Abstract: A portable system for mounting a solar panel includes a modular base defining a set of interconnecting components that assemble via a set of intra-assembly features into a portable base for a solar panel. The modular base includes lower and upper relief to provide passive ventilation to the interior of the modular base and recesses to accommodate a user's appendages during assembly, and ballast volumes to retain a non-rigid ballast to weight the module base holding it in place. The modular base includes adjustable panel retention structures to constrain solar panels of a range of dimensions and configured to carry moisture away from the solar panel. The modular base includes a set of latches and corresponding latch receivers to fix adjacent modular bases together at a fixed distance less than the width of a human hand to form an array.