Solar roof panel system with edge and surface treatments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10187005-B2
Application number	US-201314042789-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2013
Priority date	Oct 1, 2012
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

A roof-mounted solar power system for generating electrical power that includes a plurality of solar modules adapted for generating electrical power from sunlight, and with each of the plurality of solar modules having substantially the same size, aspect ratio and surface coloring. The plurality of solar modules are mounted on the deck of a roof to form a bank of solar modules having at least one irregular edge. The solar power system further includes one or more non-power generating edge treatments having substantially the same size, aspect ratio and surface coloring as the solar modules and that are adapted for installation along the irregular edge. Each edge treatment is adapted for a cutting away of at least one corner thereof to smooth the irregular edge of the bank of solar modules to a regular edge.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A roof-mounted solar power system for generating electrical power from sunlight, the system comprising:
a plurality of solar modules adapted for generating electrical power from sunlight, each of the solar modules having a same size, a same aspect ratio and a same coloring, each of the solar modules comprising an array of electrically interconnected side-by-side solar cells mounted to a substrate with spaces between at least some of the solar cells and a transparent protective covering overlying the array of solar cells, the transparent protective covering defining a solar module top surface, the plurality of solar modules being mounted on a deck of a roof to form a bank of solar modules having at least one irregular edge;
each solar module top surface having a surface treatment formed thereon, the surface treatment comprising a first plurality of linear grooves on the top surface extending in a first direction and a second plurality of linear grooves on the top surface extending in a second direction different from the first direction, the surface treatment overlying the array of solar cells and the spaces between solar cells, the surface treatment being configured to simulate shadows and edges of a plurality of roofing shingles or tiles and thereby visually break up or hide the true size of the solar modules; and
at least one edge treatment having the same size and the same aspect ratio as the solar modules and adapted for installation adjacent the irregular edge,
the at least one edge treatment being adapted for a cutting away of at least one corner thereof to smooth the irregular edge of the bank of solar modules to form a linear outside edge, and
an edge treatment top surface having the same coloring as the solar module top surfaces and including a second surface treatment similar to the surface treatment of the solar module top surfaces to extend the simulated plurality of roofing shingles or tiles across the edge treatment to the linear outside edge.

2. The solar power system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of solar modules further comprises:
a frame having a lower side supported on the deck of the roof, an upper side, and a thickness between the lower side and the upper side,
the array of solar cells and substrate being supported on the upper side of the frame above the deck of the roof.

3. The solar power system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one edge treatment comprises a granulated asphaltic panel having a thickness less than the thickness of the frame of the solar modules.

4. The solar power system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one edge treatment further comprises a dummy panel having a thickness equal to a thickness of the frame of the solar modules.

5. The solar power system of claim 4 , wherein the dummy panel comprises a frame of a solar module having a full face surface in place of the array of solar cells.

6. A roof-mounted solar power system for generating electrical power from sunlight, the system comprising:
a plurality of solar modules mounted on a deck of a roof to form a bank of solar modules adapted for generating electrical power from sunlight, each of the plurality of solar modules having a same size and a same aspect ratio and including:
a frame having a lower side, an upper side, and a thickness between the lower side and the upper side;
a solar element supported on the upper side of the frame and including a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in side-by-side relationships with spaces between at least some of the photovoltaic cells, the plurality of photovoltaic cells being covered by a clear panel having a top surface, the clear panel being formed from a transparent material that allows sunlight to pass through the clear panel and impinge upon the plurality of photovoltaic cells located below;
the top surfaces of the clear panels comprising at least one surface treatment thereon, the surface treatment comprising a first plurality of linear grooves in the top surface extending in a first direction and a second plurality of linear grooves in the top surface extending an a second direction different from the first direction, the surface treatment extending over the plurality of side-by-side photovoltaic cells and over the spaces between photovoltaic cells below the clear panels and being configured to simulate visually the edges of a plurality of roofing shingles or tiles and thereby to break up or hide the true size of the solar modules.

7. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one surface treatment is configured to redirect low incident sunlight onto at least one of the plurality of photovoltaic cells below.

8. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one surface treatment comprises frosting elements configured to simulate the shadows or shading of the simulated roofing shingles or tiles.

9. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the first direction and the second direction are substantially perpendicular.

10. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one surface treatment is etched into the top surfaces of the clear panels.

11. The solar power system of claim 6 , wherein the first plurality of linear grooves comprises
deep surface treatments formed of horizontal linear grooves and configured to simulate a row of roofing shingles or tiles; and
the second plurality of linear grooves comprises shallower surface treatments formed of linear elements configured to simulate vertical side edges of individual shingles; and
wherein the at least one surface treatment further comprises frosting elements configured to simulate shading or shadowing of individual roofing shingles or tiles.

12. The solar power system of claim 6 ,
wherein the bank of solar modules is adjacent to a plurality of traditional roofing shingles or tiles, and
wherein the at least one surface treatment forms a simulated pattern of the traditional roofing shingles or tiles across the top surfaces of the clear panels.

13. The solar power system of claim 6 , further comprising an edge treatment having the same size and the same aspect ratio as a solar module, and adapted for installation adjacent an irregular inside edge of the bank of solar modules,
wherein the edge treatment is further adapted for a cutting away of at least one corner thereof to smooth the irregular inside edge of the bank of solar modules to form a linear outside edge; and
wherein a top surface of the edge treatment includes a second surface treatment similar to the at least one surface treatment formed on the top surfaces of the clear panels to extend the simulated plurality of roofing shingles or tiles across the edge treatment to the linear outside edge.

14. A roof-mounted solar power system for generating electrical power from sunlight, the system comprising:
a plurality of solar modules mounted on a deck of a roof to form a bank of solar modules adapted for generating electrical power from sunlight, each of the plurality of solar modules having a size and an aspect ratio and including:
a frame having a lower side, an upper side, and a thickness between the lower side and the upper side;
a solar element supported on the upper side and including a plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged in side-by-side relationship with spaces between at least some of the photovoltaic cells, the plurality of photovoltaic cells being covered by a clear panel having a top surface, the clear panel being formed from a transparent material that allows sunlight to pass through the clear panel and impinge upon the plurality of photovoltaic cells located below;
the top surfaces of the

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

• H02S20/23 Primary

  specially adapted for roof structures · CPC title

• H02S20/25

  Roof tile elements · CPC title

• H02S30/10

  Frame structures · CPC title

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title

• Y02B10/10

  Photovoltaic [PV] · CPC title