I am going to put us in the poor house because of this solar mount!

[@OWK000]

The last time a solar sales guy came to the door, he happened to mention how expensive solar ground mounts are. I've seen some close to the ground mounts being about $100 per panel. If you are going big poles and structure, that gets more expensive, and shade is a premium thing in a lot of places, especially Arizona, so setting things up to also create some helpful shade is a plus. Of course roofs for catching water are also a high value in Arizona.

[@OWK000]

Actually $$ correction. Saw a video review of IntegraRack: $545 for ground mount for 4 large panels, so more like almost $140 per panel. Mountings are expensive.

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

For sure they are more expensive than I expected! Thanks for the comment.

[@JustinPratt1]

Make sure and put some kind of lightning arrestor on it. Dont want to blow up your system in an instant.

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

I think I have everything grounded. No arrestors on the system yet. I know I need to change some of the fuses, when I get to that I will revisit the lightning arrestors. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@unionse7en]

Lightning is tough, Search Mike Holt for info on current (lol_ thoughts on Auxiliary EGC rods and when they may be problematic... Multiple steel poles in the ground already.. ;-) Equipment is probably screwed if Direct Lightning strikes even with arrestors, still better than nothing. One thing to consider is a Lightning rod somewhere near but not to near the array .... I need to look into that some more... definitely don't want to end up attracting it.

[@terrahillfarm]

Great videos. When you are working on big remote projects, everything cost more. It doesn’t look like you have grid power out there so solar is likely the only realistic option for long term power. IMO “Time to payback” is a poor metric for valuing solar power. Ask someone what it’s worth when they’re shivering cold in the dark with zero power? 🤣☀️⚡️💡

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

Very true my friend. Or sitting in a building with a fan on sweating cause you don’t have AC

[@ET_Videos]

But can I run my 65" 4K TV and PS5 on it...lol ;-) Solar setup is looking awesome!!

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

Absolutely! I will even have the bat signal on when we do it.

[@daddio7249]

OK, watched the first video and now this one. Over $6000 for your ground mount, that's why I went with wood frame and uni strut to bolt the panels to, $700. I have cheap power, my highest bill this summer was $175 with $100 of that for my AC. I am not worried about ROI, I just want my own power supply. Also who knows what electricity rates will be in a few years. I figure my total system will be close to $20,000. I have room for 8 more panels and two more batteries.

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

So the area that we are in has a variation of ground termites and they are brutal. That’s why we went with steel.

[@unionse7en]

@leesliving Agreed, wood may rot then someday the wind takes your system away... 45 Lb/square foot for 130 mph winds (Uplift too), about 26 PSF for 100 mph..... rough, but a lot of diy-ers don't even do rudimentary calcs. Another way is to use the store bought racks configurators and see how the structure changes vs wind loads, then copy their design with the materials available to you.

[@daddio7249]

@@unionse7en Everyone and their brother has a video on KZbin showing their panel mounts. Yet to see one showing how their panels blew away. I will say 14 years ago my dad built a pump shed for me out of 4x4s. It was in the way of my second row so I used the front loader on my small tractor to move it. I had to dig around all four posts before I could lift it, no concrete and less the two ft deep. My panels are single mounted side by side, the high side is only 4 ft off the ground. The are only 20 ft from the south end of my home. Any hurricane winds will come from the northeast. My home will block most of those winds.

[@Steve-wz5pz]

Yeah, you think that with the batteries, inverter, charge controller, panel and misc. electrical, the $$$$ damage is DONE. Then you get to the galvanized pipe (!!!!!!!)

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

It definitely made me cry. I just keep thinking "It will pay off in the long run"... "It will pay off in the long run"

[@BigRigRich]

When you’re off grid, it’s really the only way to go.

[@unionse7en]

cameras not very effective vs theft

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

Yea have other means to deter as well

[@KarasCyborg]

Would have been nice to use the solar panels for a parking shade structure, maybe span them between two shipping containers and have a shaded workshop underneath.

[@leeslivingoutofthenorm]

We plan on running a sunshade across between the array and the container so that we can use it as a working area. We made the space between big enough we can back the trailer up or just pull through.