Solar on Top of Pergola / Patio Cover?

[bcroe]

1) height - doubt it - I would certainly go at least a bit higher - for ease of construction.

2) You have done little with pressure treated wood apparently - it comes warped and gets worse over time - with a fence it makes no difference but to fasten a panel to it? Come on.

My panels bolt to horizontal extruded aluminum angle rails, 66' long (in 3 sections). The aluminum
rails are bolted to the treated wood verticals. Bruce Roe

[finedesignz]

As a designer, I think most aluminum structures would allow for this but you'd have to check with the engineer or manufacturer.

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[tyab]

Check local building codes about trench depth - easiest way is to have a quick chat with the AHJ. My area had some very specific requirements due to the terrain.

While the hillside may give you the best sun, be aware that a ground based system will need engineering unless you go with a pre-engineered type system like IronRidge or others and overall you may find overall the costs to be higher than your roof system. Depending on your slope you are right to be concerned about installation costs if you are not doing it yourself - and if doing it yourself make sure you know how to deal with things like what happens if you hit a slab while drilling the holes, etc and have a plan for material transportation, etc.

If your going to do a ground mount, think about having a water line run there so you can have a hose bib setup just to hose off those panels once in a while - you will go a very long time in your area without any rain. Some jurisdictions will allow a water line to be in the same trench as your ac or dc lines as long as they use conduit - but its a local kind of thing - may have separation requirements, etc.

Does not hurt to call a couple of local solar contractors and have them cover over and give bids. Be aware in CA that while you are allowed to do owner installs most areas do require a licensed electrician to be listed on your permit. Kind of throws a wrench into DIY unless you have a good relationship with a electrician.

Those here that are in the SD area can give you must better info about what to expect.