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Xringer · 05-20-10, 10:31 AM

My mount location looked real good in the winter, but now that the sun is so high in the sky,
I'm getting shading from trees just to the east of it.. And in the PM, I'm getting
shade from trees about 45 yards to the west, in the next-door backyard..

I would like to move my mount about 20 feet South and 15 feet West from it's
current location, but their are five(5) 4"x4" 'legs' that extend down into the ground about 3 feet..
The base is an old deck that I built many years ago..

For scale, the garage is 24'x24'.

SM=Solar Mount, 2T=2 trees that are giving me problems now.
That T out to the west is my afternoon problem.
You can see the shadows of the two big trees in the yard to the East
of me, but they are not a real problem after 10 to 10:30 AM.

If I had 16' of 4.5" pipe, I would install it in the solar sweet spot..

I'm not real sure how I'm going to mount these yet.. I had planned on just
buying two panels before. Now that it's four, I'll need to re-think the problem.

I'll be looking at other DIYers work.. Here's one with 6 panels.

Top view: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1.../mcintyre2.jpg

I've seen some 10 foot steel U-channel at at Home Depot that might make a good framework.

Anyways, I like the idea of 500 watts!

My plan to heat hot water will have a much better chance of success.
500W (1706 BTUh) is about twice what I used for testing (250W AC heater),
so I'm expecting even low sun days to work out pretty well.

UL-Solar gives you four little 4W panels 'free' with your 500W order.
But, I'm requesting two of their 8W panels instead.
I think the 8W panels will be more useful for charging my old 12V back-up batteries,
or maybe running ventilation fans. It's still 16 watts total.

05-20-10, 10:31 AM	#44
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	My mount location looked real good in the winter, but now that the sun is so high in the sky, I'm getting shading from trees just to the east of it.. And in the PM, I'm getting shade from trees about 45 yards to the west, in the next-door backyard.. I would like to move my mount about 20 feet South and 15 feet West from it's current location, but their are five(5) 4"x4" 'legs' that extend down into the ground about 3 feet.. The base is an old deck that I built many years ago.. For scale, the garage is 24'x24'. SM=Solar Mount, 2T=2 trees that are giving me problems now. That T out to the west is my afternoon problem. You can see the shadows of the two big trees in the yard to the East of me, but they are not a real problem after 10 to 10:30 AM. If I had 16' of 4.5" pipe, I would install it in the solar sweet spot.. I'm not real sure how I'm going to mount these yet.. I had planned on just buying two panels before. Now that it's four, I'll need to re-think the problem. I'll be looking at other DIYers work.. Here's one with 6 panels. Top view: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1.../mcintyre2.jpg I've seen some 10 foot steel U-channel at at Home Depot that might make a good framework. Anyways, I like the idea of 500 watts! My plan to heat hot water will have a much better chance of success. 500W (1706 BTUh) is about twice what I used for testing (250W AC heater), so I'm expecting even low sun days to work out pretty well. UL-Solar gives you four little 4W panels 'free' with your 500W order. But, I'm requesting two of their 8W panels instead. I think the 8W panels will be more useful for charging my old 12V back-up batteries, or maybe running ventilation fans. It's still 16 watts total. Last edited by Xringer; 05-20-10 at 12:20 PM..