MountingStructures

Mounting Structures

Mounting structures are important components of a solar farm. They are designed to withstand the load of solar panels as well as the wind load acting upon the panels.

To ensure compliance and safety, mounting structures need to satisfy safety codes and guidelines.

Mounting structures can be made of either aluminium or galvanised steel.

Modules mounting structure comprises of following components:

Vertical posts
Vertical rails (rafters)
Horizonal rails (purlins)
Tilt brackets
Mounting clips
Cable trays

Below, we show some types of sections which can be used for some of the components described above:

Vertical Post	C-Channel or C with lips or Sigma or Hollow Sections
Rafter	C-Channel or C with lips or Z or Hollow Sections
Purlin	C-Channel or C with lips or Hat Section or Hollow Sections
Bracing	Angle Sections
Mounting Clip	End Clamp and Inter Clamp

The ‘shelf life’ of a typical solar power plant is 25 years, so the mounting structures need to be able to last for the same amount of time too. The most common reason for the degradation of support structures is corrosion. So, to prevent corrosion, mounting structures are usually hot-galvanised to a thickness of 100-150 microns

Design considerations

The following factors are considered when designing mounting structures:

Of minimal weight
Able to withstand uplift pressure caused by wind loads
Easy to install
Easy to change the angle of the structure, depending on the season
Complies with local codes and guidelines
Must be able to support arrays of different lengths

Mounting structures can be designed using any structural analysis software. The figure below shows a model and analysis of a mounting structure.

The following are the types of foundations that can be used to support mounting frames in ground-based systems:

Precast Concrete block Foundation

In this type of foundation, concrete blocks of the requisite weight needed to prevent uplift of mounting structures are precast in a factory and subsequently brought to the site to be installed.

It’s easier to perform quality control on blocks precast in a factory than on-site. The installation process for such mounting frames is also faster as compared to in-situ concrete foundation casting.

Drilled Pile Foundations

In drilled pile foundations, a hole is first made in the ground at the required depth. A steel section is then placed inside and concrete is casted afterwards, or a steel section can be installed directly in the ground using the pile driving method without the need to cast concrete in-situ.

Drilled pile foundations are required when ground conditions are not suitable for mounting structures, or there is a large number of panels to mount. The process of installing drilled pile foundations is fast and efficient but can be costly.

Earth nail or screw foundation

Earth screws are similar to steel piles but they are lightweight and require less machinery to install. Grooves carved into the earth screws help the solar panels withstand wind uplift pressure by holding on to the ground. Earth screws come in various sizes to meet clients’ needs and are popular nowadays for small projects.

Mounting Structures

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