Solar Mounting for Your Home Solar Panel System: Pole Mounts

You just purchased a palette of solar panels for your home and now you have to figure out how to attach them. We hope that you have worked on this issue before the delivery truck arrives with your home solar panels. With solar energy we can power many applications, some tied to the grid and some not, but they all require some sort of mounting application. Most of you have already figured out the solar racking you need for your roof, but if you have some extra space, you probably have also considered securing your solar modules to a pole.

Why consider pole mounts for your solar energy installation: If you live in the city and don't have much space, you are going to install home solar panels on your roof to conserve precious backyard space. But if you live in a remote location or otherwise have space, it may significantly reduce the installation cost by installing your solar energy system on a pole mount in an unused part of your yard.

There may be other reasons you may want to consider a pole mount as an alternative to traditional flush mounts or solar racking on your roof. If you are using any kind of solar battery system such as for an off grid system or a battery back-up system, a large roof mount system may not be suitable because of installation challenges or because of configuration constraints. You may have space constraints on your roof and you cannot accommodate a home solar energy system on your roof. Or you may want to consider a pole mount if your roof is facing south and you do not want to show the entire world your solar PV system. Any of these reasons may persuade a homeowner to look at pole mount as a viable option to a roof mount. Pole mounts are quite simple to configure and install.

In this article, we discuss two different approaches for pole mounts. Solar installers and DIYers can use a solar pole mount by choosing either a top of the pole mount or side of the pole mount.

Top of the pole mounts can hold up to 24 modules: A top of the pole mount is basically securing solar panels on a single pole, or several poles depending on the array size, directly on top of the pole. We have shared some photos in this article of top of the pole mount installations. The first one shows an 8 module installation from one of SolarTown's customers in Ohio.

What is wonderful about solar panels for home solar energy systems using this technique is that you can easily incorporate a solar tracker to maximize energy yield.

Whether you want to use a solar tracker or not, top of the pole mounts offer you that flexibility while securing your home solar panels. Top of the pole mounts also offer the ability to manually adjust the tilt angles to increase overall efficiency. Selecting the right top of the pole mount is easy when using our comprehensive how to guide in selecting a top of the pole mount at the end of this article.

Each pole mount will require anywhere from a 2 inch - 8 inch Schedule 40 or Schedule 80 pipe. The foundational work is less capital intensive when using a pole mount. All kinds of ground mounts should always be secured on a concrete foundation, which vary with each site; You need also to take in account other natural conditions that may affect how your top of the pole mount will hold up such as wind conditions, soil conditions and other conditions. You don't want your solar array to fly away in a hurricane.

The installation footprint will be smaller with a pole mount compared to a typical ground mount solar installation. Pouring concrete into a single hole is a lot less intense than covering a rectangular area.

The actual solar system and concrete foundation will vary depending on what your solar energy project calls for. At the end of the day, you can use a top of the pole mount to easily secure solar modules grid-tie or off-grid solar application. The trick to selecting the right top of the pole mount is understanding the specification of your solar panel and how many modules you plan to install. Top of the pole mounts can secure up to 24 solar modules-over 5 kW of power, although most of the pole mounts we sell at SolarTown hold up to 12 modules.

Side of the pole mounts can secure solar modules along the side of a pole. Side of the pole mounts, unlike top of the pole mounts, cannot incorporate a solar tracker due to the pole limiting track movement but are ideal for smaller solar energy systems. If you're looking to power a small system such as a system for a solar refrigerator or home solar lights or other small solar energy product a side of the pole mount may work for your project. Here is a picture of a sample installation from DPW Solar.

Similar to a top of the pole mount, all you basically needs is a 2 inch - 4.5 inch Schedule 40 or Schedule 80 pipe and you are ready to get your solar energy system up and running. For specific sizing, you will however need to know the specification of your solar panel and how many modules you will be mounting. Take a look at our how to guide in selecting a side of the pole mount at the end of this article.

Always comply with your local and state building codes and safety is always first. Further customization is also possible with both top of the pole mount or side of the pole mount with different wind exposure, stainless steel hardware, anodized aluminum etc for those who live or plan to install a solar energy system in extreme places. You can contact us at SolarTown for details.