U.S. patent application number 12/658510 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-11 for solar panel mounting system and installation.
Invention is credited to Wen Y. Chung.
Application Number | 20110192098 12/658510 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44352578 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110192098 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chung; Wen Y. |
August 11, 2011 |
Solar Panel mounting system and installation
Abstract
A solar panel mounting system having a support, a railing and a
clamp by utilizing all the components made with the metal
structural members available in the market without resorting to a
special fabrication or extrusion for saving material costs. It also
saves labor for installation. The plurality of supports are screw
connected to the roof rafters to accommodate the solar panels. The
plurality of rails are placed on the supports and screw connected
at job site. The plurality of clamps are slid inside the rail tube
from the ends of rails to proper locations for tightening the solar
panels by plurality of clips.
Inventors: |
Chung; Wen Y.; (Sarasota,
FL) |
Family ID: |
44352578 |
Appl. No.: |
12/658510 |
Filed: |
February 8, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/173.3 ;
52/745.21 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02B 10/20 20130101;
Y02E 10/47 20130101; F24S 25/33 20180501; F24S 2025/801 20180501;
F24S 25/61 20180501; F24S 25/636 20180501 |
Class at
Publication: |
52/173.3 ;
52/745.21 |
International
Class: |
E04D 13/18 20060101
E04D013/18; E04B 1/38 20060101 E04B001/38 |
Claims
1. A mounting system comprising: a plurality of supports fastening
to the plurality of roof rafters; a plurality of rails fasten to
the plurality of supports to support solar panels; a plurality of
clamp threaded rods inserted inside the rail tube and fasten the
plurality of solar panels with clips.
2. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with a support
consists a circular tube weld connected to a base plate at the
bottom and a rail holder on the top with pre-drilled screw holes at
the base plate for screw connecting to the roof rafters, also
pre-drilled screw holes at the rail holder for screw connecting to
the rail. All of the materials are cut from existing metal
structural members in the market.
3. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with the supporting
circular tube can be cut sloped to have the solar panels tilt
toward the sun.
4. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with a rail cut a
slot on the top for supporting solar panels and the slot to guide
plurality of clamps to proper locations to clamp the solar panels
to the rail, the metal rail is available in the market as standard
metal structural members.
5. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with a clamp
consists of a threaded rod, a square holding plate weld connected
to the threaded rod and clip on the top of the solar panels to tie
down the solar panels. All of the materials are available in the
market as metal structural members
6. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with the threaded
rod sitting on the upper face of the lower side of rail to have the
clamp system stay at a proper height for fastening.
7. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with a square
holding plate welded to the threaded rod at the lower face of the
top side of rail to prevent from spinning when tightening the nut
above the solar panels.
8. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with a square
holding plate welded to the threaded rod at the lower face of the
top side of rail to hold the solar panels by clips above.
9. The mounting system as set forth in claim 1, with the clip for
the end panel is cut from a rectangular metal tube in two identical
pieces.
10. A method for installing the mounting system, comprising the
steps of fastening a plurality of supports to the roof rafters;
fastening a plurality of rails to the plurality of supports;
connecting the solar panels to the rails with a plurality of
clamps.
11. The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in
claim 6, uses gasket screws with further water-proofing by placing
liquid washer at the screw locations to fasten the supports to the
roof rafters..
12. The method of installing mounting system, as set forth in claim
6, places rail on supports prior to fasten the supports to roof
rafters to ensure a proper alignment of the supports.
13. The method of installing mounting system, as set forth in claim
6, places supports at staggered locations for each row of solar
panel to ensure a proper load distribution to the rafters.
14. The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in
claim 6, screw connected to the rail at job site to ensure the
evenness of the rail on an inevitable small unevenness of the roof
surface.
