Solar panel installation

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Marthinus100

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Hello everyone. I have two strings of 545W panels consisting of 6 each for now.

Panels are 1.1m wide and 2.2m tall roughly. One string is on an IBR roof, and the other on a tile roof.

Question is how many rail mounting brackets do I really need? Obviously the panels are expensive, but how many brackets do you realistically need to secure them?

I want to have space for a 7th panel on each string, so I figured 8 brackets each (4 top and 4 bottom rail) should be enough?

Thanks in advance
 
Marthinus100 said:
Hello everyone. I have two strings of 545W panels consisting of 6 each for now.

Panels are 1.1m wide and 2.2m tall roughly. One string is on an IBR roof, and the other on a tile roof.

Question is how many rail mounting brackets do I really need? Obviously the panels are expensive, but how many brackets do you realistically need to secure them?

I want to have space for a 7th panel on each string, so I figured 8 brackets each (4 top and 4 bottom rail) should be enough?

Thanks in advance
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You can get away with that but 5 per rail would make for much better spacing,
 
Awesome, thank you.
That is a lot less than the 13 per rail I got quoted (26 total per string)
 
Marthinus100 said:
Awesome, thank you.
That is a lot less than the 13 per rail I got quoted (26 total per string)
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if you got quoted x amount is there not a reason for that amount ,without seeing the install location its very hard to guess .
 
soulie said:
if you got quoted x amount is there not a reason for that amount ,without seeing the install location its very hard to guess .
Click to expand...
No reason, DIY install. Sales people tried their luck at the local suppliers.
 
Marthinus100 said:
Awesome, thank you.
That is a lot less than the 13 per rail I got quoted (26 total per string)
Click to expand...
Like 13 for just over 6m of panels? That's an unimaginable overkill, at most one would say 6 brackets a meter apart, bringing it to 12 in total. No idea what they would be doing with all the brackets, maybe you would be helping someone else's install.
 
Marthinus100 said:
No reason, DIY install. Sales people tried their luck at the local suppliers.
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okie dokie ,is your house insured?make sure you get a letter from the insurance company stating they will honour a claim on a self installed system.if a full time salesperson says x i would rather listen to him then ,especially if he is selling you the gear usually they know what they are talking about and sell lots of gear .
 
soulie said:
okie dokie ,is your house insured?make sure you get a letter from the insurance company stating they will honour a claim on a self installed system.if a full time salesperson says x i would rather listen to him then ,especially if he is selling you the gear usually they know what they are talking about and sell lots of gear .
Click to expand...
Or they are scamming him? Here is a 6 panel mounting kit, as I have said at most it should be 6 brackets per rail for a total of 12 for 6 panels. Unless they were going to mount the panels in some weird format that I can't imagine why, I honestly don't see why you would need 26 brackets?

www.sustainable.co.za

Sustainable 6 Panel Solar Mounting Kit

This kit is made up of the following products Solarframe 3.6 SF Mounting Rail x 4 Solarframe Mounting Mid Clips x 12 Solarframe Mounting End Clips x 8 Solarframe Rail Splice x 4 Solarframe Rail Inserts x 12 Bracket Options IBR/Corrugated Roof Mounting Brackets with M10 190mm Hanger Bolts x 12...
www.sustainable.co.za www.sustainable.co.za
 
You still need a Certificate of Compliance (COC) to be handed to your insurer in the case there is a fire
I know of someone in Gordons Bay that was still paying off his house and everything went up in flames
No COC
No payout
 
TheChamp said:
Or they are scamming him? Here is a 6 panel mounting kit, as I have said at most it should be 6 brackets per rail for a total of 12 for 6 panels. Unless they were going to mount the panels in some weird format that I can't imagine why, I honestly don't see why you would need 26 brackets?

www.sustainable.co.za

Sustainable 6 Panel Solar Mounting Kit

This kit is made up of the following products Solarframe 3.6 SF Mounting Rail x 4 Solarframe Mounting Mid Clips x 12 Solarframe Mounting End Clips x 8 Solarframe Rail Splice x 4 Solarframe Rail Inserts x 12 Bracket Options IBR/Corrugated Roof Mounting Brackets with M10 190mm Hanger Bolts x 12...
www.sustainable.co.za www.sustainable.co.za
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What size panels are these?
 
Marthinus100 said:
Correct. 6 panels next to each other in portrait configuration.
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im not going to get into it ,but you do realize that if you do it yourself and youre not a registered ie or contractor you cant get a legal CoC .insurance companys are now waking up to the fact of shoddy installs and things that are not up to code .get a proffesional company with an onboard IE to do the job ,at least then its peace of mind .12 panels cook up a lot of juice .reading about the install and doing it are very different things ,roof leaks,broken tiles etc also reading about your house on News 24 can be quite traumatic ,i have been to houses where the owners are left with only a blanket because of an electrical fire .use the advice or dont use it ,its free. hey Viking oke check out the commas ,i know youre lurking around .
 
soulie said:
im not going to get into it ,but you do realize that if you do it yourself and youre not a registered ie or contractor you cant get a legal CoC .insurance companys are now waking up to the fact of shoddy installs and things that are not up to code .get a proffesional company with an onboard IE to do the job ,at least then its peace of mind .12 panels cook up a lot of juice .reading about the install and doing it are very different things ,roof leaks,broken tiles etc also reading about your house on News 24 can be quite traumatic ,i have been to houses where the owners are left with only a blanket because of an electrical fire .use the advice or dont use it ,its free. hey Viking oke check out the commas ,i know youre lurking around .
Click to expand...
Now you just need to work on your spaces.
 
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