[RE-wrenches] Ballasted ground mount

[jay]

Here is the unirac installation manual
Towards the bottom you’ll see the ballast info design.  
Can be totally above ground.  


https://unirac.com/document/gft-construction-drawings-gen-2-top-chord-404036/view/
view
PDF Document · 3.7 MB

> On Apr 1, 2026, at 12:50 PM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com> wrote:
> 
> Jay:
>  
> I see that GFT is approved for “ballasted” installations.  I ran their U-Builder tool, selecting ballast blocks as the option.  In the end it showed me a picture of the ballast blocks as a poured-in-place concrete footing.  See photo below.
> <image003.png>
> This is not what ballasted is supposed to mean in solar racking…
>  
> William
>  
> William Miller
> Miller Solar
> www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
> CA License C-10 77398
>  
> From: Jay [mailto:jay.peltz at gmail.com <mailto:jay.peltz at gmail.com>] 
> Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 11:11 AM
> To: william at millersolar.com <mailto:william at millersolar.com>; RE-wrenches
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Ballasted ground mouont
>  
> Have you looked at the unirac GFT 
> They have a stamped ballasted design which can be above ground or built into the ground. I don’t know if it’s got the updated stamp. 
>  
> Jay
>  
>  
> 
> 
> On Apr 1, 2026, at 12:07 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Friends:
>>  
>> I have a client that is trying to meet a 4/14/26 deadline to construct a grid-tied system under the NEM2 rate structure.  She contacted me late in the process to see if I could design a system that could be permitted and built by that date.
>>  
>> Her roof is inadequate so I proposed a ground-mount.  Any racking system that penetrates the ground would need a soils study to avoid a forest of posts with concrete.  Without a soils study the assumption is the ground has the consistency of beach sand.  We did not have the time for a soils study.  Therefore I suggested a ballasted ground mount.
>>  
>> The AHJ favors “pre-engineered, ready-to-use” designs (their quote).  Unirac provides this service for their RM10EVO product and also stipulates approval for ground mounting.  We entered the information into the U-Builder web portal, including a California address, and received an engineering report certifying a design with the required parts and ballast blocks.
>>  
>> The AHJ failed to recognize this as a pre-engineered, ready-to-use design and called for a wet-stamped engineering report.  For a mere $350 Unirac offered to provide this, a fair price.  In the process of requesting this report we were informed that the California code cycle had updated on 1/1/2026 and new standards are in place.  The old standard is ASCE7-16.   The new one is ASCE 7-22.  Unirac told me that they have yet to be certified for 7-22 for the RM10EVO.  Oddly the U-builder report states compliance with 7-22 but apparently this is an error.  Unirac will not provide a wet-stamp certifying compliance with 7-22 and the 2025 California Residential Code and/or the 2025 California Building Code.
>>  
>> I write this for two reasons:  1. This is a big heads up if any of you have projects in the pipeline that depend on these codes, and 2. Do any of you know of any ground-approved, ballasted racking systems I should be considering?
>>  
>> Thanks in advance for any input.
>>  
>> William
>>  
>>  
>> William Miller
>> Miller Solar
>> www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
>> CA License C-10 77398
>>  
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