Granted Patent B2

US 12,615,013 · App. 18/758,348 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Thierry Nguyen (San Francisco, CA); Igor Alovert (Morristown, NJ); Richard Perkins (San Jose, CA); Gabriela Bunea (San Jose, CA); Angelo Bossini (Parsippany, NJ)

Assignee: GAF Energy LLC

H02S50/00G01D11/30H02S20/25B32B2419/06E04D3/40E04D12/002G08B21/0438G08B25/018H02S20/24

Abstract

Claims (30)

1 . A system comprising:

a roof deck; and

a photovoltaic module installed on the roof deck, wherein the photovoltaic module includes

a first layer having at least one solar cell,

a backing layer under the first layer, and

a first sensor associated with the backing layer;

wherein the photovoltaic module is installed on the roof deck with first fasteners,

wherein the first fasteners do not penetrate the first sensor,

wherein the first sensor is configured to:

measure a first value representative of a first roofing system condition;

 wherein the first sensor measures the first value in a first location associated with the photovoltaic module;

 wherein a first location identifier for the first location is stored in a database in communication with the first sensor;

determine the first roofing system condition in the first location based at least in part on the first value and the first location identifier; and

generate a first notification representative of the first roofing system condition in the first location; and

a non-photovoltaic module installed on the roof deck with second fasteners,

wherein the non-photovoltaic module includes

a second layer, and

a second sensor associated with the second layer;

 wherein the second sensor is configured to:

 measure a second value representative of a second roofing system condition;

 wherein the second sensor measures the second value in a second location associated with the non-photovoltaic module;

 wherein a second location identifier for the second location is stored in a database in communication with second sensor;

 determine the second roofing system condition in the second location based at least in part on the second value and the second location identifier; and

 generate a second notification representative of the second roofing system condition in the second location.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is on a surface of the first layer between the backing layer and the roof deck.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is embedded within the backing layer.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is printed on the backing layer.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor includes at least one of a moisture sensor, a temperature sensor, a strain sensor, a thermal sensor, a ground fault sensor, an integrated flex-circuit antenna array, or an air quality sensor.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first fasteners include at least one of nails, rivets, staples, screws, and adhesive.

7 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising an underlayment installed on the roof deck, wherein the underlayment is between the roof deck and the photovoltaic module, wherein the underlayment does not include any sensor.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (322)