Building integrated photovoltaic system for tile roofs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10505494-B2
Application number	US-201815881691-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2018
Priority date	Oct 26, 2016
Publication date	Dec 10, 2019
Grant date	Dec 10, 2019

Abstract

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems provide for solar panel arrays that can be aesthetically pleasing to an observer, with minimal visible difference between photovoltaic and non-photovoltaic areas of the BIPV system. BIPV systems can be incorporated as part of roof surfaces as built into the structure of the roof, particularly as roofing tiles that have photovoltaic elements embedded or incorporated into the body of the roofing tiles. BIPV systems can also include mimic or dummy tiles that appear similar to tiles with photovoltaic elements, but do not collect solar energy. In some configurations, the appearance of BIPV tile roof systems can be generally uniform to an observer at ground level, where the blending and distribution of photovoltaic and non-photovoltaic elements generate a consistent and elegant appearance that camouflages any differences between photovoltaic tile or non-photovoltaic tiles.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A building-integrated solar roofing system, having photovoltaic (PV) roof tiles, comprising:
a production section of the solar roofing system, formed from one or more subset circuits of PV tiles, wherein each subset circuit comprises:
a first PV roof tile having two solar cell modules of which one solar cell module is biased toward a left side of the first PV roof tile and the other solar cell module is biased toward the right side;
a second PV roof tile having a single solar cell module biased toward a left side of the second PV roof tile; and
a third PV roof tile having a single solar cell module biased toward a right side of the third PV roof tile,

a non-production section of the solar roofing system, comprising a first PV mimic tile, a second PV mimic tile, a third PV mimic tiles, wherein each first PV mimic tile has two silicon members, wherein each second PV mimic tile has one silicon member biased toward its left side, and wherein each third PV mimic tile has one silicon member biased toward its right side; and
a plurality of blank roof tiles,
wherein each subset circuit is configured to build to a target power production voltage,
wherein a plurality of first PV roof tiles, second PV roof tiles, and third PV roof tiles and a plurality of first PV mimic tiles, second PV mimic tiles and third PV mimic tiles are each arranged in a non-regular pattern so as to provide a visual aesthetic consistent between the production section and the non-production section.

2. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein each subset circuit is configured to build to a power production voltage of from 50 V to 80 V.

3. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein each subset circuit is configured to build to a power production voltage of from 300 V to 600 V.

4. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein a density of the first PV roof tiles, second PV roof tiles, and third PV roof tiles within the production section is equal to the density of first PV mimic tiles, second PV mimic tiles, and third PV mimic tiles within the non-production section.

5. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein a density of the first PV roof tiles, second PV roof tiles, and third PV roof tiles within the production section is greater than the density of first PV mimic tiles, second PV mimic tiles, and third PV mimic tiles within the non-production section.

6. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein a density of the first PV mimic tiles, second PV mimic tiles, and third PV mimic tiles within the non-production section is greater than the density of first PV roof tiles, second PV roof tiles, and third PV roof tiles within the production section.

7. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are shaped to interlock with adjacent tiles within the production section.

8. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are barrel tiles.

9. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are s-shaped tiles.

10. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the production section further comprises one or more members of the plurality of blank roof tiles.

11. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the non-production section further comprises one or more members of the plurality of blank roof tiles.

12. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles all have a generally rectangular shape, and wherein longer edges of each of the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are oriented to be generally parallel with a width dimension of the roofing system.

13. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles all have a generally rectangular shape, and wherein shorter edges of each of the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are oriented to be generally parallel with a width dimension of the roofing system.

14. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the first PV roof tiles further comprise embedded wiring electrical connections, the second PV roof tiles further comprise embedded wiring electrical connections, and the third PV roof tiles further comprise embedded wiring electrical connections, and wherein the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles are electrically connected to each other via the embedded wiring electrical connections, thereby forming the subset circuit.

15. The roofing system of claim 1 , further comprising a power lattice underlying the production section, inductively coupling the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles.

16. The roofing system of claim 1 , further comprising a power mat underlying the production section, inductively coupling the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles.

17. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein each subset circuit further comprises a rapid shutdown device (RSD) configured to interrupt an electrical connection of the subset circuit.

18. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein solar cell modules of the first PV roof tiles, the second PV roof tiles, and the third PV roof tiles cover 70%-80% of a surface area of the production section.

19. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the production section is configured to generate an energy production load in a range of around 7.8 kW/sqft.

20. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the production section is configured to generate an energy production load in a range of around 15.75 kW/sqft.

21. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the non-regular pattern is a randomized or semi-randomized layout.

22. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein each of the solar cell modules comprises a plurality of solar energy collecting elements.

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp
• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• Flanigan Daniel Preston
• West Jack Raymond

Classifications

• H02S40/34

  comprising specially adapted electrical connection means to be structurally associated with the PV module, e.g. junction boxes · CPC title

• H02S20/25 Primary

  Roof tile elements · CPC title

• H02S40/36

  characterised by special electrical interconnection means between two or more PV modules, e.g. electrical module-to-module connection · CPC title

• E04D1/12

  Roofing elements shaped as plain tiles or shingles, i.e. with flat outer surface (E04D1/28, E04D1/30 take precedence) · CPC title

• Y02A30/62

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic