What is a ground-mounted solar panel system?

A ground-mounted solar power system is just what it sounds like - a system of solar panels that are mounted on the ground on your property, rather than on the roof of your house. 

Ground-mounted solar panels can be installed any place on your property that has sufficient open space and good sun exposure. The panels can be placed anywhere from a few inches to a few feet off the ground, depending on how the racking system is set up. The panels feed power to a solar inverter, which is located either on the mounting system behind the panels or in the house.

Residential ground-mount solar installations are generally built using 60-cell solar panels - the same solar panel size typically used in residential rooftop solar installations. Meanwhile, larger-scale ground-mounted systems, like ones used in solar farms, tend to use larger, 72-cell solar panels.

Ground-mounted solar panels are also known as backyard solar panels, free-standing solar panels, and ground-mount PV systems.  

What are the different types of ground-mount solar installations?

Standard ground mount 

Standard or traditional ground mounts use ground anchors to hold up a racking table that supports the solar panels on rails. The exact method of anchoring will depend on your ground conditions: using concrete piers is most common, but driven piers, helical piles, and concrete ballasts are options, as well. 

Standard ground mount systems typically hold the solar array in a fixed position, although options for manual adjustment are gaining popularity. 

The standard ground-mount system is the easiest and most cost-effective solution for a ground install, and also the most common.