Patent ID: 8344239

Claim:
An assembly for mounting solar modules to a surface, the assembly comprising: two or more compressed rail assemblies to retain one or more solar modules, each rail assembly comprising: an upper rail including an upper support structure and one or more upper flange members; a lower rail including a base, one or more lower flange members that each extend upward from the base, and a lower support structure that extends from at least one of the flange members; wherein one of the one or more upper flange members or the one or more lower flange members is disposed within and adjacent to the other of the one of the one or more upper flange members or the one or more lower flange members, so that the upper rail and the lower rail are interleaved to provide an adjustable spacing between the upper support structure and the lower support structure for receiving an end of an individual solar module; and a compression mechanism comprising a plurality of components that combine to extend the compression mechanism vertically through the upper support structure and the base of the lower rail, so as to extend out of the lower rail, the compression mechanism being structured to engage the interleaved upper and lower rail in order to compress the upper support structure and lower support structure in grasping the end of at least one solar module.