Solutions to Mounting Batteries

A simple and low cost solution to mount the battery packs to the board containing charging components is to use Velcro straps. With cuts on the sides of a rectangular retaining box for the strap to loop around, the battery will be in locked position with minimum movement.

This design uses a locking latch along with a hinge to form a door that could be closed and opened. An enclosure underneath the board keeps the battery in place while allowing access from above. 

Similar to the design above, the battery pack is housed in an enclosure with an access door. The door is held closed using a push latch. The latch clamps down on the ball mounted onto the door when force is applied. The latch releases ball also with the application of force. This design will give the board a flush look with much of bulk placed behind the board.

After noticing unistruts used to secured electrical wiring, this design was created. An unistrut is utilized on each side. The board is mounted onto two trolleys with 4 3/8 bolts and nuts. The unistruts will be mounted to the solar frame in similar fashion.

This design uses a pair of side mount drawer slide to mount the board containing the solar charging components. The biggest advantage of using side mounted drawer slide will be the two locking positions offered. The wheels are locked into place in the fully extended and fully closed positions. These rails are available off the shelf with different lengths.

A bottom mounted drawer slide is used to provide the linear motion of the board containing the charging components. The slide is attached to a pair of brackets which are mounted directly to the solar rack. Each pair of bracket consist of 2 corner brackets and 3 pieces of aluminum rails. The corner brackets and aluminum rails are joined together with #8 screws. The slider, board, and brackets are joined together with #6 screws. The dimensions of the aluminum rails are the same dimensions of the upper rail of the track.



A similar design utilizing side mounted drawer slides is being worked on.