Solar tracker system
AssigneeFCX Solar LLC
InventorsChristopher Thomas Needham, Frank Carl Oudheusden
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photovoltaic system includes a collection of photovoltaic modules, a base supporting the collection of photovoltaic modules, and a damper coupled between the collection of photovoltaic modules and the base. The damper resists movement of the photovoltaic modules relative to the base. The damper has a first damping ratio when the collection of photovoltaic modules moves at a first rate relative to the base and a second damping ratio when the collection of photovoltaic modules moves at a second rate relative to the base, and the damper passively transitions from the first damping ratio to the second damping ratio.
Claims21
A system comprising:
- a solar tracker module configured to position at least one photovoltaic module;
- and
- a linear damper configured to damp force applied to the at least one photovoltaic module, the linear damper including a variable damping ratio that varies passively as a function of loading force on the at least one photovoltaic module, and wherein the variable damping ratio of the linear damper passively transitions between a higher damping ratio in response to environmental stress over a predetermined threshold and a lower damping ratio in response to stress under the predetermined threshold including positional adjustment via the solar tracker module.
A solar tracker system, comprising:
- a mount configured to be affixed to a photovoltaic module and configured to enable the photovoltaic module to pivot about an axis;
- a solar tracker module configured to pivot an angular position of the photovoltaic module about the axis and relative to the mount;
- and
- a linear damper configured to be coupled to the photovoltaic module and resisting angular position adjustment of the photovoltaic module, wherein the linear damper exhibits a variable damping ratio as a function of a current loading condition of the photovoltaic module, wherein the variable damping ratio of the linear damper transitions passively between a higher damping ratio in response to loading conditions over a predetermined threshold and a lower damping ratio in response to conditions under the predetermined threshold including the angular positional adjustment via the solar tracker module.
A system comprising:
- a solar tracker module configured to position at least one photovoltaic module;
- and
- a linear damper physically separate from the solar tracker module, the linear damper configured to damp force applied to the at least one photovoltaic module, the linear damper including a variable damping ratio that varies passively as a function of a current loading force on the at least one photovoltaic module, and wherein the variable damping ratio of the linear damper is a higher damping ratio in response to environmental stress exceeding a predetermined threshold and a lower damping ratio in response to positional adjustment via the solar tracker module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.