Solar panel field array support system and apparatus and method for construction use
US10696451B2 · kind B2 · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 2017 |
| Grant date | Jun 30, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 17, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49117
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A combined PV panel assembly jig and forklift transport pallet is used to assemble PV panels for transport to a field array from a protected manufacturing environment. The panels are assembled to have adhesively applied rails for transport by a robotic drone on a ground-support rack and are pre-wired. The PV panel assembly jig holds, protects, and aligns the PV panels in an upside down position, opposite to their operational position, for ease of wiring in order to decrease the manual labor required in the field. Once the pallet is transported to the load station at the end of a row of solar panel racks in the field array, a robotic loader lifts the upside down PV panels from the combined PV panel assembly jig and forklift transport pallet in an arcing overhead motion that lifts, tilts, and deposits the PV panels in an upright position at the loading station of a railed rack support as ground-mounted in a solar panel field array.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.