Flat Tile Solar Panels - Intervening Structure II
An earth mount-enabled utility-scale solar photovoltaic array has plural rows of solar panels supported on the ground s to establish an earth orientation of the solar panels. Edge portions of the panels rest on a ground support area and provide mechanical support, and an end curb member abuts at least one edge of the arrangement. The panels are interconnected in at least one series-connected string extending in at least two rows so that the string has a total distance between terminal ends of the series connection less than a lengthwise dimension of the solar panels constituting the string, routed to reduce “home run” connections at the end of the string.
1 . A solar PV array comprising modules wherein the ground supports some of the modules.
2 . The array of claim 1 having 2500 or more modules.
3 . The array of claim 2 having 5000 or more modules.
4 . The array of claim 2 having 10 or more rows of modules.
5 . The array of claim 4 having 10 or more columns of modules.
6 . The array of claim 5 having connectors between modules.
7 . The array of claim 6 , wherein the connections are between modules of different rows.
8 . The array of claim 7 , wherein the connections are between modules of different columns.
9 . The array of claim 8 , wherein some of the connectors are electrical interconnects, some of the electrical interconnects form a series-connected string, and the string comprises terminal string ends with a distance between the ends of less than a lengthwise module dimension.
10 . The array of claim 9 , wherein the contact points control the direction of a ray normal to the module plane.
11 . The array of claim 10 , wherein the ground includes material naturally present at the site and material added to the site by human activity.
12 . The array of claim 11 , wherein the ground is smoothed or flattened.
13 . The array of claim 12 , wherein smoothed or flattened means smooth or flat enough that the height difference between corners of adjacent modules is small enough that a fully autonomous sweeping robot can sweep from one module onto another.
14 . The array of claim 13 , wherein the ground orients a face of the module and supports some the modules.
15 . The array of claim 14 , wherein some of the connectors limit vertical module movement.
16 . The array of claim 15 having contiguous modules.
17 . The array of claim 16 , wherein the connectors join modules at module edges or edge frames.
18 . The array of claim 17 , wherein some of the connectors are between modules in two directions, some of the connectors form joints, and some of the joints are flexible.
19 . The array of claim 17 , wherein some of the connectors are between 2-4 modules.
20 . The array of claim 19 , wherein some of the connectors are electrical bonding connecters.