attaching solar panels
I was wondering if I should use well nuts or just wood screws to attach the panels to the roof, of course a healthy amount of Dicor. I was going to use 1" stainless wood screws.
Forum Discussion
Colo, with a pair of 3" angle pieces you will have plenty of height adjustment. Having 3 pieces just doesn't make sense to me. Home Depot have a limited choice of aluminum stock, check Online Metals.
3/4" particle board is in fact 5/8", usual thing in lumber, "real" size is smaller than "nominal" size. Each single screw #10 provides very little grip, that's why with a big panel you need either more than 4 brackets or more than 2 screws per bracket, or hit the rafters. I tried hitting the rafters and used 4 screws per 4"x6" bracket - 4" aluminum angle 6" long, 1/4" thick. 4" angle was necessary to raise one panel to clear the plumbing vent. Another panel I could mount on 3" or 3.5" angle brackets. Each bracket is single piece, attached to the side of the panel using rivet nut.
My 65"x39" 250W panel is sitting on mere 4 brackets. Having more brackets would make tilting more difficult, and having smaller brackets and fewer screws would be dangerous on tilted panel in high winds. As it turned out, I didn't need tilting :). Had I used 6 or 8 brackets per panel, I wouldn't worry (too much) about hitting rafters.
3/4" particle board is in fact 5/8", usual thing in lumber, "real" size is smaller than "nominal" size. Each single screw #10 provides very little grip, that's why with a big panel you need either more than 4 brackets or more than 2 screws per bracket, or hit the rafters. I tried hitting the rafters and used 4 screws per 4"x6" bracket - 4" aluminum angle 6" long, 1/4" thick. 4" angle was necessary to raise one panel to clear the plumbing vent. Another panel I could mount on 3" or 3.5" angle brackets. Each bracket is single piece, attached to the side of the panel using rivet nut.
My 65"x39" 250W panel is sitting on mere 4 brackets. Having more brackets would make tilting more difficult, and having smaller brackets and fewer screws would be dangerous on tilted panel in high winds. As it turned out, I didn't need tilting :). Had I used 6 or 8 brackets per panel, I wouldn't worry (too much) about hitting rafters.
