Walls#
Walls aren’t often used as a location for solar panels and potentially provide a unique position to take advantage of a particular angle to collect the optimal amount of solar energy. While traditionlly in the Nothern Hemisphere people have focused on south facing locations, an east or west facing wall can give you early morning or later afternoon sun which might compliment your energy use (and obviously vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere). It may also be that the wall is your only accessible location and due to the cheapness of panels it now becomes viable to take advantage of any space you have. It might also be that your roof is just not accessible, or wouldn’t be structurally safe to add a panel to or the material just makes it hard to use (e.g. slate tiles).
Propped#
As with many of these locations the simplest start is just leaning panels against a wall, this requires no tools and in most situations the panels are heavy enough to remain in place (though strong winds would be a potential issue).
2 panels leaning against a wall, credit: GuillaumeRossolini
Fixed#
Attaching the panels to the wall allows you to position them, secures them to stop them falling in high winds and also moves them away from people, animals etc. Before you fix the panels to the wall you need to identify that the wall is strong enough to support the panels, this might require you to obtain a survey of the wall. There are a number of commercial solutions to attaching solar panels to walls however they aren’t often available on a small DIY scale. It therefore might be necessary to use a different solution. Another common option is using unistrut to secure the panels.
Using Unistrut#
Using Renusol Metasole+#
This is just a concept guide and used at your own risk
This is a short rail system designed for metal roofs and while the manufacturers don’t advise using it for walls it has been successfully tested by Youtube - Battery Man - Solar Panels onto Brick Wall and smallsolar.
Components#
- Solar Panel
- 4 Renusol Metasole+ short rail per panel
- 4 End clamps
- 8 Concrete Screws (6mm Diameter, 80mm length)
Renusol Metasole+ and End Clamp Installed on Brick, credit: smallsolar
2 panels mounted to a brick wall, credit: smallsolar
2 panels mounted to a brick wall , credit: smallsolar