Post by cye on Aug 17, 2014 4:51:15 GMT -5
Here's a few pics of home made bracketry used for mounting commercial solar panels to a tiled roof. A typical commercial solar panel will use an inverted SS/inox U-channel frame, and there are a two principal methods used to mount these to a roof. This post shows one of those methods, the one which does not required drilling through the tile.
(pics are taken from the co-op's portaroof which has travelled with us to various workshops in both north and southern ireland since 2010, but has been taking up too much space in our back yard and has had to broken up,....pics taken just before its demise)
The tiles in this example are redland 49, but the method can be used for most tiles which have nibs on the back preventing them from slipping off the horizontal lath.
Tile do not need to be removed from the roof, just slid upwards to allow access for the mounting brackets to be bolted into a rafter. where a rafter is not available, then the installer will fit a horizontal noggin between two adjacent rafters, and the bracket can be fixed to the noggin instead.
Pic 1 below shows the first bracket fitted over the lowest of the three tiles affected.
Pic 2 below shows the second (middle)tile overlapping the lowest tile, a second bracket fitted above the middle tile, and the two brackets connected at their lowest point with a bolt.
SS coach bolts were used to fit the brackets to the rafter, and SS bolt was used to clamp the two brackets together. Brackets are heavy duty galvo 'batten strap' available from hardware stores and builder's suppliers. Batten straps are more typically used to hold a wall plate (on which rafters rest) onto a wall, but are handy for a variety of other uses including making brackets to hold solar panels onto roofs!
The hump in the second bracket will fit into the U of the (upturned U) channel section frame of the solar panel. the space underneath the hump allows room for a short bolt to be fitted through the bracket and U channel, bypassing the need for captive nuts etc.
(pics are taken from the co-op's portaroof which has travelled with us to various workshops in both north and southern ireland since 2010, but has been taking up too much space in our back yard and has had to broken up,....pics taken just before its demise)
The tiles in this example are redland 49, but the method can be used for most tiles which have nibs on the back preventing them from slipping off the horizontal lath.
Tile do not need to be removed from the roof, just slid upwards to allow access for the mounting brackets to be bolted into a rafter. where a rafter is not available, then the installer will fit a horizontal noggin between two adjacent rafters, and the bracket can be fixed to the noggin instead.
Pic 1 below shows the first bracket fitted over the lowest of the three tiles affected.
Pic 2 below shows the second (middle)tile overlapping the lowest tile, a second bracket fitted above the middle tile, and the two brackets connected at their lowest point with a bolt.
SS coach bolts were used to fit the brackets to the rafter, and SS bolt was used to clamp the two brackets together. Brackets are heavy duty galvo 'batten strap' available from hardware stores and builder's suppliers. Batten straps are more typically used to hold a wall plate (on which rafters rest) onto a wall, but are handy for a variety of other uses including making brackets to hold solar panels onto roofs!
The hump in the second bracket will fit into the U of the (upturned U) channel section frame of the solar panel. the space underneath the hump allows room for a short bolt to be fitted through the bracket and U channel, bypassing the need for captive nuts etc.