Abstract:
The present invention relates to an adjustable racking system for transporting and mounting one or more solar panels to, for example, a rooftop.

Description:
PRIORITY 
     The present nonprovisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional patent application having Ser. No. 61/392,073, filed on Oct. 12, 2010, by Johnson, Jr. et al. and titled INTEGRATED SHIPPING AND INSTALLATION RACKING, wherein the entirety of said provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     The present invention was made with Government support under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC36-07G017044 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Government has certain rights in this invention. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the shipping and installation of photovoltaic power systems, photovoltaic concentrator modules, and related devices and methods. In certain embodiments, the present invention relates to photovoltaic systems made of panels that are larger or bulkier (e.g., panels including photovoltaic concentrator modules) than traditional flat plate solar panels. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Solar panels are generally well known (see, e.g., U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0283497 (Hines) and U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0018570 (Cashion et al.)). Installing a system of solar panels on a rooftop can present a number of logistical challenges. 
     One challenge is to create a structure that will hold the panels in place on the rooftop given wind, seismic and roof weight capacity requirements. Many systems are presently available in the market and there are many years of industry experience, specifically with traditional flat plate solar panels. Traditional rooftop mounting structures are typically shipped to the job site in pieces and generally installed on the roof before solar panels arrive.  FIG. 1  shows an installation of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) panels with such traditional racking practices. As shown, three panels  10 ,  20 , and  30  are mounted on a roof  50 . Each of the panels  10 ,  20 , and  30  includes six concentrating photovoltaic modules  15 . Also, the panels  10 ,  20 , and  30  are mounted to the roof  50  using racking system  40 . 
     Racking system  40  includes two mounting rails  41  positioned on round cross rails  43 . The round cross rails are supported above the surface of roof  50  via posts  42 . Each of the panels  10 ,  20 , and  30  are coupled to rails  41 . 
     Another challenge can be to merely get the product and balance of system from the factory to the rooftop in an efficient manner. One traditional approach with flat panels is to palletize the solar panels in a box roughly 48″ cube and fill a container and take it to the job site to be craned to the roof. Another method used by some, to save on expensive rooftop labor, is to build an array of multiple solar panels into one large framework. These are then delivered to a jobsite on an open flatbed truck and craned directly to the roof as shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown, a group  60  having six panel arrays  61  can be lifted to a roof via crane  64 . Each array  61  includes four traditional flat solar panels  62 . Panels  62  are held together in each respective array  61  via steel beams  63  that run lengthwise on an outer edge of the panels  62 . The steel beams  63  become part of the racking system (not shown). 
     Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) panels are generally bigger and bulkier than flat plate solar panels. This is because they typically require some distance in order to focus the light onto solar cells. This can be a bigger logistical challenge to ship product to jobsites. More specifically, flat plate solar panels can be stacked on each other in a compact manner while CPV panels generally cannot. This is true because CPV panels typically track the sun in two axes and generally have a shape somewhat complicated and non-conducive to stacking. 
     One approach is to create a box or packaging that can be used to ship product in a container  70 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown, container  70  is partially filled with concentrating photovoltaic panels  71  that are mounted in four racking systems  73  that are designed to be reusable for transporting panels  71 . Each concentrating photovoltaic panel  71  includes six concentrating photovoltaic modules  77  connected to one tracker  78 . However, a panel could include seven, eight, or any number of modules  77 . The racking system  73  is wide enough to contain two panels  71  and has a height to accommodate two panels  71  stacked on two additional panels (as shown it the middle racking system  73 ). The racking system towards the front has room to accommodate two additional modules  77  that could be stacked on the bottom two modules  77  (as shown in the middle racking system  73 ). Racking systems similar to racking system  73  can be wider, e.g., having a width to accommodate three panels  71 , which is typical for domestic trailers or flatbed trucks (not shown). Each racking system  73  includes four corner posts  75  and each post  75  has a pointed/rounded top  74  that can mate with the bottom  76  of another post  75  such that racking system  73  can have another racking system  73  be stacked thereon (e.g., as shown in the rear of container  70 ). Similarly, racking system  73  could be stacked on top of another racking system  73  via the mating portions of posts  75 . Posts  75  also include loops  79  that can be used by a crane to lift racking system  73  to a roof (not shown). 
