New panels and inverter ordered!

[kla456]

Bill Dunster (ZedFactory) has a solar canopy in kit form suitable for DIY installation. My canopy from 2016 has 7 solar panels and 7 clear panels and has been leak-free.
https://www.zedfactory.com/bowzed

[Bugtownboy]

Ideas coming in thick and fast. Love it. Thankyou.

[nowty]

kla456, your not on my list yet, what's your average annual yield in kWh, or what's your total kW of panels and I'll make an estimate. There are 67 of us in the list so far but its a secret list so no one knows (apart from me) who's on it.
https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... f=13&t=922

You can PM me if you want, same goes for any other newer members.

[AGT]

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[Oldgreybeard]

I've decided to bin the idea of using strut, I was never that keen on the somewhat agricultural look of the stuff, even if SWMBO thinks it's OK. Switched to brackets made from 4040 aluminium profile, the two slot (opposed sides) stuff so there are no slots on view at the sides. Surprisingly this is actually slightly cheaper than using strut channel.

I can get five brackets along the wall at a reasonably even spacing (dodging lintels etc) of about 1600mm between brackets. I can't find anyone with aluminium roof mounting rails in stock (they seem to be unobtanium at the moment) so I think I'll go with 3030 two slot extrusion, the version with the slots on two adjacent sides. Should be plenty stiff enough over the relatively short spans, and it's in a very sheltered area, anyway.

Bad news is that even though aluminium profile is cheaper than galvanised strut, it's still a heck of a lot of money, the whole lot's coming in at well over £500.

The good news is that the inverter will be here on Tuesday and the panels and cable should be here by the end of the week.

[Joeboy]

I've decided to bin the idea of using strut, I was never that keen on the somewhat agricultural look of the stuff, even if SWMBO thinks it's OK. Switched to brackets made from 4040 aluminium profile, the two slot (opposed sides) stuff so there are no slots on view at the sides. Surprisingly this is actually slightly cheaper than using strut channel.

I can get five brackets along the wall at a reasonably even spacing (dodging lintels etc) of about 1600mm between brackets. I can't find anyone with aluminium roof mounting rails in stock (they seem to be unobtanium at the moment) so I think I'll go with 3030 two slot extrusion, the version with the slots on two adjacent sides. Should be plenty stiff enough over the relatively short spans, and it's in a very sheltered area, anyway.

Bad news is that even though aluminium profile is cheaper than galvanised strut, it's still a heck of a lot of money, the whole lot's coming in at well over £500.

The good news is that the inverter will be here on Tuesday and the panels and cable should be here by the end of the week.

Sounds good, especially as it's an 'on view' set up. I'd be trying for a sleek architectural look rather than an agricultural one.

[Oldgreybeard]

It does look a bit cleaner using the 4040 extrusions, it's also a lot lighter, the brackets are about half the weight with no significant loss of stiffness. I could have saved a bit by using the standard 4 slot stuff, that's around 20% cheaper that the two slot stuff, but then the slots would have been on show at the sides, it looks cleaner with just plain anodised aluminium on show, I think.

wall bracket - alloy extrusion.jpg (122.93 KiB) Viewed 2402 times

[Joeboy]

It does look a bit cleaner using the 4040 extrusions, it's also a lot lighter, the brackets are about half the weight with no significant loss of stiffness. I could have saved a bit by using the standard 4 slot stuff, that's around 20% cheaper that the two slot stuff, but then the slots would have been on show at the sides, it looks cleaner with just plain anodised aluminium on show, I think.

wall bracket - alloy extrusion.jpg

Nice, interested in the price difference for the anodising v's a matt black spray paint? Sorry, can't help it. My mind just goes that way!

[Oldgreybeard]

Nice, interested in the price difference for the anodising v's a matt black spray paint? Sorry, can't help it. My mind just goes that way!

It comes anodised silver as standard, pretty sure you can't get the stuff in a plain aluminium finish. Some people stock a black anodised finish, but not in the 4040 size, usually. The stuff I'm using is this stuff, but T slot is T slot generally, it's like strut, comes in standard sizes, more or less.

https://www.matara.com/product/aluminiu ... ts-type-b/



and this for the rails:

https://www.matara.com/product/aluminiu ... ts-type-a/

[Joeboy]

Nice, interested in the price difference for the anodising v's a matt black spray paint? Sorry, can't help it. My mind just goes that way!

It comes anodised silver as standard, pretty sure you can't get the stuff in a plain aluminium finish. Some people stock a black anodised finish, but not in the 4040 size, usually. The stuff I'm using is this stuff, but T slot is T slot generally, it's like strut, comes in standard sizes, more or less.

https://www.matara.com/product/aluminiu ... ts-type-b/



and this for the rails:

https://www.matara.com/product/aluminiu ... ts-type-a/

You've got some serious structural integrity in a small package there.