Mount weight?

[DanKegel]

Solar panels and micro inverters list weight per panel on their data sheets, but what about the racking and wiring?

Context: my roof's very old, and the contractor asked for total weight so he could estimate how much extra bracing is needed.
Precision doesn't matter here, so I can probably just guess, but it got me wondering.

I'll probably tell him 17 kg for the panel, 1kg for the optimizer, and 2kg for all the other stuff... so 20 kg (44 pounds) per panel.

[foo1bar]

I'll probably tell him 17 kg for the panel, 1kg for the optimizer, and 2kg for all the other stuff... so 20 kg (44 pounds) per panel.

5 pounds for the racking, feet, bolts, clamps, and flashing might be a little light.
For heavier duty racking and rails going the long direction of the panels, I'm sure it would be.

HOWEVER

Weight of the panels and the racking probably isn't as important as forces from wind loading.
You'll have 100's of pounds of uplift from wind.

I'd go look at http://www.ironridge.com/rm/engineering and use it to give an estimate on forces down AND up.

[emartin00]

What racking system are you looking at? The weight will vary significantly.

[DanKegel]

Weight of the panels and the racking probably isn't as important as forces from wind loading.
You'll have 100's of pounds of uplift from wind.

I'd go look at http://www.ironridge.com/rm/engineering and use it to give an estimate on forces down AND up.

Thanks, I will! (I tried last night, but it was down and/or not working with my browser )

And I'll ask my installer which racking system he uses. He wasn't much help with the weight question, maybe because I haven't actually signed with him yet...

[J.P.M.]

Thanks, I will! (I tried last night, but it was down and/or not working with my browser )

And I'll ask my installer which racking system he uses. He wasn't much help with the weight question, maybe because I haven't actually signed with him yet...

As others have written, it's not so much the dead weight of the equipment - which is rather slight compared to the dynamic loads from wind/seismic that are the larger loadings. If dead loads were the only consideration, most any roof will take an additional 5-8 lbf - a common array loading. If not, there's a real problem with the roof.