Abstract:
A photovoltaic panel wire cover assembly, used with a PV panel having a perimeter trim piece, includes clips, an elongate wire cover and fastener structure. Each clip includes a proximal end and long and short legs, the long leg parallel with and joined to the short leg at the clip proximal end. A gap between the long and short legs is sized for receipt of the trim piece. The wire cover includes a wire-covering housing defining a housing interior and having first and second opposite sides and a first flange extending from the first opposite side and positioned against the long leg. The fastener structure engages the short leg and the first flange to bias the first flange and the long leg therewith towards the short leg. The wire cover can be fastened to the trim piece through the clips without penetrating the PV panel.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/322,363, filed 14 Apr. 2016 and entitled Wire Cover and Mounting Bracket, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX 
       [0002]    Attached as part of this application is an Appendix to the Specification, which includes digital images/photograph/line drawings, identified as sheets A through T, of the technology disclosed herein. Upon allowance of this application and payment of the Issue Fee, this Appendix may be deleted. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are typically provided of rigid planar form with each panel having a similar size, typically rectangular and approximately two to three feet in a shorter dimension and four to six feet in a longer dimension. Solar cells are provided upon a front surface of the solar panel. These individual cells are electrically connected together. A junction box is provided on a rear surface of each panel which gathers up the electric power generated by the cells on the panel and passes this electric power onto wires. These wires from the junction box can facilitate wiring together of multiple panels of an array to produce the overall power generated by the array of panels. 
         [0004]    Solar panels are required to be deployed in an outside environment exposed to solar radiation, where the panels are also exposed to extremes of temperature and moisture. Furthermore, birds and other animals typically have access to the panels and the wiring connecting the panels together. One of the significant benefits of solar power systems of the PV panel variety is that they have no moving parts which must require maintenance or periodic inspection/replacement, as is the case with other distributed power assets such as wind turbines. However, the outside exposure experienced by the panel and its associated wires can result in damage occurring to the panels even without the panels experiencing any motion. Some solar panel arrays are mounted in a movable fashion to “track” the sun. Such tracking systems can be kept quite simple and easy to maintain, so that the panels do not require significant maintenance or inspection for reliable operation. 
         [0005]    Perhaps the greatest source of PV panel array failure is presented in association with the wires that connect the individual panels together. The wires have connectors where they are joined to other segments of wire or to the junction boxes of various panels. If the wires become damaged, the system of PV panels can fail. The wires also benefit from minimizing expense through only providing an amount of exterior insulation necessary and to otherwise structure the wire with a relatively light and low cost configuration, including diameter, conductive material, insulating material, insulating material thickness, etc. Furthermore, the wires themselves can be extensive in length and represent a significant value for the overall panel system. It is known in certain instances for thieves to steal wire, such as the wire joining PV panels together, to recycle the wire for its inherent value in the conductive metals contained therein, or to repurpose the wire in other ways. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic or general understanding of various aspects of exemplary, non-limiting implementations that follow in the more detailed description and the accompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as an extensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts related to some exemplary non-limiting implementations in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of the various implementations that follow. 
         [0007]    A photovoltaic panel wire cover assembly is used with a PV panel having a perimeter trim piece, the perimeter trim piece having a thickness. The assembly includes a plurality of clips, an elongate wire cover and fastener structure. Each clip includes a proximal end, a long leg and a short leg, the long leg parallel with and joined to the short leg at the proximal end of the clip, the long leg having a distal end. There is a gap between the long leg and the short leg of the clip sized for receipt of the perimeter trim piece of the PV panel. The elongate wire cover includes a wire-covering housing, the wire-covering housing having first and second opposite sides and a first flange extending away from the first opposite side. The wire-covering housing defines a housing interior. The first flange is positioned against the long leg of the clip. The fastener structure engages the short leg of the clip and the first flange to bias the first flange and the long leg of the clip therewith towards the short leg of the clip. The wire cover can be fastened to the perimeter trim piece of the PV panel through the clips without penetrating the PV panel. 
