(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k47/bassman_blue/Heliospanels.jpg)
I have a piece of tempered glass coming for the center of the timber frame structure.
what do they look like from the back? Any appreciable light?
I had a picture that I can't find right now, so will take another one tomorrow and post it. I think Helios said they allow 20% of the light to pass through. Not fantastic, but on the other hand it will give us some summer sun relief and still provide us with some passive winter solar. The timber frame structure is 'so open' on the sides. the center and above the roof line, that for this project they actually work very well. It will be interesting to see if the reflected light from underneath the panels amounts to any substantial solar gain.
I like it, a really neat wooden frame design that fits well with the front of the house.
Is the frame fixed angle? It seems a different panel angle to those on the roof.
Dgd
Yes, the angle of the panels is 35 degrees. The angle is slightly less than optimum but in order to get some deck coverage and to try and make it fit with the roof line of the house, I settled on a flatter angle.
Here's a pic from underneath. This was taken at 8 AM on a cloudy, rainy, and windy day.
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k47/bassman_blue/Heliosfromunderneath.jpg)
Nice, what attachment system did you use to attach to the 'rafters ' of the porch?
I used aluminum angle iron at the top and bottom of the rack, to lay the panels into. Then I marked and drilled the holes and used stainless bolts/fasteners. I also fabbed up some aluminum brackets to attach each of the three panels at both sides...