Hi All,

I've got to install a pole mount for a solar array. The manufacturer
says to use 5" schedule 40 steel pipe (5 9/16" OD). The hole is
specified as:

54" deep
30" diameter
..81 cubic feet of concrete


Do I need to weld any kind of rebar to the bottom of the pipe?? What
kinds of coating would be best before pouring concrete? Of course, I'll
be sloping the top of the concrete for water drainage.

I'm assuming that I need the concrete poured under the pipe opening ....
so what do I use as a standoff to raise the pipe off the bottom of the
hole? Should I cap the end of the pipe encased in concrete?

I was planning on building a 2x4 wood collar above ground, along with
diagonal 2x4's for ground support to maintain vertical until the concrete
cures.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!

Daniel Carata wrote:
Hi All,

I've got to install a pole mount for a solar array. The manufacturer
says to use 5" schedule 40 steel pipe (5 9/16" OD). The hole is
specified as:

54" deep
30" diameter
.81 cubic feet of concrete


Do I need to weld any kind of rebar to the bottom of the pipe?? What
kinds of coating would be best before pouring concrete? Of course, I'll
be sloping the top of the concrete for water drainage.

I'm assuming that I need the concrete poured under the pipe opening ....
so what do I use as a standoff to raise the pipe off the bottom of the
hole? Should I cap the end of the pipe encased in concrete?

I was planning on building a 2x4 wood collar above ground, along with
diagonal 2x4's for ground support to maintain vertical until the concrete
cures.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!



Hi,
How big is the arrray? Wind load? weight? When I installed basket ball
goal post was similar situation. No rebar, I filled the pipe with
concrete about half height, My kids are all grown up now, the pole still
stands rock solid. Wife let me install a cross bar so she can hang
flower baskets during summer time, LOL!

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:19:39 +0000 (UTC), Daniel Carata
wrote:

Hi All,

I've got to install a pole mount for a solar array. The manufacturer
says to use 5" schedule 40 steel pipe (5 9/16" OD). The hole is
specified as:

54" deep
30" diameter
.81 cubic feet of concrete
That is .81 cubic yards of concrete.

That sounds a lot more reasonable to me.

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 08:16:37 -0700, Bob F wrote:

wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:19:39 +0000 (UTC), Daniel Carata
wrote:


54" deep 30" diameter .81 cubic feet of concrete


That is .81 cubic yards of concrete.

That sounds a lot more reasonable to me.



Yes; I made a mistake. It's .81 cubic yard. Looks like 2000 to 3000+
pounds.

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 09:00:25 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Hi,
How big is the arrray? Wind load? weight? When I installed basket ball
goal post was similar situation. No rebar, I filled the pipe with
concrete about half height, My kids are all grown up now, the pole still
stands rock solid. Wife let me install a cross bar so she can hang
flower baskets during summer time, LOL!



Hi,

There will be two pole mount arrays. Each pole will carry (4) 265W
panels. I don't know the weight or wind loading calcs as all the
engineering was done by the company for a Florida install. The panels
are not heavy at all.

I hope my mount is as strong as yours sounds!

There will be two pole mount arrays. Each pole will carry (4) 265W

panels.

Using rough numbers like 1kW for 5 hours a day = 5kHh at $.20 per kWh will save you about $1 per day in your electric bill.

How do you justify this expense?

Don't get me wrong, I am all in favor of alternative energy and I would love to install PV but I can't justify the cost vs payback.

Mark

wrote:
There will be two pole mount arrays. Each pole will carry (4) 265W

panels.

Using rough numbers like 1kW for 5 hours a day = 5kHh at $.20 per kWh
will save you about $1 per day in your electric bill.

It looks to me like twice that.


How do you justify this expense?

At under $1/watt, It looks like the panels themselves could be paid off in a few
years. I sure wish I didn't have poplar trees just south of my property line.

wrote in message
...


There will be two pole mount arrays. Each pole will carry (4) 265W

panels.

Using rough numbers like 1kW for 5 hours a day = 5kHh at $.20 per kWh will
save you about $1 per day in your electric bill.

How do you justify this expense?

Don't get me wrong, I am all in favor of alternative energy and I would
love to install PV but I can't justify the cost vs payback.

Mark


It will take a while to go through this page. It is by a person I know that
is into the solar power.
https://www.kenclifton.com/wordpress/

I have sat in a presentation or two of his at a local ham radio club. The
justification of his is about a 8 year payback. At the time he installed
his system there was a big tax break, not sure if it is still in effect or
not. Then his system starts putting power back into the grid at the same
charge as the power company charges. This goes on from the time the sun
comes up and goes down.

In other words he uses the power company like a big storage battery. While
no one is at home during the day the system runs his power meter backwards
most of the day. Then at night he uses the power. That makes most of his
power 'free'.

