Racking (standing seam) venders, and where to buy? best price?

[RockyinNM]

Newbie needs help!

I'm going to do a DIY-as much as I can. I have a South facing metal roof, (standing seam) (not sure of pitch) But not extreme. I want to mount approximately (20), 325/340 watt panels. I believe the term is, (portrait) vertical, in 2 runs of (10 panels.)

I have a (standing seam) every foot. What is best, just a (clip) on seam and panel to clip--or a clip on seam and then a rail-( I'm sure the rail system would cost more?)--we do have high wind at times in this area.

Since it is a DIY project, I also want ease, and (less expense)--does that happen! lol

thanks, Rocky

[Syberdog]

Start researching different OEM systems. Read their install manuals not their marketing brochures. A roof mount is probably more available than the ground mount I needed to find. After 3 months of reviewing-trying to buy-trying to find a decent rack system I ended up building my own based on the designs I reviewed.

[emartin00]

If you want to do portrait orientation, you will most likely need to use rails.
S-5! is the biggest name in standing seam roof attachments, but AceClamp is also a big player. Both of these have options where you can directly attach the modules, but I believe they have to be landscape.

[bcroe]

Start researching different OEM systems. Read their install manuals not their marketing brochures. A roof mount is probably more available than the ground mount I needed to find. After 3 months of reviewing-trying to buy-trying to find a decent rack system I ended up building my own based on the designs I reviewed.

My limited research indicted that the available rack systems were optimized for quick roof mount installation.
Although they indicated ground mount, landscape orientation, and tilting were POSSIBLE, they really didn't
work out. 100% of the racking here is custom made. Cost varies from much cheaper to comparable. A lot
more design and fitting is involved, but that won't add cost for DIY. Bruce Roe

[RockyinNM]

If you want to do portrait orientation, you will most likely need to use rails.
S-5! is the biggest name in standing seam roof attachments, but AceClamp is also a big player. Both of these have options where you can directly attach the modules, but I believe they have to be landscape.

!st, thanks to all who replied!

That said, I was (wrong) in my layout--I want to go (landscape) as I have the room, and it would be cheaper than installing rails.

Does anyone have a (favorite/cost) wholesaler for the S-5 clips?

thanks, Rocky

[sensij]

Does anyone have a (favorite/cost) wholesaler for the S-5 clips?

Tandem Solar and Renvu are both frequently mentioned here.

[solarix]

Be aware that S-5! recommends putting a clamp on every standing seam when using landscape panels directly. The reason is that you are relying on the fasteners holding down the standing seam roofing for the wind uplift loads on the PV panels - especially if you need to tilt them some. You need to do at least a 15 degree tilt if you want the panels to self-clean in the rain.
Using this many standing seam clamps really gets a bit expensive. We have gone back to just using our trusted oversize L-foot system directly into the roof framing method (unless the homeowner really falls in love with the standing seam/no penetration concept). Building departments may want you to document that the roofing fasteners are sufficient to handle the PV wind uploads - typically they want more than what the roofers typically do. If the roof is new construction, you can have them double nail the roofing - but otherwise you might have trouble.