     This packaging (racking system  73  plus panels  71 ) can also be craned to the rooftop where the panels  71  are removed from the packaging. The packaging is not used to install the panels to the rooftop. Such a package can be inherently expensive to make so the packaging is typically returned and reused. Being returnable can create a logistic and freight cost issue to stack these at a jobsite and return them. The packaging can be made collapsible to mitigate some of the freight cost. However, it can also create a significant amount of capital investment in the returnable packaging because enough of these are typically made to ensure all jobsites can have them and that the factory never runs out. This could be a supply equal to months of manufacturing capacity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is an adjustable racking system that forms part of (is integrated with) the permanent framing of one or more solar panels. 
     Advantageously, the racking system is built remotely from an installation site and can be used to transport and mount solar panels to, for example, a rooftop. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a solar panel racking system includes at least one solar panel (preferably panels of photovoltaic concentrator modules) comprising a plurality of photovoltaic concentrator modules and a racking structure attached to the at least one solar panel such that the racking structure can help provide structural integrity of the solar panel during transportation. The racking structure can attach to a mounting structure during installation of the at least one solar panel. 
     The present invention also relates to methods of transporting and installing solar panel racking systems. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of concentrating photovoltaic panels mounted on a roof with conventional racking. 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of arrays of flat panels being lifted by a crane onto a roof. 
         FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of multiple concentrating photovoltaic panels positioned in a container for transporting the panels. 
         FIG. 4  is an elevation view of a racking system according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the racking system shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is an elevation view of multiple racking systems according to  FIG. 4  arranged in a stacked manner. 
         FIG. 7  shows an elevation view of the racking system shown in  FIG. 4  in an installed position. 
         FIG. 8  shows a perspective view of the racking systems shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is a shipping rack that converts to the installation racking for mounting on a surface such as a rooftop. Preferably, a racking system according to the present invention is shipped in a compact form and then the racking structure is expanded to a desired installed condition. 
     For example  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  show a preferred embodiment according the present invention. In this embodiment, a group of three CPV panels  101  are mounted to a metal frame  105  and positioned relatively close together for shipping purposes. As shown in  FIG. 5 , each panel  101  includes six photovoltaic concentrator modules  102 . 
     Frame  105  can be a single frame member or composed of multiple individual frame members attached to each other to form a frame. As shown, racking structure  105  includes two frame members  117 , two frame members  109 , and four posts  107 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , each frame member  117  is connected to each frame member  109  and two posts  107  via any suitable fastening technique such as welding, clamping, and the like. As shown in  FIG. 8 , frame  105  can optionally include additional beams such as beam  118  for additional support. Such beams can include posts/legs (not shown) as needed for support. 
     Each frame member  109  has a portion  110  and a portion  111  that can slidingly engage tube member  113  so as to telescope in and out within tube member  113  as described below. 
     While suspended by a crane or when placed on the ground, the frame of the racking structure  105  can be transformed as necessary from the shipping position shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6  to a preferred installation position as shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 . The frame members  110  and  111  can telescope inside of tube member  113  and/or possibly fold out like a lawn chair (not shown) until the panels  101  are spaced to the desired distance from each other. As shown in  FIG. 7 , posts  107  can slidingly adjust up or down relative to frame member  109  as desired. 
     Leg(s)  140  can rest on the roof  150  and are preferably designed to slide to any location, for example, so as to land on a roof beam or avoid roof top obstacles etc. Leg(s)  140  can slide, fold, or pivot into position and can contain some type of easy to use locking feature or nut and bolt set-up. Optionally, additional support legs (not shown) can be included along frame members  117 . 
     This racking structure  105  is designed such that it can be stacked on top of other racking systems similar to racking system  105  and/or be stacked upon by other racking systems similar to racking system  105  as shown in  FIG. 6 . Racking systems  105  can be stacked as high as allowed to fill a truck or container (not shown) or stacking for storage within a warehouse (not shown). 
     To help provide the ability to stack in such a manner, posts  107  include rounded ends  108  that can mate with corresponding bottom portions  120  of another racking system  105 . Preferably, bottom portions  120  have a widened base to provide stability when installed on a surface such as a rooftop. 
     This racking structure  105  is also designed to be lifted by crane (not shown) to the rooftop. An example of the crane lifting features  115  are shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In addition various features can be added to the rack  105  to help support the load during shipment. These could be foam pieces to stop vibrations, features that accept plastic or metal bands to secure the load, etc. 
     Also, the racking structure  105  can include additional structure at various points along its perimeter to permit racking system  105  to be attached to adjacent racking systems (not shown). 
     Racking system  105  can be made out of any material suitable for supporting and securing panels  101  to rooftop  150 . Exemplary materials are well known and include extruded aluminum, galvanized steel, u-channel and the like. 
     Racking systems  105  can be made using well-known techniques such as welding, molding, clamping, and the like.