Keeping an electric car charged without grid power is a real challenge, and this build tackles it head on. Living in the light put up a ground-mounted array rated at 5200 watts, wired only to a 48 volt battery that recharges the car, while also covering part of the house. It is the second system at the house and roughly the seventh build overall.
The frame is pressure treated wood, standing in two rows across an open grassy field. Post holes were dug about 2.5 feet deep with an auger on a tractor, then filled with roughly 100 pounds of concrete each. Rear posts were cut four feet higher than the front ones, giving a 28-degree tilt across a 7.5-foot span. A homemade water level, just clear tubing with red-dyed liquid, marked matching reference levels on every post. Everything was painted black for weather protection, and slotted unistrut channels across the rafters carry the sixteen 325-watt modules. Wiring runs to a combiner box and charge controller.
The supports are deliberately over-built so nothing falls apart, and in my view that is the right call for something standing out in the weather year round. Panels came in at 0.25 per watt, with about $750 for lumber and other parts, and labor cost nothing since the maker's son helped.
One thing is still open: the wiring plan. The maker talks about 8s2p to raise voltage for the long run, while on-screen text notes 4S4P to the combiner box. Which configuration actually gets used is not settled yet.
Project by Living in the light. Watch it on their YouTube channel: