Patent ID: 8227684

Claim:
A solar panel apparatus comprising: a first end rail; an elongated groove that extends along the length of the first end rail and has an elongated opening that extends along the length of the first end rail; an elongated socket strip secured in the groove and sufficiently flexible to store in a roll, the strip including an elongated non-electrically-conductive flexible sheath that extends along the length of the groove and sockets that are fixed in and supported by the sheath and spaced apart along the length of the sheath, and; a set of photovoltaic modules, each module being elongated along an axis that is perpendicular to the first end rail and having first and second axially opposite ends, each module having photovoltaic surface portions facing away from the axis in different radially-outward directions to receive light to generate electricity, the first end of each module extending through the opening into the groove, and each module having an electrical contact at its first end to output the electricity, the electrical contact being physically secured to and electrically connected to a respective one of the sockets; and wires or ribbons, located entirely within the sheath, that electrically interconnect the sockets to conduct the electricity from the respective modules' first ends.