15. The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in
claim 6, provides the space between solar panels at a distance of
threaded rod diameter.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a mounting system with low cost
and easy installation of solar panels on the roof of a
building.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELEVANT ART
[0002] A great effort has been taking place in research and
development of solar energy systems to generate electricity at a
higher efficiency and a lower cost in recent years. The progress
has been impressive. There are varieties of mounting systems in the
market today. Most of them are made of special fabricated or
extruded metals which are relatively expensive and time consuming
to install. They resulted in a high percentage of the entire system
costs. Technical labor to install the system on the roof under hot
sun is difficult to find and expensive. This invention is to
utilize the existing metal structural members in construction
industry to reduce the material cost and to simplify the
installation to save labor cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A general object of this invention is to utilize the
existing metal structural components with simple supporting and
clamping devices to save the cost of materials. Another object of
this invention is to simplify the installation of the system to
save the labor costs. According to the present invention a
supporting device is prefabricated with pre-drilled screw holes on
the base plate for screws with waterproof gasket to fasten the
support to the roof rafter. Liquid washer is used at the screw
locations to further insure the water-proofing. A circular metal
tube as support is weld connected to a base plate at the middle at
the bottom, also weld connected to a rail holder with pre-drilled
holes on the top. The rail is screw connected to the rail holder
through the pre-drilled holes on the rail holder. A threaded rod
placed inside the rail extended from the bottom of the rail to
above the solar panels is weld attached with a square holding plate
right below the top side of rail and another square plate as clip
above the solar panels to clamp down the solar panels by a nut on
the top. The solar panels are thus well connected to the roof
structures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specifications, illustrate preferred
embodiments of the invention, and together with the description
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0005] FIG. 1 shows a partial plan of the solar panel system and
mounting locations.
[0006] FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan of the mounting system.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a cross-section A-A of the mounting system ,
showing how the support is tied to the roof rafter.
[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates the support with the structural
components welded together and the locations of pre-drilled screw
holes.
[0009] FIG. 5 shows the rail with a pre-cut slot on the top of a
rectangular tube.
[0010] FIG. 6 shows the threaded rod weld connected by a square
holding plate at the height right underneath the top side of the
rail and another square plate above the solar panels as a clip to
clamp down the solar panels by a nut.
[0011] FIG. 6C illustrates the way to cut a rectangular tube to two
identical end panel clips.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0012] Reference is now made in detail to the present preferred
embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate
like elements throughout the several views.
[0013] With the rapid increase in the use of solar panels on the
roof of buildings to generate electricity in recent years, various
mounting systems have been created to install the solar panels. The
cost of materials is relatively expensive because they are made of
specially fabricated or extruded metals. This invention creates new
simplified method by the utilization or modification of the
existing structural members widely used in today's construction
industry. The installation of the system is also simplified to save
the labor costs. The support as illustrated in FIG. 4 is made in
the factory by weld connecting a circular tube 32 to a base plate
31 at the bottom and weld connecting a u-shaped rail holder 33 on
the top. The base plate 31 can be cut from a regular aluminum sheet
to a size of 1/4 inch thick by 1 1/2 inches width by 6 inches long
for example. Two pre-drilled holes 35 located as shown on FIG. 4
are provided for screws 36 with water-proof gasket to fasten
support 3 to the roof rafter 1. In addition to the gaskets on the
screws, liquid washer 39 as shown on FIG. 3A is placed at the screw
36 locations before drilling screw 36 to the rafter 1 to double
ensure the waterproofing. Only one row of screw holes 35 is
provided herein because most rafter widths are around two inches or
less which normally are not wide enough to accommodate more than
one row of screws 36. The number of screws 36 is determined by the
loads, spacing of support 3 and the size of screw 36. One row of
two screws for four feet spacing of support 3 for example is
sufficient for general applications. More than two screws in one
row with a longer and thicker base plate 31 may be used if needed.
Rafter 1 could be flat or sloped and its material could be wood,
steel or concrete. A regular stainless steel lag screw for wood,
self-drilling stainless steel screw for steel and stainless steel
concrete screw for concrete are examples to fasten support 3 to
roof rafter 1.
[0014] The circular tube 32 can be cut from a regular metal pipe,
such as an 1 inch diameter by 1/8 inch wall thickness aluminum pipe
for example. Its height depends on the needs for roof drain and
ventilation underneath the solar panels 6. Normally 2 inches to 6
inches is sufficient for applications. The top of the circular tube
32 can be cut flat as shown on FIG. 3A or tilted as shown on FIG.
