Solar Carports - Has anyone done it?

[stallhorn]

Hello all,

I am trying to get a solar carport installation going, but it has been a bit frustrating so far. I have tried two installers and three OEMs, and here are the results:

Schletter - I talked to the factory twice and got a name and phone number of a person up in New England. I left a message, never got a call back. Called again and no answer and VM is full. I called the factory back and they told me I can order it online. I created a username and password and was informed I have to be a company. I called the factory again and asked if I can order online and they told me that part is not ready.

Powers Solar Frames - Talked to the factory people and was given a name and number of the sales guy. Very nice guy and responsive, but not a lot of answers for me. I think he is having problems with the backend - he was supposed to give me a budgetary quote by the end of the day a few days ago, but I still don't have it.

Florians - I requested a quote from their website about a week ago, nothing yet.

If you have done it, how did you do it?

Thanks.

[emartin00]

I'm assuming you're talking about a residential car port?
If that is the case, I would just reach out to a couple local solar installers. They may be able to build something for you. If not, try a contractor. A carport is a pretty standard structure, instead of a roof, you will be using solar panels.

[organic farmer]

Most any solar-panel could be used to do this. There is an assortment of mounting brackets and hardware available.

Any general contractor who has experience mounting panels should be able to easily throw together a carport.

[stallhorn]

I'm assuming you're talking about a residential car port?
If that is the case, I would just reach out to a couple local solar installers. They may be able to build something for you. If not, try a contractor. A carport is a pretty standard structure, instead of a roof, you will be using solar panels.

It is residential.

I thought about doing that. But since this is going to be on the side of the house and encroaching a bit to the front, it is easier to get it through the county if it is a solar panel mount and submitted as such than a carport. A solar panel mount can encroach upto 9 feet to the front line of the house, but carport can't.

That is why I am looking for anyone who has successfully done a solar carport with one of the manufacturers and what their experience was like.

Thanks.

[DanKegel]

Here's another vendor; I have actually walked under one of their carports, it looked good.

http://www.phatenergy.com/

[Mike90250]

are you going to park a car under it? If so, it will be retroactively called a carport and you loose.

[organic farmer]

I thought about doing that. But since this is going to be on the side of the house and encroaching a bit to the front, it is easier to get it through the county if it is a solar panel mount and submitted as such than a carport. A solar panel mount can encroach upto 9 feet to the front line of the house, but carport can't.

Run afoul of your local zoning and inspectors, and it will not make any difference who the manufacture was.

Meet with your zoning / planning / inspector person and ask his advice. Asking for their advice puts them on your side, and they can tell you how to slide through the regulations.

If you try to pull one over on them, they will win in the long run.

You may have to go before the board at a public hearing and ask for a variance. I did that once in a city that had lots of regulations like you are describing. They appreciated that I went before them and asked, instead of doing it anyway and fighting them over it later. They gave me the encroachment variance.

[stallhorn]

Run afoul of your local zoning and inspectors, and it will not make any difference who the manufacture was.

Meet with your zoning / planning / inspector person and ask his advice. Asking for their advice puts them on your side, and they can tell you how to slide through the regulations.

If you try to pull one over on them, they will win in the long run.

You may have to go before the board at a public hearing and ask for a variance. I did that once in a city that had lots of regulations like you are describing. They appreciated that I went before them and asked, instead of doing it anyway and fighting them over it later. They gave me the encroachment variance.

I am not about to put anything up without prior approval at all. There is no way I would do that. It will be fully approved and constructed per the details of the approved plan.

What I need now is a plan. For that to happen, I need a vendor who is willing to sell me a solar car port.

So again, my question is simple - is there ANYONE on this forum that has bought and installed a solar carport for their house in the US, and if yes, please share the details with me.

Thanks.

[Sunking]

You are going about this all wrong. You build a regular Car Port, and put panels on it. Easiest design is Sloped Shed Roof design facing Solar South. It is not rocket science requiring any special contractor or panel type. Just Post and Bean structure with a steel roof.

[J.P.M.]

You are going about this all wrong. You build a regular Car Port, and put panels on it. Easiest design is Sloped Shed Roof design facing Solar South. It is not rocket science requiring any special contractor or panel type. Just Post and Bean structure with a steel roof.

KISS works every time.

[solarix]

I use a standard steel carport from an outfit called Western Deck, but just leave off the roof panels and put our aluminum solar array framework on it instead. Very inexpensive that way and because they can provide engineered drawings for it, is easier to permit. (youare still going have to deal with the carport variance issue. Around here you have to hard surface underneath carports - so carports get to be quite a bit more expensive than ground mounts - but hey you get a carport/solar support structure that qualifies for tax credits..... Could use the original roof panels too if you want it to be waterproof.

[J.P.M.]

I use a standard steel carport from an outfit called Western Deck, but just leave off the roof panels and put our aluminum solar array framework on it instead. Very inexpensive that way and because they can provide engineered drawings for it, is easier to permit. (youare still going have to deal with the carport variance issue. Around here you have to hard surface underneath carports - so carports get to be quite a bit more expensive than ground mounts - but hey you get a carport/solar support structure that qualifies for tax credits..... Could use the original roof panels too if you want it to be waterproof.

Being at least dual purpose, I wonder how much of the carport the IRS would allow for tax credit. The concrete might be questionable.

[stallhorn]

Being at least dual purpose, I wonder how much of the carport the IRS would allow for tax credit. The concrete might be questionable.

Even if they allow the whole thing, it is not going to be cost effective from what I am seeing from the solar carport companies. They are very hard to work with to boot for the home market. If you are looking for a gazzilion parking lot cover, maybe. But I am just looking for a better integration at this point.

But the regular carport and the Western Deck suggestions are good.. so I will probably look into those a bit closer.

Thanks.

[Volare]

How about building a regular carport and then mounting a solar array onto the top? That's what I'm contemplating, but I'm concerned about the weight of the 20 panels that have been spec'd for my installation.

[littleharbor]

Any carport built to code should easily be able to support a solar array. If you coordinate the carport builders and the solar installers you should get it built without any compatibility issues.