Post 15: Solar Racks

It took us a pretty long time to wrap our heads around how we were going to build our solar racks, but after looking at a few example racks in person and spending a few hours in Lowe's looking at different parts, it all eventually clicked. In the end, it looks SOOO simple - and it was probably our fastest project from start to end. We're still deciding on what to use to prop up the panels once they are tilted. We've got a few ideas. We just need to test them out.

There were a few things we really wanted/needed from our racking system:

1. All components to come from Lowe's
2. We wanted the whole rack to tilt easily - preferably all the panels could tilt at the same time. It was stressed to us that the tilt is EXTREMELY important to the efficiency of your panels. 
3. We needed to fit 4 panels
4. We wanted as few holes as possible in our roof
5. We didn't want to spend a lot of money (I haven't totaled it up yet, but after all our returns of stuff we didn't use I think our racks will come out between $250-$300)

We used a combination of unistrut and galvanized steel pipes to build our racks. After staring at the pipe fittings section at Lowe's for a bit, we found our perfect piece to hinge our rack. Here's what we used.

4x - SteelTek Structural Pipe Fitting Rail Flange

8x - Superstrut 3/4-in Universal Strut Pipe Strap

2x - Structural Pipe Fitting Rail Flange

2x - Strut L Bracket

4 x - Galvanized Steel Structural Pipe

2x - Strut Straight Bracket

3x - Unistrut Channel @ 10'

4x - Pipe cap

We also used:

• 3/8" x 1 1/2" galvanized steel bolts
• galvanized nuts
• galvanized wahers
• neoprene washers
• rubber pads (we just cut up an old mat)
• Butyl tape
• Lock pins

Connecting the Rails

We wanted a 15' rack. The unistrut only came in 10' lengths so we got 3, cut one in half and then attached the shorter pieces to the 10' pieces with the straight bracket.

Connecting the Pipes to the Rails

The pipes are mounted on the bottom side of the rack. We attached them to the rails using pipe clamps. These slide right into the tracks of the unistrut and you stick the bolt and nut in and tighten them down. They're really easy to adjust. 

Once we got all the pipes attached, properly spaced, and tightened, we used ropes to pull the rack up onto the roof of the bus. We lined up our hinge legs and snapped a line across the bus. We marked the holes for each leg and drilled through the roof.

We originally used wood behind the bolts, but decided that it would probably crack/mold and the bolts were too close to the edge. We ended up switching out the wood for large square washers instead. 

We cut rubber to fit under the hinge leg and then put butyl tape between the bus and the rubber. We put neoprene washers between the top of the bolt and the hinge foot. Then we put a galvanized steel washer on top. 

Galvanized Bolts + Galvanized Nuts = Success

A hard lesson we learned from Google -
YOU MUST use galvanized nuts with galvanized bolts. Maybe this is obvious, but we f'd up and had to go back to Lowe's to get the right nuts. Don't make the same mistake. 

Attaching the Top of the Rack to the Top of the Bus

We wanted a quick release, yet secure, way to attach the top of the rack to the bus. We attached L feet to the roof. Then, we attached a pipe fitting to the pipe that has a hole that lines up with the L foot. We'll insert a locking pin through both holds and this will secure the rack to the roof. Right now, we only have 2 installed. We might install 2 more. We need to take  it out for a test drive. 

What's Next? 

We found an awesome solar consultant who is going to help us with the actual install of our panels and solar equipment. We'll run all our wires so that FINALLY we can install our ceiling. 

This week I'll also be working on rebuilding our couch. The first two tries haven't been totally successful. I'm feeling great about all the progress we've made this Summer and excited to move on to the next stages. 

Questions? Comments? Feel free to share below!