Cheap DIY solar fence design
16 comments
·October 15, 2025gnabgib
Featured in his:
Offgrid Electric Car (29 points, 6 months ago, 9 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43764598
Aiming at December https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42412256
just-the-wrk
This is amazing, thank you. I love the use of Ironridge rails for mounting
0cf8612b2e1e
A wider shot of the installation would help-the available pictures make it appear as if the panels are constantly going to be shaded.
$1100 for mounting $1000 worth of panels does not seem terrible for something that anyone proficient with a hammer could accomplish.
nerdralph
I used 605W LONGi TOPCon panels for my vertical PV experiment. If they are too tall, 440-450W JA or Jinko TOPCon panels are 176cm.
Ditching the rails and bolting to the panel mounting holes with galvanized angle is a lot cheaper.
DaveZale
what are the current tariffs on solar panels?
I've wanted to install home solar for years now. It's difficult in my area. At first, the salespeople would ghost me after learning I didn't want or need financing. Then they lied about waived connection fees for use of a battery to sell power back to the utility during evening peak hours. Then the Federal incentives vanished. Now... the tariffs.
So our approach is to remain in the bottom 2% of electicity consumption for our area.
Stability in government is something we don't appreciate until it's gone.
daemonologist
It is very complicated, but for the countries which are major producers, for most companies, it's between 64% and 430%. China (~85% of production) is 140%.
https://www.infolink-group.com/energy-article/solar-topic-it...
But even putting aside the tariffs, I'm in the same boat as you - residential/consumer solar in the US is a disaster - everything goes through shady installation companies, the labor and permitting costs are enormous, it's nearly impossible to buy panels yourself at the market rate.
ericd
What would you call "the market rate"? You can get pallets of panels right now for ~$0.30/watt at eg Signature Solar (no affiliation, just where I got ours). That might be more than what's available globally, but it's also not a very significant driver of the system cost at that level (our inverter cost more, the ground mounts cost more, the the batteries cost more, the electrician final hookup work cost more, etc).
nine_k
Use second-hand panels, hire a contractor to install them, and another contractor to then install and connect batteries and an inverter. Ignore the possibility to sell energy back to the grid, charge your batteries instead.
Now, you would have built not a cutting-edge system, but a relatively inexpensive one, with a minimum of red tape and financing shenanigans.
(Edited: typos.)
blaufast
I DIYd this with permits and interconnect in the SF Bay Area. I’ve had no power bill for years now, and I have two hot tubs.
Panels and enphase on Craigslist are so cheap you don’t have to worry about it. Max out what you’re allowed with your main electrical panel size and you’ll never regret it. Don’t even consider doing less than the maximum. You will never meet anybody who believes they added enough solar after a year of ownership
sagarm
SignatureSolar has panels for $0.25/w. The tariffs are a nothing burger.
If you're paying someone else to do it, the panels will likely be <10% of the cost.
epistasis
Wow, that's fantastic pricing. Globally, the average is $0.089/W, in the US, $0.27/W:
https://bsky.app/profile/solarchase.bsky.social/post/3m3md7k...
buckle8017
This lady makes the error of taking about California as having a grid. For contracting purposes it does.
For grid stability purposes it does not.
kragen
That's still 150% higher than the wholesale price overseas, and maybe if paying someone to install an appliance costs 9× more than the appliance does, you should think about doing it yourself.
sagarm
Oh yeah, DIY is the way to go. But even for a DIY project the other stuff you need -- inverters, batteries, optimizers, mounts, wiring, transfer switch -- will end up being the majority.
I’ve been considering this for a while. I have a fence that is south facing, with no major obstructions.
I want solar but I don’t want the liability of a roof install with leaks and servicing.
I’ve landed either on a solar pergola or a solar fence . Both concepts seem like a no brainer.
I like the solar fence since it allows you to cleverly avoid setback requirements that normal structures have.
I’m glad people like Joey are doing projects like this.