Manuals · iron / rails
The plate is only as good as the iron under it.
Covers Comfort L2 GI 14 SWG kits, ZAKSUN GI and aluminium P-rails, Alpha L2/L3/L4 14g, Bright/BHS aluminium. Brand pages: Comfort, ZAKSUN, Alpha. Plate handling: plates. Rs 500–900/panel CNC “stands” are a different (smaller) unit — do not average them with a Comfort kit.
Why 14 SWG is the 2026 floor
640–650 W N-type modules are longer and heavier than the 550 W PERC the old 16 SWG stands were cut for. Wind on a Multan terrace lifts the array; cheap iron twists; glass cracks at the clamp. 14 SWG hot-dip galvanised L2 (two-panel) is the default house kit. L3/L4 for three/four-panel rows. Elevated walk-under structures need a drawing, not a bazaar ladder frame.
Coastal vs inland
Karachi, Gwadar, Pasni, Thatta: salt eats cut GI at the edge. Use aluminium rails (ZAKSUN P1/P2/L2 Al, Bright Al) or a fully HDG kit with cut edges painted. Inland Punjab / KP / GB: GI 14 SWG is the value answer. Do not mix a GI rear leg with an Al rail and hope the bolt is happy in year 4 — isolate dissimilar metals or stay in one family.
How to use a kit
- Read the kit as a pair of plates, not “per panel Rs.” Comfort L2 ~Rs 12,000 is two 645 W plates. Alpha L2 ~Rs 6,000 is the iron-only band on some Sep 2026 lists.
- Fix base plates to the roof with the specified anchors. RCC vs brick vs tin-shed are different fixings. A tin shed needs a structural opinion, not four self-taps into 0.5 mm sheet.
- South (or as the design said). Tilt as the city page / calculator — winter sun in Murree is not Multan.
- Rails straight. Mid-clamps 12–15 N·m, end-clamps 20–25 N·m, on the module’s allowed clamp zone. Wrong zone = cracked cells and a dead 12/30.
- Bond the iron to earth. Same rod as the inverter.
- Re-torque after the first serious wind and after the first summer.
Bifacial clearance
Dual-glass wants air and light under the module. Flush-mount on a dark membrane wastes the rear. Leave the kit’s standoff; do not crush it to hide the array from the building committee.
Never
- 16 SWG under X10 / Tiger Neo 3.0 / 700 W HJT.
- Walking the rails as a plank with a drill in one hand and a module in the other.
- Welding extra angle onto HDG and leaving the weld raw in monsoon.
- Skipping mid-clamps “because end-clamps look enough.”