Panels can be arranged in either portrait (longest side is vertical) or landscape (longest side is horizontal) position. Further, rails can be run either north/south (vertical) or east/west (horizontal). As such, the four permutations below are available:
Panel/Rail Orientation:
The formula for determining the length of a particular row or column of panels is as follows (where x = number of panels in column/row):
(x)(length OR width of panel, depending on portrait or landscape) + (x - 1)(space required for each mid clamp) + (2)(space required for each end clamp) = required length of row or column
Clamp spacing:
IronRidge: ¼” for mid clamps, 1.5” for end clamps
Unirac: 1” for mid clamps, 1.5” for end clamps
For example, to determine the space required for a single row of 10 Canadian Solar CS6P-265P panels (dimensions: 64.5 × 38.7 × 1.57 inches) in portrait orientation using IronRidge racking, the equation would look like:
(10)(38.7”) + (10-1)(0.25”) + (2)(1.5”)
= 387” + 2.25” + 3”
= 392.25”
The E/W width of the array is 392.25” (32.6875’) and the N/S length of the array is 64.5” (5.375’, equal to the length of the panel).
With this information, we can determine the racking BOM for this array.
