A TRACKING SOLAR CONCENTRATOR
SUPPORT STRUCTURE - REQUIREMENTS
Your support structure will be unique to your location and siting problems. The prototype system uses a sixteen foot tilting tower assembled with 2" x 2" angle iron legs, one-inch cross members and 3/8" rod lacing. It is set in concrete pilings 43 inches in the ground, below frost level with a total mass of 2000 pounds. This is suitable for this site, but probably overkill for yours. In most cases a large piece of pipe set in the ground will probably suffice. If you're not confident in designing your own support system, by all means consult with local experts who will consider your soil conditions, frost depth, wind problems and above all-safety. Go back and review the Chapter on Siting Safety
The only requirement we will impose is that the steel plate (201) be mounted dead flat with one set of opposite holes exactly on a North-South line and that the structure be not wider than 15 inches at the top tapering to not wider than 30 inches, five feet below the top.
A height of about 5-1/2 feet to the mounting plate (201) is the least you can get by with, providing you mow the grass short, but I'd suggest a bit more to reduce hazards to the array and most of all to make it harder for some idiot to burn himself. Remember also the hazard area pointed out in the Siting Safety Chapter. It'd be a rotten shame to burn the house or garage down.
