Roof integrated solar panel system with side mounted micro inverters

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10115850-B2
Application number	US-201314044196-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2013
Priority date	Oct 2, 2012
Publication date	Oct 30, 2018
Grant date	Oct 30, 2018

Abstract

A roof integrated solar panel system includes a plurality of solar panel modules, each modules having a frame, a photovoltaic panel mounted to the frame, and a micro-inverter mounted to the frame to one side of the photovoltaic panel and accessible from the top of the frame. The solar panel modules are installable on a roof in aligned or staggered courses to form the solar panel system, and with the installed courses of modules together forming a water barrier protecting the roof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A roof integrated solar power system for generating electrical power from sunlight, the solar power system comprising:
a plurality of modules configured to be installed in overlapping courses on a roof, each module including:
a frame having a top surface with an exposure portion to be exposed to sunlight when the module is installed and a headlap portion to be covered by a module in a next higher course of modules when the power system is installed, the exposure portion having opposed ends;
a photovoltaic panel recess formed in the exposure portion of the frame, the photovoltaic panel recess having a first end adjacent one of the opposed ends of the frame and a second end spaced from the other one of the opposed ends of the frame;
a photovoltaic panel having ends, a forward edge, a rear edge, and a top surface and being mounted within the photovoltaic panel recess;
an electronics compartment recess formed in the exposure portion of the frame within the space between the second end of the photovoltaic panel recess and the other one of the opposed ends of the frame;
a micro-inverter and first wiring mounted within the electronics compartment recess; an access panel removably attached to the top of the frame covering the electronics compartment recess, the access panel having a forward edge aligned with the forward edge of the photovoltaic panel and a rear edge aligned with the rear edge of the photovoltaic panel when the access panel is attached to the top of the frame; and
a top surface of the access panel and the top surface of the photovoltaic panel being flush with the top surface of the frame.

2. The solar power system of claim 1 , wherein the frame further includes a left end defining a first shiplap joint portion and a right end defining a second shiplap joint portion complimentary with the first shiplap joint portion, with the first and second shiplap joint portions together forming an end-to-end shiplap joint connection between adjacent modules on a same course of modules.

3. The solar power system of claim 2 , further comprising second wiring extending across the end-to-end shiplap joint connections between adjacent modules on a same course of modules and below the top surface of the frames of the plurality of modules.

4. The solar power system of claim 1 , further comprising third wiring hidden below the top surfaces of the frames of the plurality of modules and in electrical communication with electrical connectors located within the electronics compartment recesses of the plurality of modules, the electrical connectors and electrical wires being configured to connect the micro-inverters of one course of modules together and to connect the micro-inverters of the one course to micro-inverters of an adjacent course of modules.

5. The solar power system of claim 1 , wherein the installed courses of modules together form a water barrier protecting the roof.

6. The solar power system of claim 5 , wherein the micro-inverters are positioned below the water barrier.

7. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the access panel is removably attached to the top of the frame with a water-tight seal.

8. The solar power system of claim 1 , wherein the electronics compartment recess is vented to ambience.

9. A solar panel module comprising:
a frame having a top surface with an exposure portion and a headlap portion;
a photovoltaic panel having ends, a forward edge, a rear edge, and a top surface and being mounted to the exposure portion of the top surface of the frame;
an electronics compartment recess formed into the exposure portion of the top surface of the frame;
the electronics compartment recess being adjacent to one end of and spaced from the photovoltaic panel and being covered by an access panel having a top surface and being removably attached to the top of the frame, the access panel having a forward edge aligned with the forward edge of the photovoltaic panel and a rear edge aligned with the rear edge of the photovoltaic panel;
the top surface of the access panel and the top surface of the photovoltaic panel being flush with the top surface of the frame when the access panel is attached to the top surface of the frame;
a micro-inverter mounted within the electronics compartment recess and being accessible from the top of the frame upon removal of the access panel; and
an electrical connector disposed within the electronics compartment recess and being connectable with the micro-inverter for electrically connecting the micro-inverter to micro-inverters of adjacent like solar panel modules.

10. The solar panel module of claim 9 , wherein the solar panel module further comprises a water barrier.

11. The solar panel module of claim 10 , wherein the micro-inverter is positioned below the water barrier.

12. The solar panel module of claim 11 , wherein the access panel is removably attached to the top of the frame with a water-tight seal.

13. The solar panel module of claim 10 , wherein the micro-inverter is positioned above the water barrier.

14. The solar panel system of claim 13 , wherein the electronics compartment recess is vented to ambience.

Assignees

• Building Mat Investment Corp

Inventors

• Rodrigues Tommy F
• Railkar Sudhir
• Boss Daniel E
• Gennrich David J
• Boudreau Cory
• Nett Daniel R
• Kallsen Kent J

Classifications

• Y02B10/12

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02B10/14

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H02S40/32

  comprising DC/AC inverter means associated with the PV module itself, e.g. AC modules · CPC title

• H02S20/23 Primary

  specially adapted for roof structures · CPC title

• H01L31/0482 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic