Sollega Ballast Ground Mounts (Iron Ridge Supplier)

[Nobodybusiness]

Ballasted is hard to do for much of an angle.
Due to wind uplifting.

Powerfield is at 25 degrees.

That’s the ones I went with..

PowerField Energy PowerRack PV solar ballasted ground mount system

Note: We can provide a physical layout design for your array as well as the number and placement of PowerField racks throughout the array. Please contact our engineering team for a complete wind load analysis and calculated ballasting diagram. This rack will only work with modules that have a...

www.solar-electric.com

 

[Nobodybusiness]

What about the buckets from Powerfield?View attachment 189973View attachment 189972?

These are the ones I use and they worked great.
Easy to setup.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Have you not seen the Powerfield Energy ballasted ground mounts?

That’s what I use. Easy setup even for 1 person.

PowerField Energy PowerRack PV solar ballasted ground mount system

Note: We can provide a physical layout design for your array as well as the number and placement of PowerField racks throughout the array. Please contact our engineering team for a complete wind load analysis and calculated ballasting diagram. This rack will only work with modules that have a...

www.solar-electric.com

If you want to demo some I know the COO.

Problem I have with those, is they cost more than my panels...

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Problem I have with those, is they cost more than my panels...

That’s from NAZ yes and I told the COO that.

The problem is their plant is In Minnesota and they are relying on the distributors for shipping volume discounts.

DigiKey sells them for $65 I think.

I didn’t ask him what his cost was but I can.

Long story short they are trying to find a way to get these to market cheaper..

 

[Nobodybusiness]

If you say so........

I received an engineering report with my 16 panel mount, this is the force just at ground level on each pole.

Not even discussing uplift.......

It’s true.
I have these and when both tubs are full you are not getting these off the ground except in maybe an F5 or something..

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Only one row, would take some serious real estate if one wanted a 25Kw array.

I have a 30 kw array and it’s about 60x60 ft.

10 rows of 6 panel.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

It does look like glass reinforced HDPE. It probably will last a really long time. They are also shaded by the panels.
View attachment 189994

Those ears are cover by the panels.
The sun never hits any part of the tubs.

 

[Patrick at PowerField]

I wish I could purchase those powerfield buckets off Amazon.

Coming soon!

 

[Patrick at PowerField]

It does look like glass reinforced HDPE. It probably will last a really long time. They are also shaded by the panels.
View attachment 189994

It's not glass-reinforced, but you were right earlier that it has black colorant AND UV additives...AND most importantly, no part of the rack under stress is getting direct sunlight.

 

[Patrick at PowerField]

The other day was 45+ mph winds sustained for over 4 hours. Gusts over 50 mph.

If I installed a ballast mount no matter the angle, I would most likely have seen it flying by my windows at some point.

I have no idea how some of you get away with a ballast mount. I doubt my insurance would even consider insuring one here. I'll stick with my cheap mounts on the expansion. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/sinclair-or-mt-solar.76590/ Ordered 3 poles from a local welding shop I buy material from at around $500 each.

No way, @Zwy. Your PowerRacks would have just giggled at that breeze. As @sunshine_eggo said, PowerRack is wind tunnel tested to 120mph. We also field tested at NREL in CO and saw 85mph winds that wrecked a tracker system next door.

​

 

[42OhmsPA]

No way, @Zwy. Your PowerRacks would have just giggled at that breeze. As @sunshine_eggo said, PowerRack is wind tunnel tested to 120mph. We also field tested at NREL in CO and saw 85mph winds that wrecked a tracker system next door.

​

And the snow would just encapsulate the PowerRacks until spring....

Really curious if they were tested in the wind tunnel in all directions. I'd like to see a video of them holding up to 120mph winds from the side or rear (high side).

They seem like a great solution for some. I really like they can take 41.3" wide panels and I love they are made in the USA.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

And the snow would just encapsulate the PowerRacks until spring....

I admit If you are in a high snow area probably not a good fit unless you want to clean rows after snow.

Especially if snow lingers for months on end.

 

[AZ Solar Junkie]

And the snow would just encapsulate the PowerRacks until spring....

Really curious if they were tested in the wind tunnel in all directions. I'd like to see a video of them holding up to 120mph winds from the side or rear (high side).

They seem like a great solution for some. I really like they can take 41.3" wide panels and I love they are made in the USA.

Yeah I love mine - great solution for my backyard array here in Arizona. Used them to mount all my 370 watt NE panels. I just put several 50 pound sand bags inside each. Even during high wind monsoon storms they haven’t budged at all.

I only wish they supported panels that were a bit wider. Those 370 watt panels are about as larges as they’ll take.

 

[AZ Solar Junkie]

And the snow would just encapsulate the PowerRacks until spring....

Really curious if they were tested in the wind tunnel in all directions. I'd like to see a video of them holding up to 120mph winds from the side or rear (high side).

They seem like a great solution for some. I really like they can take 41.3" wide panels and I love they are made in the USA.

I don’t know if their wind tunnel tests included from the rear - maybe it did - but keep in mind that the buckets themselves leave only about half of the back of the panels exposed to wind pressure, so I’m sure that helps.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Yeah I love mine - great solution for my backyard array here in Arizona. Used them to mount all my 370 watt NE panels. I just put several 50 pound sand bags inside each. Even during high wind monsoon storms they haven’t budged at all.

I only wish they supported panels that were a bit wider. Those 370 watt panels are about as larges as they’ll take.

I have the Q cell 480 watt panels in mine..

Which ones you want to fit in there?

 

[AZ Solar Junkie]

I have the Q cell 480 watt panels in mine..

Which ones you want to fit in there?

I had trouble finding hardly any high wattage panels that weren’t at least a bit wider than the powerfield would accept. I don’t recall now the specific options I looked at before settling on the 370 watt NE Solar panels. Good to know the 480 watt Q cells are an option

 

[Zwy]

No way, @Zwy. Your PowerRacks would have just giggled at that breeze. As @sunshine_eggo said, PowerRack is wind tunnel tested to 120mph. We also field tested at NREL in CO and saw 85mph winds that wrecked a tracker system next door.

​

50 mph wind in winter would leave this covered in 10 feet of snow.

There is a reason the county and state own large snow blowers.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

50 mph wind in winter would leave this covered in 10 feet of snow.

There is a reason the county and state own large snow blowers.

Snow would be a pain but wind is no problem.

Hasn’t snowed here in few years and even then it’s a few inches that melts off next day.

 

[G00SE]

Powerfield is at 25 degrees.

That’s the ones I went with..

PowerField Energy PowerRack PV solar ballasted ground mount system

Note: We can provide a physical layout design for your array as well as the number and placement of PowerField racks throughout the array. Please contact our engineering team for a complete wind load analysis and calculated ballasting diagram. This rack will only work with modules that have a...

www.solar-electric.com

Do you know by chance if these particular ones have the “most” angle?

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Do you know by chance if these particular ones have the “most” angle?

Most angle of all ballasted ground mounts?

I do not know.

Might be adjustable ballasted ground mounts out there.

My optimal angle here is 30 but 25 works fine for me.