A HUGE Thank You. I never thought of using fencing material for a ground mount. All I ever see is people welding pipe. You cannot believe how much I appreciate this video. 👏👏👏
Did you calculate the uplift forces? There's some PDF from some agency in USA with a highschool level math formula to calculate the weight of the ballast (concrete) so the wind can't pull the panels out of the ground. The corners of the array are also very vulnerable to winds and when a storm passes it's usually those tiles that fly away.
I am impressed and I have used your saying; "I can live with that" a few times myself. I don't need perfection but doing it yourself you know the job was done right.
Thank you for a detailed video. I just found your channel and will check out the other videos. Just bought an inverter and now it will be some panels and batteries along with the mounting system etc. Piece by piece as the money is available. Thanks again for the informative video.
Excellent installation… almost as if you are a pro? I’ve been building these systems for years and I think the Hollander/snap n rack grounds mounts are the best. I’ve only had to do a repair once and it was the customers second array that was angled very steeply to get better sun in the winter and high winds from behind had pulled some of the supports loose…. The set screws were only hand tightened apparently so I replaced them with Tec screws and added extra for good measure, no problems since then
Amazing video! Planning on putting up my own ground mount this year! I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to do it myself, but this is a huge confidence booster, thank you!
You can do it. Look at home depot for equipment rental. I used their one man ground hog auger. It kicked my butt, lots of shale, lots of clay. Probably the hardest ground I have ever seen. I did 4 10 inch piers with 14 inch footings. Figure out your soil type and weight psf it can handle of you are designing your own thing. As I calculated based on 12 inch footings...4 piers a re good for 6k pounds. All materials and panels, I still have 3k pounds head space. Just take your time, plan it out and execute! Good luck!
We have a 40' sea container that we will be mounting our array to with equipment installed inside. Great video - lots of fantastic information. You never said what panels you were using that I could see in the video. Interested in knowing your layout and inverters so I will check out your channel and subscribe! Thank you!
The PV hooked up to The Lion Energy inverter battery system. Its hard to tell how much it produces because its an off-grid system. Once the batteries are full its stops.
How do you deter copper thieves, do you zip-tie the panels everywhere? I also have a rural house and I'm afraid they will cut the cables like they cut the Tesla charging cords in California.
Nice job ... It's the small details at the beginning the make the end come out right. What size panels do you have on your array? I have an EG4 Brightmount with 4-410w panels, but I'm looking to triple that ... this looks like a doable set-up.
That was fantastic, I live off grid and am planning a similar array here in Southern Arizona and this video was very helpful. Thanks for sharing and as always keep building 👍
To DIY this solar system installation, we need to have mechanical and electrical knowledge, otherwise we can't make this done. I planning to install a solar system on my new house roof top, the mechanical is not a problem for me but I need more knowledge and details of solar system wiring such as wiring diagram, settings & etc. I'm from Malaysia btw. Thanks for sharing!
Good stuff but your really need add the ground wire conductor, a ground rod alone isn’t enough to trip overcurrent devices in the event have a ground fault / short circuit the entire structure will be energized and a shock hazard
Is it unsafe to install the panels on or over plywood? I see a lot of videos they always install on metal. But some of us aren't metalworkers and don't know those kinds of skills. So I'm trying to find a safe work around. Thanks.
Good vid. Question : why not run the solar panel individual wires in to a external weatherproof box at panel site to then run a much larger cable back to the generator. This is dc power, which suffers anyway from voltage drop, so wondering what type of voltage you got at the generator. Just wonder if it would make sense to run all cables to a weatherproof box, then something like a #2 or # 4 to the generator.
Since this is DC, and each PV input has a X amount of total voltage and amperage. You cannot combine all the panels together to run two wires. The voltage drop was already calculated for the wire size. He used the lion energy 8 kW inverter combo with two battery packs equaling 27 kWh.
