Inter-tile support for solar roof tiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11437534-B2
Application number	US-202017113534-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2020
Priority date	Feb 20, 2018
Publication date	Sep 6, 2022
Grant date	Sep 6, 2022

Abstract

One embodiment described herein provides a photovoltaic roof module. The roof module can include at least a first photovoltaic roof tile, a second photovoltaic roof tile positioned adjacent to the first photovoltaic roof tile, and a spacer coupled to and positioned between the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles. The spacer is configured to facilitate a semi-rigid joint between the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photovoltaic roof module, comprising:
a first photovoltaic roof tile comprising a first front cover, a first back cover and a first plurality of photovoltaic cells disposed between the first front cover and the first back cover; and
a second photovoltaic roof tile positioned adjacent to the first photovoltaic roof tile comprising a second front cover, a second back cover and a second plurality of photovoltaic cells disposed between the second front cover and the second back cover; and
a reinforcement spacer coupled to and positioned between the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles, the reinforcement spacer comprising:
a base positioned between the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles, an upper surface of the base being flush with sun-facing surfaces of the first and second front covers; and
first and second wings extending from the base in opposite directions, wherein a respective wing is embedded within encapsulant positioned between front and back covers of a respective photovoltaic roof tile.

2. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 1 , wherein the upper surface is a flat surface.

3. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 1 , wherein the base of the spacer comprises a groove extending along a longitudinal axis on a sun-facing surface of the base, thereby creating a visual effect of a gap between the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles.

4. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 1 , wherein the base comprises a channel configured to allow a metallic tab electrically coupling the first and second photovoltaic roof tiles to pass through.

5. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 1 , wherein each photovoltaic roof tile comprises one or more layers of encapsulant positioned between the front and the back covers.

6. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 5 , wherein each photovoltaic roof tile comprises a cascaded string of photovoltaic structures embedded inside the encapsulant.

7. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 1 , wherein a length of a respective wing is at least 3 mm.

8. The photovoltaic roof module of claim 7 , wherein a surface of the respective wing is textured.

Assignees

• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• Nguyen Peter P
• Zajac Piotr
• Yang Bobby

Classifications

• H02S30/10

  Frame structures · CPC title

• B32B17/10018

  comprising only one glass sheet · CPC title

• B32B2250/05

  5 or more layers · CPC title

• B32B27/30

  comprising vinyl {(co)polymers; comprising acrylic (co)polymers} · CPC title

• B32B17/10788

  containing ethylene vinylacetate · CPC title