Ballasted tracker drive assembly
AssigneeSolarCity Corporation
InventorGregory Philip Patnude
Life of this patent
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Abstract
PV modules and ballast arm assemblies are mounted onto a torque tube suspended from a support structure. The support structures allows torque tube, and mounted PV modules and ballast arm assemblies, to freely rotate. The ballast arm assembly includes a drive mechanism, an arm and a ballast. The drive mechanism allows the adjustment angle between the PV module and the arm and ballast to be changed. Changing the adjustment angle causes the torque tube, and mounted PV modules, to freely rotate to a different orientation angle in order to balance the moments of PV modules and ballast arm assemblies caused by gravity. The orientation angle can be changed throughout the day by changing the adjustment angle in order for the PV modules to track the sun.
Claims12
A photovoltaic tracker array section, comprising:
- a torque tube freely rotatably attached to a support structure;
- a first photovoltaic module mounted to the torque tube with a bracket such that the first photovoltaic module and the torque tube are configured to rotate together;
- and
- a ballast arm assembly directly mounted to and suspended from the torque tube, the ballast arm assembly comprising:
- an arm portion;
- a ballast at a first end of the arm portion;
- and
- a drive mechanism at a second end of the arm portion, wherein the drive mechanism is configured to rotate the arm portion and the ballast relative to the torque tube and the first photovoltaic module with a motor in order to change an adjustment angle between the arm portion and the first photovoltaic module from a first adjustment angle to a second adjustment angle in order to cause the torque tube to freely rotate relative to the support structure in order to balance moments on the torque tube caused by the ballast arm assembly and the first photovoltaic module so that an orientation angle of the first photovoltaic module relative to the support structure changes from a first orientation angle to a second orientation angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.