         [0008]    Examples of the photovoltaic panel wire cover assembly can include one or more the following. The short leg can have holes adjacent to the proximal end aligned with each other and passing through the short leg and the long leg; the first flange can include a plurality of slotted holes therein; and the fastener structure can include a fastener passing through the slotted holes in the wire covers and into the holes in the clip. The clip can include a trim engagement element, such as a curved distal end, at the distal end of the long leg. The hole in the long leg can be a through hole through which a fastener can freely pass and the hole in the short leg can be configured, such as with threads, to engage the fastener. The wire cover can have a second flange extending away from the second opposite side, the second flange including a plurality of second slotted holes and positioned against the long leg of a second clip, the second clip engaging a second perimeter trim piece. Further fastener structure can engage the short leg of the second clip and the second flange to bias the second flange and the long leg of the second clip therewith towards the short leg of the second flange. In this way the wire cover can be fastened to the second perimeter trim piece of the PV panel through clips without penetrating the PV panel. The elongate wire cover can have an open end, and the assembly can include a closed end cap mountable to the open end of the elongate wire cover to prevent access to the housing interior. The assembly can also include an open end cap, having a wire passage opening, mountable to an open end of the elongate wire cover, and a jumper tube extending from the open end cap to provide a wire passageway from the wire passage opening through the jumper tube, whereby the open end cap and jumper tube extending therefrom prevents access to the housing interior other than through the wire passageway. 
         [0009]    Other features, aspects and advantages of technology disclosed can be seen on review the drawings, the detailed description, and the claims, which follow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The included drawings are for illustrative purposes and serve only to provide examples of possible structures and process operations for one or more implementations of this disclosure. These drawings in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. A more complete understanding of the subject matter may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in conjunction with the following figures, wherein like reference numbers refer to similar elements throughout the figures. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a rear perspective view of a conventional array of PV panels mounted to a common tracking bar. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of an array of PV panel wire cover assembly used with an array of PV panels mount to a common tracking bar. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to that of  FIG. 2  during the installation of wire covers to the array of PV panels, showing wires covered by a wire cover and wires to be covered by a subsequently installed wire cover. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure of  FIG. 3  showing clips engaging trim pieces at opposed edges of adjacent PV panels. 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged perspective view a portion of the structure of  FIG. 2  showing an end of one wire cover overlapping the end of an adjacent wire cover. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  shows an end cap covering the outermost end of the wire cover at the end of the array of photovoltaic panels. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  shows a jumper tube extending between open end caps to protect wires passing between space-apart PV panels. 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a top, front, right side isometric view of a wire cover. 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the wire cover of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is an end view of the wire cover of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  is a left side view of the wire cover of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  is a top, front, right side view of a clip partially shown in  FIG. 4  together with a fastener. 
           [0023]      FIG. 13  is a bottom, front, right side view of the clip of  FIG. 12 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  is a front, top, right side view of the closed end cap shown in  FIG. 6 . 
           [0025]      FIG. 15  is a top plan view of the end cap of  FIG. 14 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 16  is a rear elevation view of the end cap of  FIG. 14 . 
           [0027]      FIG. 17  is a front, top, right side view of the open end cap shown in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 18  is a top plan view of the end cap of  FIG. 17 . 
           [0029]      FIG. 19  is a rear elevation view of the end cap of  FIG. 17 . 
           [0030]      FIG. 20  is a simplified edge view showing a clip mounted to a trim piece of the solar panel with a flange of the wire cover about to be secured to the clip by a fastener. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0031]    To protect the wires and to hide them from view, it is desirable to provide a cover for the runs of wire which join PV panels together. Such covers would both protect the wires and make the wires less enticing to thieves, and present some degree of impediment to thieves interested in stealing the wires. While a basic cover could be provided over runs of wire joining panels together including a cover element and with a flange having a hole therein which can receive a fastener, a significant problem is encountered in that the flange of such a basic cover requires a hole in the panel through which a fastener can pass for connecting the cover to a panel. PV panels are typically substantially free of fastener holes thereon, other than fastener holes which are already dedicated to other purposes, including panel mounting purposes. Without a hole available for securing such a cover to the panel, one is left with the undesirable prospect of perhaps drilling an additional hole in the panel (which may void its warranty), which not only has significant propensity to damage the panel, it involves significant additional work. Accordingly, a need exists for a system for a wire-covering system for an array of photovoltaic panel which does not require drilling of holes into the panels, but can still allow for a wire cover to be mounted to the panels in a simple manner. 
         [0032]      FIG. 1  is a rear perspective view of a conventional array  22  of PV panels  14  mounted to a common tracking bar  24 . A junction box  26  is seen mounted along an edge of each PV panel  14  with exposed wires  12  extending from the junction boxes. 
