rollandelliott Solar Expert Posts: 834 ✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
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Here is a picture of a south facing property in Winter Gardens FL ( near Orlando/Disney).

If you were a solar installer would you recommend a
1. ground mount in the very back of property
2. roof mount
3. combination.
4. none of the above.

The black panels on the east/west of the roof are solar hot water for the screen covered pool in the back.
I dont' have exact measurements but assuming the garge door is around 16 feet I'm guessing the lot is 60'x140.
There is a Home Owners Association not sure if that makes a difference since FL law prohibits HOA's from banning solar panels?
Yellow and green boxes represent where panels might go.

Thanks for any insight!
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Comments

  • Solar Guppy
    Solar Guppy Solar Expert Posts: 1,989 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    Ground mount for sure, those roof angles will cut any production in half with all the shading that will happen

    I'd put the ground mount in the rear of the property, They could even put a hedge row to hide the array without creating shading.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #3
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    Try to understand if neighbors plant trees/landscaping/build a large home next to your properly line how that will affect shading on your panels.

    If you want a shaded patio area--perhaps build an elevated array and concrete pad underneath? Or workshop with solar on roof?

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • rollandelliott
    rollandelliott Solar Expert Posts: 834 ✭✭
    #4
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    Good points bill about neighbors making shade, but I dont' think it applies to this case since the area to the East is common HOA property that wont' be built on especially since there is a huge retention pond there.
    West neighbor is too far away.

    A workshop would be cool, but not in the budget.

    So if we go with a ground mount and we use the bigger 215W panels by Evergreen that are 38" x68" portrait we could mount 18 across for around 4kw.

    If we wanted a second row to double capacity to 8kw is it better to have it on the ground several feet up? (disadvantage of using more land, but less potential for wind issues) or put them above the first row to save on land, but possibly be subjected to more wind?

    Would it be a good idea to fence it in, so no kids think it's a jungle gym? Help prevent theft???

    Thanks!
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  • jcgee88
    jcgee88 Solar Expert Posts: 154 ✭✭
    #5
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted
    rollandelliott wrote: »
    If you were a solar installer would you recommend a
    1. ground mount in the very back of property
    2. roof mount
    3. combination.
    4. none of the above.

    You left out one relevant piece of information: how
    many panels or how much capacity is your goal? If
    you want to put in 6 panels then you have a lot
    more options than if you wanted to put in 80 panels.

    I'm not a big fan of ground mounted. Some places
    make you build a fence around them, to prevent
    children from being able to access exposed wiring.
    You also have to worry about theft, and damage
    caused by large animals. It reduces the amount of
    land that is usable for recreation in your back yard.
    Lastly, you end up with a fairly long wire run, which
    will permanently clip you 1-2% of your potential
    power production.

    If you do have a modest number of panels, the
    left side of the front roof looks feasible. You
    could also mount at least one long row, mounted
    in landscape mode, uptilted on your north roof.
    (I have exactly that in my own installation, that
    is, eight panels uptilted 30 degrees from the roof,
    with a net uptilt of 10 degrees).

    I would recommend that you invite a solar contractor
    over to do a site survey. They'll usually do that for
    free, and it will tell you exactly how much capacity
    you could put on each roof face while avoiding
    bad shading/shadowing.

    John
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  • Solar Guppy
    Solar Guppy Solar Expert Posts: 1,989 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    If you mount portrait, a second panel would still have the height at less than 3 feet as you will probably have the angle at 24 degrees for fixed mount. I'd use pool enclosure 2x4 rails and build an on site framing for the panels. cheap local stock and very strong

    As for protection, that really a personal thing, you could use low hedges, fencing or nothing. My first system, built 9 years ago was ground mount, never had any issues and for thief, maybe some motion detector lamps ... I doubt anyone is going to go after 8k of solar panels when the can just take the 35K truck from the front yard:roll:

    I've built both Ground and Roof mount, roof is a major pain in the butt and at some point, either for repairs or re-roofing, it all comes down, very expensive. I've never heard or read of actual installation of panels on the ground mount being any more susceptible to damage or thief, and with panels close to 1.60 watt and dropping, they are the least valuable part of a homestead, want to steal something, snag the heat pump, funny, no one worry's about those!
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  • jcgee88
    jcgee88 Solar Expert Posts: 154 ✭✭
    #7
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted
    rollandelliott wrote: »
    Would it be a good idea to fence it in, so no kids think it's a jungle gym? Help prevent theft???

    My brother-in-law in NJ did a ground mount, and his municipality
    required a fence. It was for safety reasons. Unfortunately, the
    first one he put in wasn't tall enough, and they made him re-do it.
    If you go with a ground mount, you should talk to the local
    government to see if a fence is required and if so, what height.

    Also, you have to be careful with the front side of the fence,
    that is, you don't want it casting a shadow on the first row of
    your panels. This means you either position the fence further
    away from the array (gobbles up more land), or you mount the
    array higher (increases the cost of the mount).

    A fence won't absolutely prevent theft. Locked cars get stolen
    all the time. A good fence will stop the thief who is carrying a
    pair of pliers...but not the thief who is carrying pliers and a ladder.

    Regardless of whether theft will ever happen or not, with a
    ground mount it's something you constantly have to worry about.
    I have enough gray hairs, hence my preference is for up and out
    of the way on the roof.

    John
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  • rollandelliott
    rollandelliott Solar Expert Posts: 834 ✭✭
    #8
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    Maybe we'll do a pole mount. It would be neat to have a little 10x60' shaded area back there, though in all likely hood it will never get used since the pool is closer to the home. I'm guessing the cost of raising the whole thing 8 feet in the air will be about the same as building a fence ALL around it.

    I'll present both plans to HOA and see what they think. I think the HOA would rather have a Solar array in the back yard then on the front of the house. Thanks again.
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  • rollandelliott
    rollandelliott Solar Expert Posts: 834 ✭✭
    #9
    Re: Solar Site analysis Roof mount OR ground mount for this property, opinions wanted

    One last question, to show my ignorance. How would an inverter, DCbox and Shut off switches typically be mounted to this ground mount system? Would one make a tiny lean to shed to house them? Or perhaps just tack up a vertical piece of treated plywood and bolt the components to that?
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