Best Solar

Components

Clamps, rails, and roof hooks

The 2013 catalogue listed clamps, rails, roof hooks, and mid/end clamps as SKUs. Today those parts must be compatible with the module frame, wind region, and roof — specified by the installer, not bought as random hardware.

Best Solar editorial deskUpdated 25 September 2026

Matched

Frame, rail, clamp zone, roof fixing

Named

Brand and model — not “mounting kit”

Bonding

Earthing method belongs on the quote

Mix

Leftover brands are how arrays walk

Direct answer

The 2013 catalogue sold clamps, rails, roof hooks, and mid/end clamps as lines. Today those parts must be a matched system: module frame thickness, rail channel, clamp zone, and the roof fixing. Mixing leftover brands is how arrays walk in a northerly.

A mid clamp that almost fits a 35 mm frame is not “close enough.” Neither is a hook specified for a concrete tile used on a brittle terracotta.

What belongs on a modern quote

  • Rail or rail-less system brand and model
  • Mid and end clamps specified for the module frame
  • Roof hook or clamp specified for the cladding — see tin and tile
  • Earthing / bonding method
  • Fastener type into structure
  • Isolation pads or coatings where dissimilar metals meet, especially near the coast

If the quote says “mounting kit” with no names, ask for names. Then use the installer checklist.

Why mixing leftover parts fails

Rails, clamps, and hooks are designed as a family. Clamp zones on a module frame are not decorative. A wind-region design that assumes a particular rail span does not survive a substitution from a bargain bin. We will not invent the span. We will say: substitutions need the designer’s sign-off.

Hardware-store fasteners that are the wrong grade or the wrong coating rust. Coastal installations from the Illawarra to the Coral Coast are unforgiving.

Roof hooks versus metal clamps

Hooks belong in the tile conversation. Metal-roof clamps and L-feet belong in the tin conversation. Tilt legs and ballast blocks belong on flat roofs. Do not let a single “mounting” line hide which family you are buying.

Heritage SKUs

Classic “Clamps / Rails / Roof Hook” catalogue topics resolve here. We do not sell parts. We do not republish 2013 load tables. See packages for why a “10-module kit” was a brochure convenience, and the hub for the parent IA.

Clamp zones are not decorative

Module frames have published clamp zones. A mid clamp that sits outside the zone is a warranty and a wind problem. A rail span that was designed for one family does not survive a bargain-bin substitution. Ask the designer to sign substitutions.

Earthing and bonding belong in the same sentence as the rail model. Hardware-store fasteners of the wrong grade rust on the Illawarra and the Coral Coast.

How this page serves the heritage IA

Classic clamp, rail, and roof-hook catalogue topics resolve here so leftover /product/ equity does not 404. We do not sell parts. We do not republish 2013 tables. See packages and the hub. Roof-specific methods: tin, tile, flat.

Australian site notes

Matched systems beat leftover brands. Clamp zones, rail spans, bonding, and coating are specified, not improvised from a hardware aisle. Substitutions need the designer’s sign-off.

Put the method in words on the quote. Then use the installer checklist and the mounting hub. We will not invent a load rating, a hook spacing, or a ballast density for your street. Last reviewed 25 September 2026, general information only.

Quote language you can copy

Frame thickness, clamp zone, rail family, bonding, coating. Leftover brands are how arrays walk. Substitutions need a signature.

Then return to the hub and put the method in the installer table. General information only — not a span table.

Compatibility sits with the installer and the designer of record. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.

Keep reading

Photo gateways into sibling and parent guides.

Next step

Parts are a system

Random hardware-store clamps are not a wind-region design.

Heritage packages