Photovoltaic mounting system

Solar panel mounting system on roof of Pacifica wastewater treatment plant
Solar panel mounting system on roof of Pacifica wastewater treatment plant

Photovoltaic mounting systems (also called solar module racking) are used to fix solar panels on surfaces like roofs, building facades, or the ground.[1] These mounting systems generally enable retrofitting of solar panels on roofs or as part of the structure of the building (called BIPV).[2] As the relative costs of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules has dropped,[3] the costs of the racks have become more important and for small PV systems can be the most expensive material cost.[4] This has caused an interest in small users deploying a DIY approach.[5] Due to these trends, there has been an explosion of new racking trends. These include non-optimal orientations and tilt angles, new types of roof-mounts, ground mounts, canopies, building integrated, shading, vertical mounted and fencing systems.

  1. ^ "Photovoltaic Racking Systems". solattach.com. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  2. ^ "What difference is there between thermal solar energy and Photovoltaic solar energy?". epia.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  3. ^ Fu, Ran; Feldman, David J.; Margolis, Robert M. (2018-11-21). "U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmark: Q1 2018". doi:10.2172/1483475. OSTI 1483475. S2CID 133792464. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Vandewetering, Nicholas; Hayibo, Koami Soulemane; Pearce, Joshua M. (2022). "Impacts of Location on Designs and Economics of DIY Low-Cost Fixed-Tilt Open Source Wood Solar Photovoltaic Racking". Designs. 6 (3): 41. doi:10.3390/designs6030041. ISSN 2411-9660.
  5. ^ Grafman, Lonny; Pearce, Joshua (2021-01-01). "To Catch the Sun". To Catch the Sun.