Flat roof inverter rack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9839154-B2
Application number	US-201615134188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2016
Priority date	Apr 20, 2016
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

A multi-component inverter rack formed from sheet metal is disclosed. Some of the sheet metal derived parts used to form the multi-component inverter rack can be interchangeable. The multi-component inverter rack can include attachment points for an inverter, a load center and other supporting electrical components.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rack, comprising:
a first support structure having a sloped surface configured to support an inverter at an acute angle with respect to a supporting surface upon which the first support structure is positioned;
a load center; and
a second support structure coupled to the first support structure, the second support structure being positioned on the supporting surface, wherein the second support structure is secured to and supports the load center at a substantially orthogonal angle with respect to the supporting surface,
wherein each of the support structures is formed from a plurality of substantially triangular support members, the substantially triangular support members of the first support structure being interchangeable with the substantially triangular support members of the second support structure.

2. The rack of claim 1 , wherein the first support structure is oriented in a first direction and the second support structure is oriented in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

3. The rack of claim 1 , wherein when the rack is positioned upon the supporting surface, the second support structure extends substantially farther away from the supporting surface than the first support structure.

4. The rack of claim 1 , further comprising the inverter secured to the sloped surface of the first support structure.

5. The rack of claim 1 , wherein the supporting surface is a roof having a pitch of less than ten degrees.

6. The rack of claim 1 , further comprising the inverter secured to the first support structure.

7. The rack of claim 1 , wherein the substantially triangular support members of the first support structure are coupled together using cross struts that also support the inverter at the acute angle.

8. The rack of claim 1 , wherein the substantially triangular support members are formed from folded sheet metal and reinforced by fasteners that couple overlapping flaps of the folded sheet metal together.

9. A method for installing an inverter rack on a rooftop, comprising:
cutting one or more metal sheets into a plurality of flat pattern sheets;
folding the flat pattern sheets into first and second substantially triangular support members;
coupling the first and second substantially triangular support members together to form the inverter rack;
coupling an attachment strut to both the first and second substantially triangular support members, the attachment strut extending through openings defined by both the first and second substantially triangular support members; and
coupling the attachment strut to the rooftop using a plurality of roof anchors.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising coupling at least two of the first and second triangular support members together with a pair of cross members.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more metal sheets include metal sheets of different thicknesses.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the openings defined by the triangular support members through which the attachment strut extends have a substantially triangular geometry.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein folding the flat pattern sheets into three dimensional components comprises folding a single flat pattern sheet into a three dimensional component having three legs.

14. An inverter rack assembly, comprising:
an inverter rack configured to support an inverter at an acute angle with respect to a supporting surface upon which the inverter rack assembly is positioned;
a load center support structure coupled to the inverter rack, the load center support structure having substantially the same shape as the inverter rack and being positioned on the supporting surface in an orientation substantially orthogonal with respect to the orientation of the inverter rack, the inverter rack and the load center support structure both being formed from a plurality of substantially triangular support members;
an anchor attachment coupling the inverter rack to the supporting surface, the anchor attachment comprising:
an attachment strut extending through openings defined by each one of the plurality of substantially triangular support members forming the inverter rack; and
a plurality of roof anchors coupling the attachment strut to the supporting surface.

15. The inverter rack assembly of claim 14 , further comprising:
a shade cover coupled with the inverter rack and configured to shield the inverter from the sun.

16. The inverter rack assembly of claim 15 , wherein the shade cover includes a shade top coupled to the inverter rack by two shade panels.

17. The inverter rack assembly of claim 14 , wherein the openings of the plurality of substantially triangular support members through which the attachment strut extends have a substantially triangular geometry.

18. The inverter rack assembly of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of roof anchors are coupled to opposing ends of the attachment strut.

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp

Inventors

• O'Connor Joseph Patrick
• Guthrie Trevor B
• Pesce Kathryn Austin
• Cohon Nicholas S

Classifications

• F16M13/02

  for supporting on, or attaching to, an object, e.g. tree, gate, window-frame, cycle · CPC title

• H05K7/14

  Mounting supporting structure in casing or on frame or rack · CPC title

• H05K7/2089

  for power electronics, e.g. for inverters for controlling motor · CPC title

• H05K7/18 Primary

  Construction of rack or frame · CPC title

• F24S25/13

  Profile arrangements, e.g. trusses (F24S25/12 takes precedence) · CPC title