I agree with you SG on the zoom. I think I got mine from walmart for about $140 about a year ago. I have pretty much always used the vivitar brand or for the last 20 years or so anyway.

Actually, my current system is 60 pv panels. The 48 Kyocera panel system was built at my previous residence.

I have three arrays, the pool array is 20, BP 75 watt laminates. The East and West arrays are each 20, Photowatt 155/165 watt modules. I pushing close to 8kW STC, which I never see since

1) There roof mounted and tilt only matchs the sun correctly twice a year and

2) Its florida and the panels ALWAYS run hot

Here are some more pictures, I added a few panels since this was taken by Lakeland Electric using a bucket truck!

The rainbow is real, we have wack weather, but words don't describe seeing this in person!

Happened on to a German web-site that offers complete PV systems. Apparently they are bringing a rack system on the US market. If any one is interested check out k2-systems.de Too bad that it is in German.

I recently added a kc 125 panel to my existing kc 120 panel at a remote cabin I have been building the past 3 years. I decided to bulid my own rack because of the reduced cost and the fact that it was a simple task. I did purchase the 1 1/2" aluminum angle racks that the panels mount on from a pv distributor. The 2 1/2" x 1 1/2 zinc plated angle was purchased at Home Depot and they are attached to the roof with 3 x 3 Simpson Strong tie L brackets. They in turn are attached to the roof and joists that are 16"on center using 3" lag bolts. All nuys and bolts are stainless. The entire system is secured using "security bolts" available at another distribtor. The system has since been exposed to 55 mph winds and all is well. See attached pics. Any feedback appreciated! Mark in New Mexico.

sg,
nice, but i counted 18 on the right. anyway it is very good to have that much in pv. the electric company took the pictures for what purpose? as favor to you? anyhow did you see the gull on your pvs? they are like the pigeons up here. eat anything and are dirty. they poop everywhere.
yup been to florida several times. oh btw have you ever seen 7 rainbows one atop another? i have here about 15yrs ago. never saw anything like it before and i've seen doubles and triples since.

wilsonm,
i'm all for homemade mounts, but those pvs are very close to your roof. they will degrade more in their output as the heat has no place to escape very well. maybe get some more hardware and move them outward more.

Thanks Niel for the input. The original panel was mounted using RV mounts and had less than 1" of clearance. I now have 4" of clearance and the increase in height should be an improvement. If I raise the panels higher they are visible from the ground and at risk for theft. Mark

most go with 6 or more inches, but you've improved it over what it was and that's good. i do understand about the theft. vandalism is a good possibility too as i'm in the same boat with people around me. i saw evidence of one of my pvs being hit with something as it was forcibly pushed out of place a fraction of an inch. it could've only been done by something such as a rock and i didn't see the rock on the roof below the pv. anyway there's no damage as i have unisolar 64s. they have no glass to break. just one of your pvs can produce what 2 us 64s can and with a longer warranty too.

I have inspected a few ground mount systems in the San Diego area and it is common to see unistrut being used to support the panels. The vertical supports are either galvanized pipe or more unistrut. I can post some pictures if there is interest. I plan to use unistrut for my ground mount system (36 Kyocera 200 watt modules) but I still need to figure out how to set it up so that I can adjust the angle twice a year.

go ahead and post those pics as it's always interesting to see how others do things. who knows i might learn something or think of something new.

Here are pictures of a ground mount system using Prosolar rails. Prosolar provides the aluminum rails and the installer provides the pipe and Speedrail fittings.