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:41:11 -0400, wrote:

If you have over 3000# of concrete in that hole, you will be plenty
strong but I would go ahead and weld a couple pieces of rebar to the
pipe to give it a better bite. They don't really have to be very big.
You could just drill some holes and poke pieces of just about any
metal rod in there. Once the concrete sets around them they are not
going anywhere.

.... I've read where people cut a diagonal on the end of the pipe. It
helps keep the pipe from turning/spinning. Once cured in place.

Looks like:

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/toh/i/step-by-step/10/06-team-saturday/04-pipe-ball.jpg

Daniel Carata wrote:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 09:00:25 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Hi,
How big is the arrray? Wind load? weight? When I installed basket ball
goal post was similar situation. No rebar, I filled the pipe with
concrete about half height, My kids are all grown up now, the pole still
stands rock solid. Wife let me install a cross bar so she can hang
flower baskets during summer time, LOL!



Hi,

There will be two pole mount arrays. Each pole will carry (4) 265W
panels. I don't know the weight or wind loading calcs as all the
engineering was done by the company for a Florida install. The panels
are not heavy at all.

I hope my mount is as strong as yours sounds!

Hi,
Even if the actual weight is not much, if the total area of panel is
big, the wind load will matter. I used more or less 1 cu. ft. of
concrete I mixed and poured for the pole. I have 1.5 Kw array on the
roof which was installed with govt. subsidy. Without it, I wouldn't
have it installed. I will have never recovered to total cost until I
die, LOL! It does not have battery back up, just inverter feeding the
grid back and forth. I can monitor what is going on on my computer
because the controller is tied to my router. Is it self tracking panels?

Daniel Carata wrote:
Hi All,

I've got to install a pole mount for a solar array. The manufacturer
says to use 5" schedule 40 steel pipe (5 9/16" OD). The hole is
specified as:

54" deep
30" diameter
.81 cubic feet of concrete


Do I need to weld any kind of rebar to the bottom of the pipe?? What
kinds of coating would be best before pouring concrete? Of course,
I'll be sloping the top of the concrete for water drainage.

I'm assuming that I need the concrete poured under the pipe opening
.... so what do I use as a standoff to raise the pipe off the bottom
of the hole? Should I cap the end of the pipe encased in concrete?

I was planning on building a 2x4 wood collar above ground, along with
diagonal 2x4's for ground support to maintain vertical until the
concrete cures.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!

I'd be tempted to fill the pipe with concrete also. It could be worth asking the
manufacturere about that possibility. It would make the pipe nearly un-bendable.

On 4/28/2014 11:49 AM, Daniel Carata wrote:


I could be totally wrong, but I can't calculate a payback curve for
electric power.


Add this to your formula if you live in Oklahoma,

A solar surcharge bill was just signed by the governor of Oklahoma,
which would charge a fee for people who install solar panels on their
roofs, and are still attached to the grid. Apparently, utilities in that
state feel threatened by the free energy from the sun, and maybe they
are afraid that the entire state will turn to solar.

Read mo
http://www.benzinga.com/trading-idea...#ixzz30Hkpxgk7

On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 13:34:53 -0600, Tony Hwang wrote:

Hi,
Even if the actual weight is not much, if the total area of panel is
big, the wind load will matter. I used more or less 1 cu. ft. of
concrete I mixed and poured for the pole. I have 1.5 Kw array on the
roof which was installed with govt. subsidy. Without it, I wouldn't have
it installed. I will have never recovered to total cost until I die,
LOL! It does not have battery back up, just inverter feeding the grid
back and forth. I can monitor what is going on on my computer because
the controller is tied to my router. Is it self tracking panels?




No; this is not a tracking mount. Also, this is an off-grid system and
will use batteries for local storage.

If electricity rates skyrocket, your payback date might just change
radically.

On Tuesday, April 29, 2014 10:25:41 AM UTC-4, Fat-Dumb and Happy wrote:
On 4/28/2014 11:49 AM, Daniel Carata wrote:





I could be totally wrong, but I can't calculate a payback curve for

electric power.





Add this to your formula if you live in Oklahoma,



A solar surcharge bill was just signed by the governor of Oklahoma,

which would charge a fee for people who install solar panels on their

roofs, and are still attached to the grid. Apparently, utilities in that

state feel threatened by the free energy from the sun, and maybe they

are afraid that the entire state will turn to solar.



Read mo

http://www.benzinga.com/trading-idea...#ixzz30Hkpxgk7

That's interesting, first I've heard of it. But to be fair, they
probably have it right. My electric bill is about half for the energy
itself, the other half is for distribution. If you put up a solar array,
providing most or all of your power, then you're not paying a similar
amount to your neighbor, who has no solar array, ie you're not helping
to pay for the massive distribution system. And at night, without that
distribution system, you'd have no power.