@@scottssolutions3849 Thanks for the response. I think i'm still head-scratching a little . I have been involved in the electrical trade for a long time, so of course that makes solar even more interesting. Those individual pannel fees end up somewhere (i'll guess inside the house in a solar controller) , where they will get ganged anyway. i have set up about 8 150 watt panels on a storage unit that powered inside fans/lights. All leads were ganged, then on to the controller with larger wire sized for the va of the load. In that example , no issues. If i am setting up a field 150' or more from the controller, i can't see running each panel feed that far. Additionally, as long as they are wired in parralel and not in series, nothing changes, just more available va. So, still want to study this a little to see what ends up being my best option. Thanks - good vid.
I am not sure. It wasn’t my project. You can give solar wholesale a call to get an estimate. With ground mount systems you will need to buy some material on your own. The piping, conduit, concrete and the wire that goes through the conduit.
I'm not sure what solar wholesale provides??? the panels, the ground mount system or the design and I source the materials locally? I like that system though. Looks like I'm going to eventually need a couple of those.
I am sold on this ground mount solution BUT i need to know how it will stand up to wind storms. I live in the south and we tend to get microburst or hurricanes or sometimes a small tornado. I am looking for something that can hold up to at least a 80mph wind storm.
Have you considered mounting a merrowed system on the other side to reflect more light? Being on the ground and not costing much, it would seem to be a win, win. Thanks
No these are not bi-facial panels. I have heard they only give you around 3% of what the panel is and that's at optimal conditions. With that, in my opinion, I think they will never be worth the money.
Yeah I’m looking to get glass but don’t want that on my roof. I was think about a flee market steel frame and a solar roof instead of waterproof tarp.(concrete block support; no digging)
I'm really interested in DIY Solar. In fact, I'm ready to pull the trigger. I've found customer service at Solar Wholesale to be non-existent. Can anyone recomend another supplier?
Nice video 👍 I bought all in one system 1kw inverter and 24 battery. What’s the proper sizing of the dc circuit breaker between the inverter and the battery? Have a nice day
Seem like the pipe is the expensive part to this system. Mine is about $1750 and that doesnt include the 1-1/2" steel pipe needed. Home depot is $63 for a 10 foot stick. At that rate, I'll be broke just making a rack for this stuff.
Thanks Scott. I will check out solar wholesale for some mount systems tonight. I am leaning towards a ground mount like this one you did. How long of a grounding rod did you use? I'm thinking no need to buy a 200-300' ground cable if I can do that too. Thanks for sharing
Great job building your system. I'm at the beginning of mine with SolarWholesale. I've got my kit and I'm at the point where I am , planning out the cuts. The SnapNRack configurator gave me my amount of pipe and amount of cement. But no matter how I plan out my cuts it doesn't seem to be enough. Did you come up with that spreadsheet yourself? or did you get it from SnapNrack? Also when you did cuts did you have some pieces (besides the horizontal pipes) where you needed to couple them?
At the time ~$9,500 for the kit. That not include the steel pipe, concrete, the wire from the panels to the inverter and conduit. This was not my system so I do not know the final price.
I'm not 100% sure on PV generation but having that separate rod seems unsafe. You aren't bonded with the rest of the electrical system. I would think ideally you'd have both the rod and the wire back to your inverter. If there's a fault in your system there's no path to trip a breaker.
@@scottssolutions3849 yeah I understand, aren't the grounds all bonded in there or does the AC ground become a derived ground and just bond back to the panel?
@@Steve-wz5pz following up on this since I initially commented, I installed my own solar and battery in my house and all the grounds are bonded together. The neutral on both sides of the battery had to remain separate (ie: no neutral connection around/outside the battery between the backup panel and the main panel, the neutral connection is managed through the inverter.)
Yes there was a couple of people briefly in the video. I did mention that in the video, also never used an auger before. That equipment cost a lot money and was not rented. I also showed that I did the last two holes without any help. Didn't need any help supervising. So please go check out my other DIY video, see if you see anyone on the roof. Shortly I will have another roof top system video coming out with no help.
The company seems super scammy because it doesn't offer prices on its website and instead requires you to request a quote. Reputable companies don't do this on standard production products
I am not sure why you think that super sketchy. Why does a company that gives there prices on there website will make them reputable. I would say the opposite. Solar Wholesale does a custom DIY kit for your place. Every house is different so there is know way to put a price on there website. For example signature solar just gives you the main equipment. No rails, electrical boxes, breakers, plans, and many other stuff.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
A HUGE Thank You.
