A New Generation of Lightweight, Universally Deployable and Re-deployable Integrated C&I Solar Solutions

Widespread buildup and usage of commercial and industrial rooftops for solar installations can contribute substantially to environmentally friendly and low-cost sources of energy for businesses. Unfortunately, the addition of photovoltaic systems on commercial and industrial buildings is often rendered difficult, expensive or prohibitive due to several factors, including: material and labor costs of installing standard photovoltaic systems with elaborate racking substructures and their restrictive grounding requirements. The structural limitations of many commercial and industrial roofs prohibit the use of heavy ballast to secure the systems, while invasive mounting by roof penetration is costly and increases the risk of roof leaks. A holistic approach addressing material and installation cost optimization and complexity reduction of module, inverter and balance-of-system as an integrated unit has not been undertaken successfully. The proposed photovoltaic system is based on an innovative photovoltaic module frame with integrated foldout racking structure and integrated microinverters. The novel system reduces racking material cost by 50% and provides a system deployable in one fifth of the time compared to standard photovoltaic systems. The proposed system has less than 40% of the weight load of standard systems and thus opens opportunities for installation on roofs that cannot withstand standard photovoltaic systems. The choice of frame and racking material removes the need for grounding the module and rack, saving significant cost and removing a permanent safety liability. The reduction in frame and racking substructure cost and removal of grounding requirement that is at the center of this project is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor and relies on thorough computational analysis of the integrated system’s strength to validate the design. In phase 1 the basic design of frame and racking system will be created and augmented with new support elements. Finite element analysis for snow and wind load will be carried out to establish a preferable geometry. A scaled down prototype will be manufactured using rapid prototyping and functionalities will be tested. Factory side integration of microinverters will be prepared. The solution will enable installations by roofers or owners. The simplicity and low cost of the installation will help broaden the market to include lower income businesses. In Phase II, refined load calculations including computational fluid dynamics for wind load and wind tunnel tests will be carried out. A full-sized prototype will be designed and tested. Phase III will be used for finalizing the development and achieving certification with subsequent market introduction.