How to install solar panels on your roof quickly and cheaply - Part 3

Well I got four panels installed so that leaves 16 more to go. I got a great tip from FUBARPROTOCOL about a much better mounting method consisting of galvanized rails called unistrut - he shot a video of his install and it's very good. I'm going to take the remaining lumber back to Home Depot and get those unistrut rails instead. They come in galvanized steel so will never rust and are totally maintenance free. Definitely the way to go, I've posted a link to his video below. God bless you all.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Solar power
• sun energy
• green power
• alternative energy
• alternative power
• charge controller
• solar panel
• sun power
• wind generator
• wind turbine
• solar batteries
• off grid
• grid tied

[FUBARPROTOCOL]

@tonymac96 In my opinion it is. I work in the petro-chem industry, on the gulf coast and we use it all the time. It will last for years and years.

[tonymac96]

@FUBARPROTOCOL

Very good...but then the EG is better than the EA to avoid corrosion ???

Thanks

[FUBARPROTOCOL]

@tonymac96 EG = Electro-galvanized and EA = Electroplated Zinc. GR = I dont know..... I hope this helped......

[tonymac96]

@FUBARPROTOCOL

I have a question.... which type of unistrust are the hot dipped....the ones that end with the letters GR or EG ?? ...Can you tell which one is which ? Thanks

[FUBARPROTOCOL]

@FUBARPROTOCOL Also on all of your spring clips, mounting screws, washers, etc, you would need to use hot dipped galvanized or s/s material so you won't ever have to worry about corrosion. I hope you dont take this as a, "I think I know it all", Its just form mistakes that I have made it the past. I know how hard you have been working on this project and I just wanted to give you a different prospective so your project will be maintenance free.

Carey

[FUBARPROTOCOL]

Hi Al, I would like to make another suggestion on the rail system. My local Home depot only carries the zinc coated unistrutt and that is not a good material in a hummid area, it will rust. I would use the hot dipped or aluminum, they will not rust. You can allso get it with perdrilled holes for mounting, but in your application I would use aluminum with no holes, so I could mark the centers of the top ridges of your metal roof and drill the proper size hole for my drill screws.

[katz217]

Good job. Really nice. Glad to hear the hurricane didn't do any damage.