A solar panel mount (or solar racking system) is the foundation that holds your solar array in place.

Mounts are used to attach solar panels to the roof, ground, or another surface on your property. With proper installation, a sturdy mount secures your panels in harsh weather and protects your investment. Before choosing your mounting products, determine whether you’re doing ground mount or roof mount solar racking.

What’s the Best Solar Panel Mount For Project?
Most Cost-Effective Solar Racking Solution: Fixed Roof Mounts

Roof mounts tend to be the least expensive way to mount your solar system because they take advantage of your existing roof structure to provide a foundation for your panels. This saves money in racking material and labor costs to complete the installation.
You also get the added benefit of building your system in otherwise unused space. If you’re on a small property with limited space, a roof mount might be your only option.
Solar panels should be tilted toward the sun to maximize their production. Most residential rooftops tend to be sloped close enough to this optimal mounting angle that they don’t need any additional tilt adjustments. In this case, a fixed roof mount is the easiest and most cost-effective option.

Tilt Legs
If your rooftop is flat, you can use tilt legs to face panels so that they are more perpendicular to the sun. Tilt legs simply lift the panels up to a fixed angle, so that they face directly into the sunlight.

Whereas most residential rooftops are sloped, flat roofs (or low slope roofs) are more common in a commercial setting. In these cases, tilt legs can be used to adjust the panels to the proper angle.
Ballasted (Zero Penetration) Roof Mounts
Most roof-mounted racking techniques require you make penetrations in your roof to clamp the mount in place.

If you don’t feel comfortable drilling holes into your roof, or your lease agreement does not permit roof penetrations ,you can go with a ballasted roof mount.
Ballasted mounts rest on a free-standing base that isn’t drilled into your roof. This mount relies on the weight of the PV array, as well as concrete blocks, to hold the system in place.

Ballasted mounts only work on flat or low-slope roofs, and they must be well-engineered to handle the significant amount of extra weight added by the concrete blocks holding the system in place.

Choose Ground Mounts For Ease of Maintenance

Fixed Ground Mounts
A standard ground mount uses a simple metal frame to support the weight of the rest of the system.

The best way to secure a ground mount in place is to set the structure in a cement slab. If you choose to perform a DIY installation, you’ll likely need to rent equipment to dig footings and pour cement.

Standard ground mounts are normally installed at a fixed angle and position, though there are adjustable options for certain applications.

Pole Mounts
To lift your array off the ground, you can also mount your panels on the top of a sturdy pole. This provides more ground clearance, which is mainly useful in areas with heavy snow where you can expect snowfall to accumulate on the ground below your array.

Pole mounts are the best solar panel mounts to use in heavy snow areas, because the steep tilt angle helps shed snow.
The steep angle of pole mounts naturally aids snow removal, as the weight of the snow causes it to naturally slide off the face of the panels.

Most pole mounts are also adjustable. If you like to get hands-on with your system, you can adjust the tilt angle of your panels to get the most production out of your system on a seasonal basis.

Trackers
Trackers are ground mounts that adjust automatically, ensuring your panels always face directly at the sun.

In theory, trackers are useful in optimizing the facing of your panels to squeeze every last drop of production out of your array. In practice, if you need more output, it’s far more cost-effective to add 1 or 2 extra panels to your array (presuming you have space).

We only recommend trackers in massive commercial-scale systems, or for rare edge cases where space efficiency is the primary concern guiding the system design.
The Best Solar Panel Mounts You Can Buy in 2023
XhfSolar is a leading PV racking manufacturer making quality roof-mount racking.