in-roof mounting panel sizes

[stoat]

Hi!

I'm replacing the roof on my house, complete replacement all that's left right now is the walls, and I'm looking to mount some PV panels in among the tiles.

A simple task with many options, you would think. Oh no. The solar panel industry and the solar panel mount industry appear not to speak to each other.

To cut a very long story short, I've narrowed my options down to a GSE landscape frame with a JA solar panel. The panel has a width of 1722mm and GSE manufacture a 1720mm tray, in which it would probably fit just fine with a little persuasion. You can't seem to buy those for love nor money however, but the 1740 landscape mount seems easily available, GSE's documentation suggests that the narrowest panel I should really try and fit in this is a 1735mm, but I am wondering just how much an extra 6mm on each side really matters, when there seems to be a bit of fiddle room in the placement of the mounting brackets. I can't seem to find a panel that closer matches the size of the frame.

In summary - is it silly to try and put a 1722mm panel in a GSE 1740mm landscape frame?

Thanks!

 

[Geoff1946]

Not an answer to your problem, but may I pose a question which has occurred to my after seeing these panels on new houses nearby.
Traditionally a house roof should last at least 100 years. What life assurance comes with these panels? What happens when they are worn out? If you are struggling to match panels to frames now, what may be the situation in 25 years time?

 

[stoat]

Hopefully in 25 years the sizes will have been standardised!

 

[binky]

Hopefully in 25 years the sizes will have been standardised!

currently, they just keep making the panels bigger, which is thoroughly annoying as they are getting too heavy to handle by yourself.

 

[binky]

Not an answer to your problem, but may I pose a question which has occurred to my after seeing these panels on new houses nearby.
Traditionally a house roof should last at least 100 years. What life assurance comes with these panels? What happens when they are worn out? If you are struggling to match panels to frames now, what may be the situation in 25 years time?

fair point, but panels should last over 30 years, and crap roofing products like Brazilian slate will probably fail by then anyway. I was looking at life of roof coverings a few years ago, and mothing is rated past 70 years that I could find. It's also normal now to use 'composite' roof nails rather than copper. These are basically galavanised nails, and rubbing of the nail by the slates or tiles means the galvanised coating is removed over time, and they then rust out. How long that will take I don't know, but it's certainly a lot less than 100 years.