I never thought of using fencing material for a ground mount. All I ever see is people welding pipe. You cannot believe how much I appreciate this video. 👏👏👏
You’re welcome. Thank you
@@Barc7580 there are many ways to build a ground mount system. This is SnapNracks system.
Did you calculate the uplift forces? There's some PDF from some agency in USA with a highschool level math formula to calculate the weight of the ballast (concrete) so the wind can't pull the panels out of the ground. The corners of the array are also very vulnerable to winds and when a storm passes it's usually those tiles that fly away.
I am impressed and I have used your saying; "I can live with that" a few times myself. I don't need perfection but doing it yourself you know the job was done right.
Thank you for a detailed video. I just found your channel and will check out the other videos. Just bought an inverter and now it will be some panels and batteries along with the mounting system etc. Piece by piece as the money is available. Thanks again for the informative video.
Very clean job. Going to be following your video as an example for my own install.
Excellent installation… almost as if you are a pro? I’ve been building these systems for years and I think the Hollander/snap n rack grounds mounts are the best. I’ve only had to do a repair once and it was the customers second array that was angled very steeply to get better sun in the winter and high winds from behind had pulled some of the supports loose…. The set screws were only hand tightened apparently so I replaced them with Tec screws and added extra for good measure, no problems since then
Nice 👍 job Scott. Thanks for all the tips and information. I’m in the early planning stages and lots to learn.
Is that rated for grounding wire? (It looks galvanised.)
So you ground each panel to panel?
Oh hell. Those rocks are huge . . . and all worn smooth and round like from water, river, ocean etc.
Really nicely done. All the details that most leave out.
Great build and innovative design.
Amazing video! Planning on putting up my own ground mount this year! I'm a little nervous that I won't be able to do it myself, but this is a huge confidence booster, thank you!
Do you live on the East Coast or near VA?
You can do it. Look at home depot for equipment rental. I used their one man ground hog auger. It kicked my butt, lots of shale, lots of clay. Probably the hardest ground I have ever seen. I did 4 10 inch piers with 14 inch footings. Figure out your soil type and weight psf it can handle of you are designing your own thing. As I calculated based on 12 inch footings...4 piers a re good for 6k pounds. All materials and panels, I still have 3k pounds head space.
Just take your time, plan it out and execute! Good luck!
We have a 40' sea container that we will be mounting our array to with equipment installed inside. Great video - lots of fantastic information. You never said what panels you were using that I could see in the video. Interested in knowing your layout and inverters so I will check out your channel and subscribe! Thank you!
It went to Lion Energy 8kw inverter charger controller. This is for an off grid system.
@@scottssolutions3849 thank you!
Conduit itself is perfect ground, why rod is needed?
amazing job! i just wanna know how did you wire your PV and how much it produce watt and ah ? thanks
The PV hooked up to The Lion Energy inverter battery system. Its hard to tell how much it produces because its an off-grid system. Once the batteries are full its stops.
How do you deter copper thieves, do you zip-tie the panels everywhere? I also have a rural house and I'm afraid they will cut the cables like they cut the Tesla charging cords in California.
@@UserName-q4i5d you can run flex conduit if you want but at some point there be loose wires not in conduit.
Nice job ... It's the small details at the beginning the make the end come out right.
What size panels do you have on your array? I have an EG4 Brightmount with 4-410w panels, but I'm looking to triple that ... this looks like a doable set-up.
That was fantastic, I live off grid and am planning a similar array here in Southern Arizona and this video was very helpful.
Thanks for sharing and as always keep building 👍
Check out Lion Energy for inverters and battery back-up.
To DIY this solar system installation, we need to have mechanical and electrical knowledge, otherwise we can't make this done.
I planning to install a solar system on my new house roof top, the mechanical is not a problem for me but I need more knowledge and details of solar system wiring such as wiring diagram, settings & etc. I'm from Malaysia btw. Thanks for sharing!
