Solar Carport

[huge]

I'm thinking of a similar set up. There's a site that I was trying to talk into getting solar, and it has a carport. It's about a 2 car carport made from wood. I think it would be the best option to put the panels on the carport for multiple reasons. Anybody know how I can find out what the regulations are for such a project? Would they even allow that in southern California?

[Mike90250]

in So Calif, you need to meet the earthquake codes, so it will require a robust structure. Use corrugated plastic panels underneath to keep drips off the cars.
(as you mount the PV panels, there are gaps water will go through)

[Tonopah]

I have an appointment scheduled with a Harmon Electric engineer for next week. This is to determine what might be involved in building a solar car port on my property. The area I have in mind is compacted fill dirt, in total sun, with no issues regarding shade (no trees, other buildings, etc). My plan B is to also discuss with him building a ground mount instead of a solar car port (I can have the car port built for shade only by another contractor). My most current electric bill was $480 for the month due to pool pumps, air conditioning, etc. How much of my bill do I want to offset? 75% would be nice. I'll probably be dead before the solar investment pays for itself though. Time will tell. It seems a crime not to have PV solar in central AZ though.

[solarix]

There is a steel co. called Powers Steel in Phoenix that has Carport Systems for solar projects.

[Tonopah]

My son in law saw a company finishing installation of some solar car ports in Phoenix and spoke with the foreman -- and got his card. The company is Powers Steel so your suggestion is a good one. I'll see what Harmon Electric can do for me and go from there. Thanks.

[Tonopah]

Harmon Electric just contacted me to cancel the appointment on the grounds that higher ups in their company said they are no longer doing solar carports. I responded, ok, what about a ground mounted system? They e-mailed back that ground mounted solar runs $40,000 to $70,000. Guess they don't need my business.

[Mike90250]

Look into pole mount. 1 hole, trench for electrical, and you can park a car under it

[stallhorn]

Tonopah, were you able to get this done? I tried a bunch of companies with no success. They either flat out refused or gave me too high of a quote after repeated request.

[Tonopah]

No, I did not get it done. No company was interested in the project. I have also been following political developments regarding solar in AZ, in particular the battles regarding net metering at the Arizona Corporations Commission (AZ’s PUC), and I think the major power companies are so against residential solar that the advantages of having it are subject to such attack that I am no longer willing to make the up front investment. Maybe next year.

[stallhorn]

I hear you. The power company here in MD (Pepco) was bought out by Excelon not too long ago - and Excelon is not as friendly to home solar as Pepco was. So I am expecting a few major changes to come with Net Metering.

I paid $2100 for the entire year and consumed about 12MW of energy this year. A 10 kw system might offset all my use, but I have been quoted at about $3.5/w to put it on my roof or about $6/w just for the kit from one solar carport manufacturer. Most just ignored my repeated requests. One got really mad at me and started yelling for not paying them $400.00 to design my system so that they can tell me how much it costs - bizarre. They didn't even want to give me a ballpark.

[SunEagle]

I hear you. The power company here in MD (Pepco) was bought out by Excelon not too long ago - and Excelon is not as friendly to home solar as Pepco was. So I am expecting a few major changes to come with Net Metering.

I paid $2100 for the entire year and consumed about 12MW of energy this year. A 10 kw system might offset all my use, but I have been quoted at about $3.5/w to put it on my roof or about $6/w just for the kit from one solar carport manufacturer. Most just ignored my repeated requests. One got really mad at me and started yelling for not paying them $400.00 to design my system so that they can tell me how much it costs - bizarre. They didn't even want to give me a ballpark.

I remember a company out in CA back in maybe 2010 that had DIY steel kits that could hold two cars and came with 25 x 200 watt panels and inverter for about $5/watt.

You just had to pour the concrete pad with the mounting bolts, put up the steel frame, add roof panels, solar panel racking, solar panels, etc. and you had a system that could be grid tied. It was not cheap and probably cost close to $10/watt when completed. Company is no longer around. At that cost it was not ready for prime time.

[J.P.M.]

I remember a company out in CA back in maybe 2010 that had DIY steel kits that could hold two cars and came with 25 x 200 watt panels and inverter for about $5/watt.

You just had to pour the concrete pad with the mounting bolts, put up the steel frame, add roof panels, solar panel racking, solar panels, etc. and you had a system that could be grid tied. It was not cheap and probably cost close to $10/watt when completed. Company is no longer around. At that cost it was not ready for prime time.

And maybe a good example of companies that make money by picking the low hanging fruit cultivated by the solar ignorant.

[wblanford]

Here is a local Phoenix company Powers Solar Frames that produces a reasonable cost ground mount system: http://powerssolarframes.com/solar-g...p-ballast.html

They also have solar parking structures.

[edtmv]

I know this tread is old.... but did you ever get your solar carport built ? I am i think about doing the same. Thanks