Systems and apparatuses for carport with integrated precipitation and cable management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10533337-B2
Application number	US-201916529375-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2019
Priority date	Dec 1, 2017
Publication date	Jan 14, 2020
Grant date	Jan 14, 2020

Abstract

A solar power generation assembly includes a vertical support column; a canopy including a plurality of solar modules for solar power generation; a first brace and a second brace on a first side of the support column to support the canopy; a third brace and a fourth brace on a second side of the support column to support the canopy; and a gutter system integrated into the canopy and directing precipitation along one or more of the second brace and the fourth brace to the support column. One or more of the first brace and the third brace manage electrical cables extending from the canopy to the support column.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A solar power generation assembly, comprising:
a vertical support column;
a canopy including a plurality of solar modules configured for solar power generation;
a first brace and a second brace on a first side of the support column and configured to support the canopy;
a third brace and a fourth brace on a second side of the support column and configured to support the canopy; and
a gutter system integrated into the canopy and directing precipitation along one or more of the second brace and the fourth brace to the support column,
wherein one or more of the first brace and the third brace are configured to manage electrical cables extending from the canopy to the support column.

2. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the canopy supported by the first brace, the second brace, the third brace and the fourth brace is a single tilt canopy, wherein the single tilt canopy is tilted at a single predetermined tilt angle.

3. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the canopy supported by the first brace, the second brace, the third brace and the fourth brace is a symmetric dual-tilt canopy, wherein a first portion of the symmetric dual-tilt canopy is the same length as a second portion of the symmetric dual-tilt canopy.

4. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the canopy supported by the first brace, the second brace, the third brace and the fourth brace is an asymmetric canopy, wherein a first portion of the asymmetric canopy is longer than a second portion of the asymmetric canopy.

5. The solar power generation assembly of claim 4 , wherein the first portion of the asymmetric canopy is tilted to a first predetermined angle, wherein lengths of the first brace and the second brace correspond to the first predetermined angle; and
wherein the second portion of the asymmetric canopy is tilted to a second predetermined angle, and wherein lengths of the third brace and the fourth brace correspond to the second predetermined angle.

6. The solar power generation assembly of claim 5 , wherein the first and second predetermined angles are different.

7. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein a first portion of the canopy is tilted at a first predetermined tilt angle and includes a first predetermined number of rows of photovoltaic modules and a second portion of the canopy is tilted at a second predetermined tilt angle and includes a second predetermined number of rows of photovoltaic modules.

8. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the canopy includes a plurality of purlins, each purlin being configured to support a row of photovoltaic modules, a crossbeam being positioned perpendicular to each purlin and disposed between the first brace, the second brace, the third brace, and the fourth brace and the plurality of purlins.

9. The solar power generation assembly of claim 8 , wherein the purlins are configured to include integrated lighting.

10. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrical cables are configured to provide alternate current to an electric vehicle charging station integrated in the solar power generation assembly.

11. The solar power generation assembly of claim 1 , wherein the canopy includes a first portion supported by the first brace and the second brace and a second portion supported by the third brace and the fourth brace, the first portion and the second portion of the canopy not being directly connected.

12. A solar power generation assembly, comprising:
a support column;
a canopy having first and second canopy portions, the first canopy portion including a first set of solar modules configured for solar power generation and the second canopy portion including a second set of solar modules configured for solar power generation;
a plurality of braces arranged on a first side and a second side of the support column, the plurality of braces being configured to support the first and second canopy portions; and
a gutter system integrated into the canopy and directing precipitation from the canopy along at least one of the plurality of braces,
wherein at least one of the plurality of braces are configured to manage electrical cables extending from the canopy to the support column.

13. The solar power generation assembly of claim 12 , wherein the first portion of the canopy is longer than the second portion of the canopy; and wherein the first set of solar modules supported by the first canopy portion includes a greater number of solar modules than the second set of solar modules supported by the second canopy portion.

14. The support structure of claim 12 , wherein the first portion of the canopy is tilted to a first predetermined angle, wherein lengths of each of the plurality of braces on the first side of the support column correspond to the first predetermined angle;
wherein the second portion of the canopy is tilted to a second predetermined angle, and wherein lengths of each of the plurality of braces on the second side of the support column correspond to the second predetermined angle.

15. The solar power generation assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first predetermined angle is greater than the second predetermined angle.

16. The support structure of claim 15 , wherein the first predetermined angle is between 2-4 degrees and the second predetermined angle is between 10-15 degrees.

17. The support structure of claim 12 , wherein the first portion of the canopy is the same length as the second portion of the canopy.

18. A dual-tilt solar generation assembly, comprising:
a support column;
a plurality of braces on a first side of the support column configured to support a first portion of a canopy;
a plurality of braces on a second side of the support column configured to support a second portion of the canopy; and
a gutter system integrated into the canopy and directing precipitation along one or more of the plurality of braces to the support column,
wherein one or more of the plurality of braces are configured to manage electrical cables extending from the canopy to the support column,
wherein the first portion of the canopy is longer than the second portion of the canopy, and
wherein the first canopy portion includes a greater number of solar modules than the second canopy portion.

19. The dual-tilt solar generation assembly of claim 18 , wherein the first portion of the canopy is tilted at a first predetermined tilt angle and the second portion of the canopy is tilted at a second predetermined tilt angle, and wherein the first predetermined angle is greater than the second predetermined angle.

20. The solar power generation assembly of claim 18 , wherein the canopy includes a plurality of purlins, each purlin being configured to support a row of solar modules, a crossbeam being positioned perpendicular to each purlin and disposed between the plurality of braces and the plurality of purlins.

Assignees

• Sunpower Corp

Inventors

• Mckibben Nicholas J
• Kapla John
• Bapat Sushrut G
• Schulte Elizabeth
• Rossi Gary A
• Mansell Jeremy
• Wolf Andrew R

Classifications

• H02S20/10

  Supporting structures directly fixed to the ground (H02S20/30 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E04H15/34

  Supporting means, e.g. frames · CPC title

• H02S20/20

  Supporting structures directly fixed to an immovable object (H02S20/30 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H02S20/23

  specially adapted for roof structures · CPC title

• E04H6/08

  Garages for many vehicles · CPC title