I really like that rack system. I'll have to keep it in mind when I get to a place where I can do that. Really good video. Thanks for sharing.
It looks like the steel structure is sturdy.
Looks good. Overall how wide and how tall?
around 8ft tall and 23.5ft wide.
It's taken over a year to get my permit, but I expect the kit from SW to ship within a week.
Wow….
Good job. Thanks for the show & tell.
Good stuff but your really need add the ground wire conductor, a ground rod alone isn’t enough to trip overcurrent devices in the event have a ground fault / short circuit the entire structure will be energized and a shock hazard
Is it unsafe to install the panels on or over plywood?
I see a lot of videos they always install on metal. But some of us aren't metalworkers and don't know those kinds of skills. So I'm trying to find a safe work around.
Thanks.
Good vid. Question : why not run the solar panel individual wires in to a external weatherproof box at panel site to then run a much larger cable back to the generator. This is dc power, which suffers anyway from voltage drop, so wondering what type of voltage you got at the generator. Just wonder if it would make sense to run all cables to a weatherproof box, then something like a #2 or # 4 to the generator.
Since this is DC, and each PV input has a X amount of total voltage and amperage. You cannot combine all the panels together to run two wires. The voltage drop was already calculated for the wire size. He used the lion energy 8 kW inverter combo with two battery packs equaling 27 kWh.
@@scottssolutions3849 Thanks for the response. I think i'm still head-scratching a little . I have been involved in the electrical trade for a long time, so of course that makes solar even more interesting. Those individual pannel fees end up somewhere (i'll guess inside the house in a solar controller) , where they will get ganged anyway. i have set up about 8 150 watt panels on a storage unit that powered inside fans/lights. All leads were ganged, then on to the controller with larger wire sized for the va of the load. In that example , no issues. If i am setting up a field 150' or more from the controller, i can't see running each panel feed that far. Additionally, as long as they are wired in parralel and not in series, nothing changes, just more available va. So, still want to study this a little to see what ends up being my best option. Thanks - good vid.
Check out Will Prowse Channel he knows so much more then me
Hey, I appreciate your video. I need to know how much did this cost???
I am not sure. It wasn’t my project. You can give solar wholesale a call to get an estimate. With ground mount systems you will need to buy some material on your own. The piping, conduit, concrete and the wire that goes through the conduit.
Hello i found your video about solar panels. But whats a music you use ? Im pretty sure i know that music.
I'm not sure what solar wholesale provides??? the panels, the ground mount system or the design and I source the materials locally? I like that system though. Looks like I'm going to eventually need a couple of those.
If you go through Solar Wholesale. You need buy the pipe, concrete, conduit and depending how far it is the wire from the panels to the main power.
This is a very nice project, Scott! Well done!
So how much does this racking cost? I have 21 300W panels to mount? What did you spend on this?
Grama does all our concrete work. She says: “give me that, you kids go play.”
I am sold on this ground mount solution BUT i need to know how it will stand up to wind storms. I live in the south and we tend to get microburst or hurricanes or sometimes a small tornado. I am looking for something that can hold up to at least a 80mph wind storm.
Yes. SnapNrack using wind and snow load to determine how to build the structure.
Have you considered mounting a merrowed system on the other side to reflect more light? Being on the ground and not costing much, it would seem to be a win, win. Thanks
No these are not bi-facial panels. I have heard they only give you around 3% of what the panel is and that's at optimal conditions. With that, in my opinion, I think they will never be worth the money.
Thank you, very much to the point, no hype....
I heard it's not a good idea to pull on the panels from the top because it damages them.
@@UserName-q4i5d not sure what you mean.
Very well done! You are very handy!
Yeah I’m looking to get glass but don’t want that on my roof. I was think about a flee market steel frame and a solar roof instead of waterproof tarp.(concrete block support; no digging)
did you run DC solar wire with your AC wire in the same conduit?
Yes
Thx for the informative info
What are the necessary tools required for solar panels installation? Please I need the list of the tools and their functions.
It's just mainly hand tools besides the few battery powered tools. If you are a few hundred miles from VA maybe I come help you out.
This is adult Legos on steroids!!!!!!! Awesome job sir!!!!!!!
