PowerRack™ Installation Guide

Step 3 Site Preparation

• Clear all surface rocks and debris from within each row's footprint.
• Smooth and level ground by moving native soil/rock, or by adding and smoothing strips of fine gravel or sand within each row.
• Target a maximum slope of 10% end-to-end within any single row, and no more than 10% north-to-south across the array.
• For steeper slopes, install ground anchors from inside the bottom of each PowerRack prior to ballast placement.
• Arrays where adjacent panels share a rack require more careful ground preparation than single-panel-per-rack configurations.
• Compaction is not required but can aid the installation. Final leveling may be done simultaneously with rack placement.

Step 4 Material Staging & Row Layout

• Verify all materials are on-site and organized safely at the work-area perimeter before installation begins.
• Using the engineering layout diagram, mark or stake where each row starts and ends.
• Use a true-north compass to align rows — either due east-west or to the azimuth angle specified in the design drawings.

Step 5 Trenching & Conduit

• Dig trenches along the side(s) of the array and between the array and inverter/metering location per the cabling design.
• Install conduit in trenches with risers at the end of each row.
• Backfill trenches after inspection by the authority having jurisdiction (if required).

Step 6 PowerRack Placement & Alignment

• Complete one full row at a time, starting with the northernmost row and progressing south.
• Mark a surveyor's tape at intervals equal to your panel length (landscape orientation) — one mark per panel-to-panel joint.
• Pull the marked tape from end to end of the row, staked taut (not stretched), as a placement guide.
• Position racks according to the array layout and ballasting diagram using the tape as reference.
• Align each rack in three axes: lateral position, rotational angle, and vertical elevation at both high and low ends.

Step 7 Ballast Fill

• Reference the engineer-provided ballasting diagram for each rack's required fill amount and location.
• Approved fill materials: pea gravel, coarse gravel, crusher run, sand, or dry soil — uniform or semi-uniform particle sizes.
• Avoid large boulders or jagged rocks, especially in extreme temperature zones — thermal expansion can crack the rack and voids the product warranty.

Step 8 Solar Panel Installation

• Panel installation requires no tools.
• Before installing panels, optionally lay a "fish wire" along the full length of each row, resting in the indentations on the top of the side rails — used later to pull DC home-run cables.
• Work in two-person teams. Carry panels one at a time to the row.
• Rest the panel's low side on the rack side rails and slide it down until the high-side frame rail can engage with the tabs on the rack lip.
• The low-side worker supports the panel from sliding while the high-side worker aligns the frame flange with the rack slots.
• Once aligned on the tabs, push the panel down until the high-side flange is fully seated in the rack slots.
• Secure the low side using the four-step sliding retainer clip procedure below.
• Snap in security keys to complete the mechanical installation.

Retainer Clip Installation — 4-Step Sequence

Step 9 Electrical Installation

• Uncover buried conduit risers and install weather heads, conduit boxes, pull boxes, and combiner boxes per the design.
• Pull DC home-run cables for each string/row using the fish tape placed during panel installation.
• Install grounding jumpers bonding panel frames to one another.
• If microinverters or power optimizers are used, install per the manufacturer's specific instructions.
• Install appropriate terminations on all DC cables and make required PV-to-conventional cable transitions.
• Feed cables from the end of each row into conduit weather heads and pull to combiner boxes, inverters, and other equipment.
• Make all DC connections — pigtails, home runs, junctions, combiners, inverters — in the sequence required by the inverter manufacturer and applicable code.
• Complete AC system installation per inverter manufacturer requirements, utility requirements, and all applicable local, state, and national codes.

Step 10 Finalize Permits & Approvals

• Obtain all final sign-offs to close the project — construction, electrical, environmental, and glare permits as required by the authority having jurisdiction.