To help installers sort through their rooftop racking choices at Solar Power International this year, Spice Solar has published its latest White Paper “Racked, Integrated or Direct Attached: Three Options for Rooftop Solar Mounting Systems.” By providing technical design, parts and labor costs, and installation process details for each of the three basic solar racking categories, the white paper provides a valuable resource to both established and new residential installers.
“This white paper helps our customers navigate the myriad options when it comes to solar racking. Our customers want an affordable, easy-to-install and solid racking solution,” says Erez Dolev, managing director of Renvu, a solar distributor headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. “Long, heavy conventional rails, combined with all of the necessary accessories and attachments, add to the already high shipping costs of a complete solar system. Once the racking equipment has been hauled onto the roof, maneuvering 20’ rails on a pitched roof presents a safety hazard. We are always looking for innovative solutions that reduce shipping and labor costs while increasing rooftop safety. Spice Solar will be an inexpensive and easy solution for our rooftop customers.”
The $158 million acquisition of Zep Solar unexpectedly took the largest integrated racking manufacturer off the market nearly one year ago. Since then the solar racking business has become even more confusing as new companies fill the resulting vacuum, and new Fire Code and grounding requirements prohibit the installation of many existing racking systems. As module and inverter prices are squeezed, installers increasingly look at their racking options for further cost reductions and labor savings. These forces have encouraged an explosion of racking companies and solutions, which is evident at this year’s Solar Power International show where there are twice as many racking companies as module companies.
“The solar racking industry is mutating under these competitive and code-compliance pressures, with some unique new concepts coming to market – as well as updates on ordinary racking,” says Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Spice Solar. “The standard aluminum rail and roof mount system is rapidly becoming obsolete as new direct mount and integrated racking systems come to market that are both cheaper to purchase and faster to install. As both a residential installer and racking system designer, we published this latest white paper to help residential installers understand their new racking system options.”
Spice Solar will be exhibiting at Solar Power International, October 21-23, in Las Vegas (booth #1232).
If you enjoyed this article, then you might also like these:
Solar Racking And Mounting White Paper Roundup
White Paper: Foundation Selection For Ground Mounted PV Solar Systems
UL White Paper: Getting More Reliability in PV Installations
Tell Us What You Think!