Foldable Photovoltaic Module Assembly for Weather-Protected Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing photovoltaic systems are costly, complex, and difficult to maintain, especially in extreme weather conditions, and require significant material and anchoring, making them unsuitable for mobile use and easy cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A photovoltaic system with interconnected support frames and guide rails, featuring freely rotatable impellers and running rollers, allowing modules to be easily extended or retracted without interference, and housed in a container for protection during adverse weather.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If photovoltaic modules are mounted on massive foundations and support systems to withstand extreme weather conditions, then the system reliability is improved, but the device complexity and material usage increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic support system where module carriers can be folded from an extended operational state to a compact retracted state. This dynamic configuration allows the system to adapt to weather conditions - extended for operation in good weather, retracted for protection during adverse weather - eliminating the need for massive permanent foundations while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The photovoltaic system is divided into modular module carriers that can independently be folded and retracted. Each carrier is a separate unit with its own support structure, allowing selective deployment and retraction of individual modules rather than requiring the entire system to be supported by a single massive foundation structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If foldable PV modules are suspended between two cables with a drivetrain mechanism, then the system can be retracted in bad weather, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the driving mechanism from a complex centralized drivetrain and implements it through simple cable-pulley systems at each module carrier. The cables are routed through guides and pulleys that provide mechanical advantage, eliminating the need for complex motors, gears, and control systems while maintaining the ability to extend and retract modules in response to weather conditions.
3Stability of the object's composition
If module carriers are inseparably connected to one another, then structural stability is improved, but ease of maintenance and cleaning deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The module carriers are connected through foldable joints that provide both stability in the extended operational state and accessibility in the retracted state. When retracted, the carriers fold into a compact configuration that naturally separates the modules, providing easy access for cleaning and maintenance while maintaining structural integrity during operation through the folded configuration.
4Reliability
If a complex folding mechanism is used to transfer modules between extended and retracted states, then weather protection is improved, but manufacturing cost and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs simple, inexpensive components such as cables, pulleys, and basic hinge mechanisms rather than complex expensive folding mechanisms. These simple components are easy to manufacture and replace, reducing both initial manufacturing costs and ongoing maintenance costs while providing sufficient weather protection functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A photovoltaic system has photovoltaic modules which can be arranged in a row and are mounted on a support frame. Adjacent photovoltaic modules with their support frames are connected to one another in an articulated manner by joints or hinges and can be transferred via a drive unit from a substantially extended and flat state into a pushed-together, compact state and vice versa.The support structure comprises a first pair of guide rails comprised of two guide rails arranged at a distance from one another. Arranged laterally on the photovoltaic modules and on the support frames, respectively, are freely rotatable impellers, the mutual spacing of which corresponds to the spacing of the mutually opposite guide rails, so that the photovoltaic modules with low rolling resistance in the direction of the guide rails can be spread out or moved together.