Patent ID: 8869471

Claim:
A support assembly for supporting one or more photovoltaic modules on a support surface, said support assembly comprising: a body portion, said body portion including a base portion with an upward-facing recess for accommodating one or more ballasts, said body portion consisting of polymer; and integrated grounding means comprising one or more conductive components coupled to said body portion, at least one of said one or more conductive components configured to engage and directly connect to adjacent photovoltaic modules, said integrated grounding means configured to provide integrated grounding between said adjacent photovoltaic modules; wherein said support assembly is configured to bridge multiple rows of photovoltaic modules without being directly secured to any other said support assembly in a structural manner, wherein said upward-facing recess of said base portion is configured to be disposed at least partially between a first row of said multiple rows of photovoltaic modules and a second row of said multiple rows of photovoltaic modules when said support assembly bridges said first and second rows; and wherein a portion of said body portion is disposed below said integrated grounding means.