Photovoltaic mounting system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10020773-B2
Application number	US-201514985218-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2015
Priority date	Apr 17, 2015
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

Photovoltaic mounting systems and coupling assemblies for mounting photovoltaic modules are provided. The mounting systems may include short extruded base members that are mounted onto the supporting surface at approximate locations on the supporting surface, and coupling assemblies that may slide along the length of the base members during installation and be locked at particular positions on the length of the base members. The coupling assemblies may be coupled to connectors that in turn couple to two photovoltaic modules. In operation, the installer may first determine approximate locations on which to mount the base members and mount all required base members, and then, place the coupling assemblies at desired locations, lock the coupling assemblies at the desired locations, position the photovoltaic modules in the connectors of the coupling assemblies, and move to the next set of coupling assemblies.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photovoltaic (PV) mounting system, the system comprising:
a base member mountable to a supporting surface of a roof, the base member comprising first and second elongated walls having interior surfaces at least partially defining an interior channel, the first and second elongated walls comprising elongated retaining features outside of the interior channel;
a slidable coupling mounted onto the base member, the slidable coupling being slidable along and restrainable by the retaining features of the base member;
a locking mechanism comprising a spring member that engages surfaces of the slidable coupling and the base member to secure the slidable coupling to the base member at a fixed location along the length of the base member; and
a module connector mounted to the slidable coupling, wherein the module connector comprises features to couple to two PV modules
wherein the slidable coupling comprises a center body portion, and a pair of arms extending from opposite sides of the center body portion,
wherein the arms are dimensioned to be received around the outer surfaces of the elongated walls of the base member,
wherein the elongated retaining features comprise a pair of ridges on the outer surfaces of the elongated walls of the extruded base member, and
wherein the locking mechanism further comprises a pair of inward projections extending from the pair of arms of the slidable coupling and a pair of tabs extending outward from the center body portion of the slidable coupling.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the elongated walls of the base member are received between the pair of arms and the pair of tabs of the slidable coupling.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the arms and the inward projections are dimensioned to latch around the ridges, and the tabs are dimensioned to be received against the interior surfaces of the elongated walls of the base member so as to provide a snap-fit connection between the slidable coupling and the base member.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pair of arms comprises a first pair of arms, wherein the slidable coupling comprises a second pair of arms extending from the center body portion, the second pair of arms dimensioned to be received in between interior surfaces of the elongated walls of the base member, wherein an edge of each of the second pair of arms is configured to penetrate a surface of the base member when the slidable coupling is secured to the base member.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the length of the base member is less than lengths of each side of the PV modules.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a release mechanism to release the slidable coupling from the base member.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the base member is an extruded base member.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the spring member is coupled to the slidable coupling and configured to take up tolerances between the slidable coupling and the base member when the slidable coupling is secured to the base member.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the spring member comprises a clip.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the spring member comprises a compressible material affixed to a bottom surface of the slidable coupling.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the elongated walls of the base member comprises an upper raised edge extending therealong, wherein the spring member is configured to take up tolerances between the raised edges and the slidable coupling.

12. A coupling assembly for mounting photovoltaic (PV) modules, the assembly comprising:
a center body portion with holes for receiving a connection to a pivot mount connector, wherein the pivot mount connector comprises features to couple to two adjacent PV modules;
a pair of arms extending from opposite sides of the center body portion, wherein the arms are dimensioned to be received around first and second elongated walls of a base member mountable to a supporting surface of a roof, wherein the first and second elongated walls have interior surfaces at least partially defining an interior channel, the first and second elongated walls comprising elongated retaining features outside of the interior channel, wherein the coupling assembly is slidably positionable along a length of the base member; and
a locking mechanism comprising a spring member that engages surfaces of the slidable coupling and the base member to secure the coupling assembly to the base member at a fixed location along the length of the base member, and
an inward projecting tab extending from an end of each of the pair of arms, wherein the inward projecting tabs are dimensioned to latch each of the pair of arms around the elongated retaining features of the elongated walls of the base member.

13. The coupling assembly of claim 12 , wherein the spring member comprises a pair of clips wrapping around a top surface of the center body portion, wherein opposite ends of each clip push down against a top surface of each of the elongated walls of the base member when the coupling assembly is secured to the base member.

14. The coupling assembly of claim 12 , wherein the spring member comprises a pair of clips extending through apertures in the center body portion, wherein opposite ends of each clip push down against a top surface of each of the elongated walls of the base member when the coupling assembly is secured to the base member.

15. The coupling assembly of claim 12 , wherein the spring member comprises a pair of clips wrapping around a bottom surface of the center body portion, wherein each of the pair of clips comprise bottom indents extending from the bottom surface of clips, wherein the bottom indents push down against a top surface of the elongated walls of the base member when the coupling assembly is secured to the base member.

16. The coupling assembly of claim 12 , wherein the spring member comprises a compressible material affixed to a bottom surface of the center body portion, wherein the compressible material provides friction between the bottom surface of the center body portion and top surfaces of the elongated walls of the base member when the coupling assembly is secured to the base member.

17. A photovoltaic (PV) mounting system, the system comprising:
an extruded base member mountable to a supporting surface of a roof, the extruded base member comprising first and second elongated walls having interior surfaces at least partially defining an interior channel, the first and second elongated walls comprising elongated retaining features on exterior surfaces of the first and second elongated walls outside of the interior channel;
a coupling mounted onto the extruded base member, the coupling comprising a center body portion and a pair of arms extending from the center body portion dimensioned to be received around the exterior outer surfaces of the first and second elongated walls and comprising a pair of inward projections extending from the pair of arms and a pair of tabs extending outward from the center body portion wherein the coupling is slidably positionable along a length of the extruded base member;
a locking mechanism comprising a spring member that engages surfaces of the slidable coupling and the extruded base member to secure the coupling to the extruded base member at a fixed location along the length of the extruded base member; and
a pivot mount connector mounted to the coupling, wherein the pivot mount connector comprises:
a body portion;
a key portion extending from a first side of the body portion, the key portion adapted to receive a first PV m

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp

Inventors

• Molina David
• Hudson Tyrus

Classifications

• H02S20/23 Primary

  specially adapted for roof structures · CPC title

• Y02E10/47

  Mountings or tracking · CPC title

• F24J2002/4665

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F24J2/5205

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• F24J2002/5288

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic