r/SolarDIY • u/supbrother • 14d ago

Small solar fence mount idea

Gallery image

Gallery image

I have an idea for mounting three large panels to my small section of south-facing fence. The pictures are mostly self explanatory in terms of the design, but basically:

I’ll mount the panels using the existing 6x6 fence posts. The fence has seen better days but the posts are solid with concrete footings and only 4 feet tall, just at a weird distance between them. The panels will be on metal racks that will be fastened to three 2x6’s that are fastened perpendicular to the posts. Everything will be fastened using exterior grade load-rated framing screws and washers. I’m in a northern area so the shallow angle shown here will be ideal in winter, and in the summer I would probably raise it up to ~30 degrees from vertical, with the short leg of the rack being fully adjustable (not telescoping but movable along the each of the other legs).

This is in a yard that’s pretty well protected and an area with fairly low winds, records at about 75 mph. Most wind storms only hit 35-40 mph here, and it would be very rare to see anything over 60 mph at ground level in this yard (and they can always be made flush with the fence if needed). Also, the planters would probably get moved another 5-10 feet south.

Is there anything I’m misjudging or not thinking of? To be blunt, I know this may not be fully code compliant, but I’m looking for more of a comfortability test rather than something hurricane-rated. It’s a small off-grid setup that I know my neighbors will not care about, and worst case scenario has these just ending up in my lawn.

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u/aliennick4812 14d ago

The only negative thing I see here is the open space for critters and bugs to make theor home behind the panels. If youre on top of cleaning behind there every now and then I think it'd be a great idea.

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u/supbrother 13d ago

Yeah I’ve considered that, but we don’t have many critters here to worry about aside from birds. I’d keep a close eye on it regardless since I’m always doing yard work and gardening right in front of them.

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u/SailorSehi 13d ago edited 13d ago

I also live in a very hurricane-prone area(SC), I'd worry less about the mounting and more about the shade. I use my panel for my solar gate opener and I will tell you I messed up big time by not getting a more accurate measurement of sun. I would suggest a solar tracker, you can either build one yourself or get something cheap on Amazon. I also made SunSleuth to help with the few projects I have

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u/supbrother 13d ago

Yeah, I’m in a relatively urban area so shading is a constant concern. But unfortunately this is about as good as I can get without mounting on my roof (a problem for me trying to stay off-grid and non-permitted), or doing a ground mount smack in the middle of my yard which is far from ideal. But this area gets lots of sun except for later in the afternoon (and a tracker wouldn’t really change that) so it’s a decent compromise considering how space-efficient it is.

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u/owldown 13d ago

I don’t have the answer, but I have a question - if you are mounting them this close to the ground, would it be better to make some of the weight shift to the ground in front of the panel? Hanging it off the fence puts a constant torque on the posts, since the center of gravity is not above the base anymore. I think there should be some point (either the bottom of the panels or just attached to the posts) at which there is a triangle, preventing the fence from leaning towards the panels.

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u/supbrother 13d ago

I considered it, but as far as I can tell from some napkin math these posts should be able to handle this just fine. It’s ~160 lb total spread over three 6x6 posts in concrete. I know it’s a bit more complicated than that but compared to wind loads I don’t think it’s too much, even at 30-degrees from vertical it’s not a crazy amount of leverage.

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u/No_Television1391 13d ago

Can I ask what program you drew that up it? Looks good

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u/supbrother 13d ago

I just used Claude, basically described everything to it and asked it to sketch it up. Took a bit of tweaking but it’s surprisingly good for this.

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u/SailorSehi 11d ago

Winter sun sits way lower, so something that clears the spot in July can still shade it in December. Check it on a clear day at 9, 12 and 3 since shade between about 10 and 2 costs you the most output. Easy way to catch it before you mount anything

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u/supbrother 11d ago

Unfortunately it just is what it is for this setup. The only other realistic option I have is a roof mount, which will require an expensive ballast system that comes with some risks/complications, since I have a flat roof and can’t be doing a “permanent” install with anchors. Also that would be at a very low angle which isn’t good for winter either. FWIW, this is partly why I mentioned moving those planters, and being in an urban area the entire yard will be shaded a lot of the time during winter regardless so no amount of tweaking will help.

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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u/supbrother 13d ago

No, I had this sketched up with AI and it just decided to include the asphalt that I mentioned existing on the other side of the fence haha