         [0033]    With this technology, a PV panel wire cover assembly  8 , see  FIG. 2 , includes a wire cover  10 , also referred to as cover  10 , for covering wires  12  which join photovoltaic (PV) panels  14  together so that they cannot be seen and to help protect the wires from the weather, vandalism, theft and animals. PV panels  14  are also referred to as panels  14  or solar panels  14 . Assembly  8  also includes a clip  16  which can be easily attached to a panel  14  without requiring drilling of holes thereinto, and which clip  16  presents a hole  18  to which a fastener  20 , such as a screw or bolt, can join after having interfaced with a wire cover  10 , so that between the wire cover  10  and a series of such clips  16 , the wire cover  10  can be coupled to the panels in a manner overlying the wires thereof 
         [0034]      FIG. 3  shows a wire cover  10  during installation with wires  12  extending from the open end of a wire cover  10  prior to installation of the next wire cover  10 .  FIGS. 8-11  illustrate how the wire cover  10  has a pair of flanges  28 ,  30  and a wire-covering housing  32  defining a housing interior  34  between the flanges. Wire-covering housing  32  is sized, in particular to have sufficient depth  36 , to accommodate the wires  12  bundled therein. The flanges  28 ,  30  include slots. These slots are preferably of a variety which is elongate in form with rounded ends and with a length thereof parallel with a length of the wire-covering housing  32  of the wire cover  10 . Such slots are provided on each flange  28 ,  30  directly adjacent to this wire-covering housing  32 . Because the panel-to-panel spacing  46  between solar panels  14  in array  22  can vary slightly, slots  38 ,  40  are provided rather than a single hole, to accommodate some variation in panel-to-panel spacing. Longer flange  28  includes a notch  42  at each end. Notch  42  is useful in placing cover  10  under the edge of the PV panel frame thus reducing the need for clips and speeding up installation. However, for some types of equipment notch  42  can be omitted to create a notch less wire cover  10  indicated by the dashed lines  44  in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0035]    Details of the clips  16  are shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13 , as well as  FIG. 4  Each clip  16  can be a bent piece of spring steel (or optionally other material) which fits over a piece of trim  48  along the lateral sides  50  of the PV panels  14 ; see  FIGS. 2-5 . Trim  48  extends generally perpendicular to the side-to-side orientation of wires  12  and wire covers  10 . Trim  48  is offset a distance slightly from a rear surface  54  of the panel with a width a distance sufficient to allow a short leg  58  of the clip  16  to reside therein. The clip  16  has a long leg  60  opposite the short leg  58  with the two legs substantially parallel to each other and joined together at a proximal end  62  of the clip. The long leg  60  ends at a trim engagement element  64 , also called a tooth  64 , at a distal end  66  thereof which can wrap around and grip somewhat an outer edge  68  of the trim  48 . The proximal ends of each leg of the clip  16  are joined together so that the clip  16  is, in this example, a continuous piece of metal. A spacing or gap  69  between the legs  58 ,  60  of the clip  16  is preferably similar to a thickness of the trim  48  on the panel  14 , so that somewhat of a friction fit is provided when the clip  16  is slid over the trim  48  with the trim  48  between the legs  58 ,  60 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 20  is a simplified edge view showing a clip  16  mounted to a trim piece  48  of the solar panel  14  with a flange  28 ,  30  of the wire cover  10  about to be secured to the clip by a fastener  20 . An overall width of the clip  16  between the distal tooth  64  at the tip of the long leg  60  and a curve at the proximal end  62  where the long leg  60  and short leg  58  are joined together, see dimension  70  in  FIG. 13 , is greater than the width  56  of the trim  48  by an amount sufficient so that hole  18 , which in this example includes a top through-hole  72  and a bottom threaded hole  74 , passing through the clip  16  can be positioned off of the trim  48 . See  FIGS. 13 and 20 . These holes  72 ,  74  pass through both the long leg  60  and the short leg  58  of the clip  16  with the holes adjacent to the curving proximal end  62  of the clip  16  which joins the long leg  60  and the short leg  58  together. The holes preferably are similar in size and aligned together, but, in this example, with the hole  74  in the short leg  58  being threaded and the hole  72  in the long leg  60  being a through hole and not threaded. It is also conceivable that both of the holes could be threaded or neither of the holes could be threaded and still function according to this technology if, for example, using non-threaded fasteners or if a threaded fastener pair such as a bolt and nut are used together. Most preferably, however, the short leg  58  has its hole  74  threaded and the long leg  60  does not have its hole  72  threaded. 
         [0037]    In one embodiment, if the trim  48  has a one inch width  56 , the long leg  60  could have a two inch length and the short leg  58  could have a one and a half inch length. In such a configuration a quarter inch hole could be provided which is spaced approximately a quarter inch to a half inch away from the curving proximal end  62  of the clip  16  where the long leg  60  and short leg  58  come together. The clip  16  could have various different widths  76 ; clip  16  is shown with approximately a three-quarter inch width in the embodiment depicted. 
