[RE-wrenches] Ballasted ground mouont

[pgiroux at mindspring.com]

William

 

  You might want to look at PowerFields power racking. We have used it several times and been very happy with it. Simple and rugged with a 30 degree tilt.

 

Peter Giroux

American Solar

 

From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of Corey Shalanski via RE-wrenches
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 2:26 AM
To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
Cc: Corey Shalanski <coresolar at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Ballasted ground mouont

 

William,


RE. "Do any of you know of any ground-approved, ballasted racking systems I should be considering?"

 

I am aware of the following product options that kinda fit what you are describing:

*	Aerocompact CompactGROUND G <https://www.aerocompact.com/en-us/products/ground-mount/compactground-g> 
*	APA Solar Geoballast <https://apasolar.com/products/foundations/#geo-ballas-sec> 
*	FLEXRACK Series B <https://www.flexrack.com/ballasted> 
*	Solar Mounts Ballasted Ground Mount <https://solarmounts.com/products/ballasted-ground-mount/> 
*	Terrasmart Ballasted Ground Mount <https://www.terrasmart.com/products/ground-mount/ballasted/> 

--

Corey Shalanski

Jah Light Solar

Portland, Jamaica

 

 

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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