Support assembly for supporting a solar panel
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solar panel support assemblies lack efficient structural designs that allow for secure and stable attachment of solar panels while accommodating non-planar configurations, leading to potential detachment issues due to inadvertent forces.
Innovation Solution
A support assembly comprising multiple interconnected support portions with non-planar walls and attachment structures that can be bent to create angled orientations, featuring attachment openings and channels to securely engage the attachment structures, preventing inadvertent detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing support assemblies use simple planar structures, then manufacturing is easier, but attachment stability deteriorates due to inability to prevent inadvertent detachment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from planar (2D) attachment structures to three-dimensional (3D) non-planar configurations. The attachment structures extend in multiple dimensions with angled orientations, creating a multi-dimensional engagement system that significantly improves attachment stability and prevents inadvertent detachment while maintaining reasonable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved and angled surfaces in the attachment structures rather than flat planar surfaces. The non-planar configuration includes angled walls and curved engagement surfaces that provide mechanical interlocking, enhancing attachment reliability through geometric constraints that resist detachment forces.
2Reliability
If support assembly uses non-planar angled configurations, then attachment stability improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support assembly is divided into multiple separate components including base walls, lateral walls, and attachment structures that can be manufactured independently and then assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be produced using standard manufacturing processes while the final assembly achieves the complex non-planar configuration needed for stable attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment structures are pre-formed with specific angled orientations and geometric features during manufacturing. These preliminary actions create the non-planar configuration in advance, allowing the final assembly to achieve stable attachment without requiring complex real-time adjustments or post-assembly modifications.
3Strength
If attachment structures are rigid and fixed, then structural strength improves, but adaptability to different forces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment structures incorporate dynamic elements that allow controlled movement and adjustment in response to applied forces. The non-planar configuration includes features that can flex or adjust their orientation within certain limits, enabling the structure to adapt to varying force directions and magnitudes while maintaining overall structural strength through the rigid framework.
Data Source
AI summary
A support assembly supports a solar panel. The support assembly includes a first support portion including a first base wall. A first lateral wall is attached to the first base wall and includes a first attachment structure. A second support portion is attached to the first support portion such that the first support portion and the second support portion support the solar panel. The second support portion includes a second base wall. The second base wall is attached to the first base wall of the first support portion. A first attachment wall is attached to the second base wall. The first attachment wall defines a first attachment opening into which the first attachment structure of the first lateral wall is received such that the first attachment wall is attached to the first lateral wall. A method of forming a support assembly for supporting a solar panel is provided.