I'm really interested in DIY Solar. In fact, I'm ready to pull the trigger. I've found customer service at Solar Wholesale to be non-existent. Can anyone recomend another supplier?
www.solarwholesale.com
Nice video 👍 I bought all in one system 1kw inverter and 24 battery. What’s the proper sizing of the dc circuit breaker between the inverter and the battery? Have a nice day
1kw inverter??
Seem like the pipe is the expensive part to this system. Mine is about $1750 and that doesnt include the 1-1/2" steel pipe needed. Home depot is $63 for a 10 foot stick. At that rate, I'll be broke just making a rack for this stuff.
I would try a supply warehouse not a box store or a scape yard.
Thanks Scott. I will check out solar wholesale for some mount systems tonight. I am leaning towards a ground mount like this one you did. How long of a grounding rod did you use? I'm thinking no need to buy a 200-300' ground cable if I can do that too. Thanks for sharing
Thanks 👍
Great job building your system. I'm at the beginning of mine with SolarWholesale. I've got my kit and I'm at the point where I am , planning out the cuts. The SnapNRack configurator gave me my amount of pipe and amount of cement. But no matter how I plan out my cuts it doesn't seem to be enough. Did you come up with that spreadsheet yourself? or did you get it from SnapNrack? Also when you did cuts did you have some pieces (besides the horizontal pipes) where you needed to couple them?
Give me a call. 757-876-5538
Ground anchor
How much did that cost?
At the time ~$9,500 for the kit. That not include the steel pipe, concrete, the wire from the panels to the inverter and conduit. This was not my system so I do not know the final price.
Thank for the video
Great job sir!…liked and subscribed…I will check out more of your vids too…Brian in the U.K. March 26th 2022.
how big is your system?
This system is 4.62kw with the Lion Energy Sanctuary backup battery system. Its off grid.
I'm not 100% sure on PV generation but having that separate rod seems unsafe. You aren't bonded with the rest of the electrical system. I would think ideally you'd have both the rod and the wire back to your inverter. If there's a fault in your system there's no path to trip a breaker.
It doesn't go to a breaker, it goes to the inverter first.
@@scottssolutions3849 yeah I understand, aren't the grounds all bonded in there or does the AC ground become a derived ground and just bond back to the panel?
@@hondaguy9153 I'm thinking you are right on this, Hondaguy91. One (1) earth ground per system is the message I keep hearing.
@@Steve-wz5pz following up on this since I initially commented, I installed my own solar and battery in my house and all the grounds are bonded together. The neutral on both sides of the battery had to remain separate (ie: no neutral connection around/outside the battery between the backup panel and the main panel, the neutral connection is managed through the inverter.)
@@hondaguy9153 Yup, that's consistent with apparently credible sources.
Good heavens!!!
You should have used proper dobble insulated PV cable at the array.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 one person but dude has full machines doing the work 🤣🤣🤣
Only because I had to go 4ft down
Nice
What's with all the skipping of the video?
Is this for the ADHD crowd?
hahah im the only one to build it time laps to pove it......then you see multiple people helping
One person and a mechanical digger
Why are there several p;eople in your timelapse video? Seems to prove your uncle was supervisin'...
Yes there was a couple of people briefly in the video. I did mention that in the video, also never used an auger before. That equipment cost a lot money and was not rented. I also showed that I did the last two holes without any help. Didn't need any help supervising. So please go check out my other DIY video, see if you see anyone on the roof. Shortly I will have another roof top system video coming out with no help.
@@scottssolutions3849 Just kidding, man. Good work.
The company seems super scammy because it doesn't offer prices on its website and instead requires you to request a quote. Reputable companies don't do this on standard production products
I am not sure why you think that super sketchy. Why does a company that gives there prices on there website will make them reputable. I would say the opposite. Solar Wholesale does a custom DIY kit for your place. Every house is different so there is know way to put a price on there website. For example signature solar just gives you the main equipment. No rails, electrical boxes, breakers, plans, and many other stuff.
Easy? Really 😂
I think so lol. It was my third system that I have installed.
Great job. Thanks
Nice