         [0038]    If the clip  16  is formed of materials other than spring steel (e.g., aluminum or plastic) it still preferably functions to clamp and hold to the trim  48 . The clip  16  will then have a tendency to stay where initially placed. Furthermore, once a fastener  20  passes through the non-threaded hole  72  in the long leg  60  and then threads into the threads in the threaded hole  74  in the short leg  58 , the long leg  60  and short leg  58  are drawn together and further pinch the clip  16  tightly against the trim  48 . The clip  16  thus conveniently tends to stay where positioned before use, but can be repositioned fairly easily before it has been used, such as by sliding along the trim  48  with the tooth  64  at the distal end  66  of the long leg  60  keeping the clip  16  aligned where it is desired to be. 
         [0039]    Once the clips  16  are positioned where desired, a wire cover  10  would be placed over wires  12  joining panels  14  together and with the elongate hole or slots  38 ,  40  in one of the flanges  28 ,  30  overlying the clip  16  and aligned with the holes in the clip  16 . A fastener  20 , such as a bolt, would then be passed through the elongate hole  38 ,  40  in the flange  28 ,  30  and then passed through the non-threaded hole  72  in the outer, long leg  60  of the clip  16 , and then threaded into the threaded hole  74  in the short leg  58  of the clip  16 . See  FIG. 20 . Once the fastener  20  has been tightened, not only has the clip  16  been secured in position against the trim  48  of the panel, but also the wire cover  10  has been secured to the panel as well. This process is repeated with additional clips  16  at corresponding locations on other portions of the wire covers  10  to securely cause the wire covers  10  to be mounted to overlie wires  12  joining the panels  14  together. 
         [0040]      FIG. 6  shows a closed end cap  82  covering the outermost end of the wire cover  10  at the end of the array  22  of photovoltaic panels  14 . Details of end cap  82  are shown in  FIGS. 14-16 .  FIGS. 7 and 17-19  illustrate an open end cap  84  secured to the outermost end of a wire cover  10 . Open end caps  84  are used when there is a gap between PV panels  14 , such as when there is a motor or other obstruction in the way on tracked arrays of PV panels. Open end cap  84  defines a wire passage opening  90  and has a curved extension  86  over which a jumper tube  88 , see  FIG. 7 , is mounted. Wires  12  pass between the spaced-apart PV panels  14  along a wire passageway through wire passage opening  90 , through curved extension  86  and through jumper tube  88 . Use of closed end caps  82  and open end caps  84 , together with jumper tube  88 , helped to protect wires  12  from the elements, degradation or destruction by animals, and also helps to keep animals from entering housing interior  34 . Jumper tube  88  can be made with somewhat flexible material, such as PVC or ABS, with a slit along its length to permit it to be placed over curved extensions  86  and the wires  12  extending between space-apart open end caps  84  as shown in  FIG. 7 . The length of jumper tube  88  is made to be slightly shorter than the distance between open end caps  84  so that it maintains contact with the curved extensions  86  of the open end caps. 
         [0041]    If desired for further theft prevention, fasteners  20  having unique torque receiving surfaces can be used so that it is less likely that a thief has access to a proper tool for removal of such fasteners. The fasteners could be provided of a type which can allow for ready installation but does not allow for ready disassembly. For instance, rivets could be used instead of threaded fasteners or threaded fasteners with heads which allow for torque to be applied for fastening but not to be applied for removal. As a still further option, the fasteners could have heads which snap off after the fastener has been used, so that the torque applying head is removed and unavailable for theft access after installation. 
         [0042]    Typically, wire covers  10  are provided which are of standard lengths which allow for convenient handling thereof, such as six foot lengths or ten foot lengths. The wire covers  10  can overlap each other somewhat at ends thereof to allow for continuous covering of the wires  12 . Each wire cover  10  would typically have a length which spans two or more panels  14 . The positions of the slotted holes  38 ,  40  are preferably selected to generally match widths  78  of the panels  14  but with the slotted holes sufficiently long to accommodate variations in panel size as well as spacing  46  between adjacent panels  14 . 
         [0043]    Covers  10  can be made of bent metal, such as galvanized sheet steel or of sheet aluminum. Covers  10  can also be made of polymer materials, such as PVC, typically through extrusion or molding techniques. While clips  16  are preferably made of materials such as spring steel to aid proper positioning; in some examples clips  16  may be made materials, such as layered materials, which may or may not exhibit the degree of resilience provided by spring steel. The covers  10  and clips  16  could alternatively be made of non-metal materials or metals of other varieties to optimize desired performance characteristics or to minimize expense or otherwise provide for benefits associated with particular materials selected. 
         [0044]    This disclosure is provided to reveal a preferred embodiment of the technology and a best mode for practicing the technology. Having thus described the technology in this way, it should be apparent that various different modifications can be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure. When structures are identified as a means to perform a function, the identification is intended to include all structures which can perform the function specified. One or more elements of one or more claims can be combined with elements of other claims. Any and all patents, patent applications and printed publications referred to above are incorporated by reference.