Solar mounts are a convenient way to mount your solar panels.  Most mounts allow you to adjust their angle to better align the panels with the sun during different seasons of the year.  And passive trackers track the sun as it travels from east to west across our sky.  While active trackers not only track the suns travel across the sky, it also tracks its distance from the horizon as its angle changes from season to season.

Trackers have the advantage of getting you more energy out of your panels than fix mounts.  Active trackers will get you the most energy, followed be passive trackers and lastly are the fixed mounts.  To make a decision to which mounting system best suits your personal need, there are several things to consider.  To begin with, it should be noted that Active Trackers are the most expensive followed by the Passive Tracker and finally the Fix Mounts. 

Active Trackers are subject to more maintenance issues as there are more moving parts than Passive Trackers but if you have the funds to cover the initial cost and repairs these would be a good choice.  I have been monitoring my neighbor's Active Tracker and it does not be affected by winds.

Passive Trackers operate very well and are a good mid price alternative to Active Trackers.  One drawback is that they affected by winds which puts extra stress on the shock absorber and could cause ware and tear on some metal parts.  These two issues can be addressed with a wind accessory adaptor.  As great as these trackers are, if you live in an extremely windy area such as near an ocean, you my want to consider a fixed mounting system and subsidize your solar system with a wind generator or addition solar panels.

Fixed Mounts are pretty straight forward.  There are no moving parts to cause problems however you will be losing some solar gain during the morning and in the afternoon.  Fixed mounts are the most popular as they can be used as roof, wall, or ground mounts or they can be pole mounts. 

With all that said, Trackers and Pole Mounts are also the most visible and if you are trying to blend your solar into the architecture of your home, than your only solution may very well be fixed mounts. At the Solar Taos, LLC Solar Ranch we presently have panels mounted on a Passive Tracker, a Pole Mount, Solar-mount Ground Mounts and a tilled roof mount.  We live in a rather windy area and are using wind along with our solar panels.  With that said, we notice that our Passive Tracker is blown around a bit during windy gust and there is some ware on the angle adjustment holes.  It should be noted that this tracker was installed in 2000 and the ware is very minor concidering the six years it has been braving these harsh elements. As previously medntioned, we don't personnally have an Active Tracker but the one we have been monitoring for the past six years seems to be working very well.  We have been very happy with all the mounting systems which we have been monitoring. 

The Bottom line is really based on what you can afford and of course appearance may be a personal issue you may want to consider.

We deal with several companies who are leaders in the field of solar mounting devices. We offer ground mounts, roof mounts, pole mounts, RV mounts, passive and active solar trackers.