Slider Clip PV Mounting Structure for Faster Module Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for installing photovoltaic (PV) modules are labor-intensive and time-consuming, especially for large-scale systems, due to the need for screwing and tightening multiple clips onto rails, which slows down the process and increases on-site labor costs.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible PV module support structure with preassembled slider clips that allows for easy slide-in insertion of PV modules, reducing on-site labor by allowing clips to be tightened before installation and using a prefabricated frameless or framed structure with integrated slider clips for efficient mounting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional screwing methods are used to attach clips to rails, then secure mounting is achieved, but installation time and labor costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The slider clips are pre-assembled on the rails in a controlled environment before shipment to the installation site. This preliminary assembly allows the clips to be fully tightened and secured to the rails prior to installation, eliminating the time-consuming on-site screwing process while maintaining secure mounting through the pre-established mechanical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system is divided into separate functional components: the slider clips that attach to the rails, and the PV modules that slide into the clips. This segmentation allows the clips to be pre-assembled and secured independently, then quickly deployed by simply sliding the modules into place, resolving the contradiction between secure attachment and rapid installation.
2Reliability
If multiple clips are screwed onto rails during installation, then secure module attachment is achieved, but on-site labor intensity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple slider clips are pre-assembled onto the rails in advance at the manufacturing facility. This transfers the complex operation of attaching multiple clips from the on-site installation process to the controlled manufacturing environment, dramatically reducing on-site labor intensity while maintaining secure attachment through the pre-installed clips.
Solution Approach 2:
The slider clips and rails are combined into a pre-assembled unit that functions as an integrated component. This merging of components eliminates the need for separate on-site attachment operations, as the clips are already secured to the rails before delivery, simplifying the on-site process to merely sliding modules into the pre-prepared clips.
3Reliability
If clips are tightened halfway, modules positioned, and then final tightening performed, then secure mounting is achieved, but the multi-step process slows down installation
Solution Approach 1:
The slider clips are fully tightened and secured to the rails in advance during the pre-assembly process at the manufacturing facility. This eliminates the need for the multi-step tightening process during installation, as the clips arrive already in their final secured state, allowing installers to simply slide modules into place and achieve immediate secure mounting without any on-site tightening operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein is a mounting system and slider clips that support simplified installation of photovoltaic structures. The mounting system comprises a support structure which can be mounted to support columns via an optional tilt table. The support structure comprises a plurality of parallel spaced beams and a plurality of parallel spaced rails that are mounted approximately perpendicular to the beams. Disclosed embodiments describe a collapsible support structure in which the rails are pivotally mounted to the beams. Rails are preassembled with prefabricated slider clips for holding edge portions of the photovoltaic structures. Rails can also be integrally formed with slider clips. Described herein are also methods of installing one or more photovoltaic structures using the mounting system and methods for manufacturing slider clips and a photovoltaic structure mounting system.