Patent ID: 8829330

Claim:
A solar energy system, comprising: a plurality of photovoltaic modules; a plurality of reflectors, each of the plurality of reflectors positioned opposite a corresponding one of the plurality of photovoltaic modules; and a racking assembly mechanically interconnecting the plurality of photovoltaic modules and the plurality of reflectors to form an interconnected system; wherein: the photovoltaic modules and reflectors are arranged in adjacent rows; the adjacent rows include reflector rows interposed between module rows; each reflector row includes multiple reflectors; each module row includes multiple photovoltaic modules; the racking assembly defines gaps within the racking assembly and between adjacent photovoltaic modules and reflectors, the gaps between adjacent photovoltaic modules and reflectors including a module-to-module gap between the adjacent photovoltaic modules within each module row and a reflector-to-reflector gap between the adjacent reflectors within each reflector row; the interconnected system includes a plurality of contact points associated with the gaps; the racking assembly comprises: a plurality of rails arranged orthogonally to and beneath the adjacent rows; and a plurality of fins that interconnect the photovoltaic modules and the reflectors to the rails; and the fins define the module-to-module gap between the adjacent photovoltaic modules within each module row and the reflector-to-reflector gap between the adjacent reflectors within each reflector row.