A solar panel mount (or solar racking system) is the foundation that holds your solar array in place.

Mounts are used to attach solar panels to the roof, ground, or another surface on your property. With proper installation, a sturdy mount secures your panels in harsh weather and protects your investment. Before choosing your mounting products, determine whether you’re doing ground mount or roof mount solar racking.

A reliable and durable mounting system is key to the success of a solar array system. The mounting system—also referred to as a racking system—serves as the foundation of the solar array, allowing the individual panels to remain attached and secured to the surface of the roof or ground.

TYPES OF SOLAR PANEL MOUNTING SYSTEMS

The majority of solar array customers opt for one of two mounting systems: roof or ground mounts. The ideal system depends on the requirements and restrictions of the application. For example:

Roof mounts allow solar customers to mount solar panels to existing space on their roofs. They are suitable for structures that are relatively modern and can support the full weight of a solar system. Compared to ground mounts, they are simpler and less expensive to install and generally do not require additional structural support.

Ground mounts grant customers the freedom to install their solar systems anywhere on their property. They serve as standalone structures and are easier to clean and maintain than roof mounts. However, they often come with a higher cost of installation.

For customers with little to no free space on their property (including on their roofs), there is a third option—pole mounts. Pole mounts are a variation of ground mounts that involve using sturdy vertical poles to raise the solar panels above the ground. They accommodate easy repair and maintenance and allow customers to adjust the angle of panels to maximize solar input.

COMPONENTS OF A SOLAR PANEL MOUNTING SYSTEM

A solar mount system can employ several different components to facilitate secure attachment, such as:

SOLAR PANEL MOUNTING BRACKETS

Solar panel mounting brackets are one of the most commonly utilized components in solar mounting systems. These heavy-duty parts are often made of stainless steel or aluminum and, like all mounting and racking products, must adhere to strict industry guidelines.

SOLAR PANEL MOUNTING CLAMPS

Solar panel mounting clamps find use in roof mount installations. These components attach to the seam of a solar panel and employ stainless steel setscrews to ensure the panels stay in place. When tightened, the setscrews compress the seam material against the opposite side of the clamp, causing a visible dimpling that does not damage the system or fully penetrate the seam. Each clamp set (including the provided stainless steel hardware) may also feature threaded holes that facilitate the attachment of additional objects.

SOLAR PANEL WIRE MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS

As solar panels are installed outdoors, their components are subjected to harsh environmental conditions, such as direct sunlight, extreme temperatures, and elements such as rain, snow, and hail. Employing proper wire management helps prevent damage to critical system parts, ensuring the safety of operators and the reliability and longevity of the solar panel system.

Some of the most commonly utilized solar panel wire management products include:

Hangers. Wire hangers are suitable for managing wires in ground mount setups. The ones from Sino Green are made from hard drawn galvanized steel and hold up to 25 wires.

Clips. Wire clips are ideal for managing wires in roof mount setups. Sino Green wire management clips are available in standard models made from 410 stainless steel or 301 ½ hard stainless steel. Custom fabrication options are available for highly unique or complex applications.

Tilt Legs

If your rooftop is flat, you can use tilt legs to face panels so that they are more perpendicular to the sun. Tilt legs simply lift the panels up to a fixed angle, so that they face directly into the sunlight.

Whereas most residential rooftops are sloped, flat roofs (or low slope roofs) are more common in a commercial setting. In these cases, tilt legs can be used to adjust the panels to the proper angle.

Ballasted (Zero Penetration) Roof Mounts

Most roof-mounted racking techniques require you make penetrations in your roof to clamp the mount in place.

If you don’t feel comfortable drilling holes into your roof, or your lease agreement does not permit roof penetrations , you can go with a ballasted roof mount.

Ballasted mounts rest on a free-standing base that isn’t drilled into your roof. This mount relies on the weight of the PV array, as well as concrete blocks, to hold the system in place.

Ballasted mounts only work on flat or low-slope roofs, and they must be well-engineered to handle the significant amount of extra weight added by the concrete blocks holding the system in place.

Pole Mounts

To lift your array off the ground, you can also mount your panels on the top of a sturdy pole. This provides more ground clearance, which is mainly useful in areas with heavy snow where you can expect snowfall to accumulate on the ground below your array.

Pole mounts are the best solar panel mounts to use in heavy snow areas, because the steep tilt angle helps shed snow.

The steep angle of pole mounts naturally aids snow removal, as the weight of the snow causes it to naturally slide off the face of the panels.

Most pole mounts are also adjustable. If you like to get hands-on with your system, you can adjust the tilt angle of your panels to get the most production out of your system on a seasonal basis.

Trackers

Trackers are ground mounts that adjust automatically, ensuring your panels always face directly at the sun.

In theory, trackers are useful in optimizing the facing of your panels to squeeze every last drop of production out of your array. In practice, if you need more output, it’s far more cost-effective to add 1 or 2 extra panels to your array (presuming you have space).

We only recommend trackers in massive commercial-scale systems, or for rare edge cases where space efficiency is the primary concern guiding the system design.