3B according to the need of solar panels to be tilted toward the
sun. The rail holder 33 can be cut from a regular rectangular metal
tube with its width fit to hold rail 4. It can be cut in half to
two identical pieces from a 2 1/4 inch by 3 inch by 1/8 inch wall
thickness of a regular aluminum rectangular tube at 1 1/2 inches
leg height to fit a 2 inch by 2 inch square tube rail 4 for
example. Pre-drilled holes 37 on both legs of the rail holder 33
are provided in factory to accommodate screw 38 for fastening
support 3 to rail 4. The use of self-drilling screw 38 at job site
allows an even height of rail 4 on an inevitable small unevenness
of the roof surface supported by plurality of identical supports 3
for the entire solar panel system. Screw 38 and its attaching
structural members 33 and 41 should have enough strengths to carry
downward and upward loads from the solar panels. Screw 38 should
not be too long to interfere with the free passage of the threaded
rod 51. A 1/4 inch diameter by 3/4 inch long stainless steel
self-drilling screw 38 for example can be used for a 2 inches by 2
inches rail 4.
[0015] Rail 4 as shown on FIG. 5 is the main structural member made
from a rectangular tube cut a slot 42 on the top to allow the
plurality of threaded rods 51 to slide to proper locations from the
ends of rail 4 for fastening the plurality of solar panels 6 to
rail 4. Its size is determined by the downward and upward loads
from the plurality of solar panels 6 and spacing of the plurality
of supports 3. A 2 inches by 2 inches by 1/8 inch wall thickness
aluminum square tube with 4 feet spacing of supports 3 for example
is sufficient for normal applications. The 4 feet spacing of
supports 3 can fit to most of the rafter spacing of 12 inch, 16
inches or 24 inches.
[0016] Threaded rod 51 as shown on FIG. 7 extends from the upper
surface of the bottom side of rail 4 to above the solar panels 6
with sufficient length for nut 55 to fasten solar panels 6 to rail
4. A partially threaded rod 51 sits on the upper surface of the
bottom side of rail 4 so that screw rod 51 can stay at a proper
height for fastening. A square holding plate 52 with its size fits
to the distance between the interior faces of the side walls of
rail 4 is weld attached to threaded rod 51. Its rectangular shape
prevents the threaded rode 51 from spinning when tightening nut 55
from the top. It also holds the solar panels 6 and rail 4 by clip
53 or 54. A square clip plate 53 is used for a strong resistant to
a high uplift wind load. It is placed on the top of solar panels 6
to fasten plurality of interior solar panels 6 to rail 4 as shown
on FIG. 6A. A clip 54 with the shape as shown on FIG. 6B is used
for fastening end solar panels. Exterior clip 54 can be cut in two
identical pieces as shown on FIG. 6C. A 1 inch by 2 inches by 1/8
inch wall thickness aluminum rectangular tube can be cut to two
identical exterior panel clips 54 at 2 inches long for example. A
1/4 inch diameter stainless steel rod 51 and a stainless steel nut
55 with 1/8 inch thick aluminum holding plate 52 and interior panel
clip 53 for example can be used for general applications. This
invention allows the space between the solar panels at screwed rod
diameter of 1/4 inch as shown by the above example instead of 1
inch by using the mounting system as shown in U.S. Pat. No.
7,600,349, "Low Profile Mounting system" issued to John E.
Liebendorfer on Oct. 13, 2009 for example. This less in space not
only save the whole area covered by the system, it also create a
better structural connection for the clip to tie down the solar
panels.
[0017] The present invention includes a method of installing the
mounting system. The plurality of shop prefabricated supports 4 are
screw connected to the plurality of roof rafters 1. The plurality
of supports 3 are placed at staggered locations for each row of
solar panels 6 as shown on FIG. 1 so that loads from the solar
panels 6 can be properly distributed to all rafters 1 underneath
all solar panels 6. Rail 4 is placed on the plurality of support
holders 3 before drilling screws 36 to the plurality of rafters 1
to ensure a proper alignment of supports 3. Liquid washer 39 is
placed in pre-drilled holes 35 prior to support 3 is fastened to
rafter 1 by screw 36. After examining the evenness of rail 4, rail
holder 31 is fastened to rail 4 by screw 38 through the
pred-drilled hole 37 at the job site. Factory prefabricated
plurality of threaded rods 51 welded to a square holding plate 52
are slid to the proper locations from the ends of rails 4. The
plurality of solar panels 6 are properly placed and fastened to
rails 4 by nuts 55 with clips 53 underneath as shown on FIG. 6A for
interior solar panels or FIG. 6B for end solar panels.
[0018] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications can be made to the mounting system of the instant
invention without departing from the scope of spirit of the
invention, and it is intended that the present invention covers
modifications and variations of the mounting system provided they
come within the scope of the appended claims and their
equivalents.
* * * * *