Solar Panel mounting system and installation

Abstract

A solar panel mounting system having a support, a railing and a clamp by utilizing all the components made with the metal structural members available in the market without resorting to a special fabrication or extrusion for saving material costs. It also saves labor for installation. The plurality of supports are screw connected to the roof rafters to accommodate the solar panels. The plurality of rails are placed on the supports and screw connected at job site. The plurality of clamps are slid inside the rail tube from the ends of rails to proper locations for tightening the solar panels by plurality of clips.

1 . A mounting system comprising:
 a plurality of supports fastening to the plurality of roof rafters;   a plurality of rails fasten to the plurality of supports to support solar panels;   a plurality of clamp threaded rods inserted inside the rail tube and fasten the plurality of solar panels with clips.   
     
     
         2 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with a support consists a circular tube weld connected to a base plate at the bottom and a rail holder on the top with pre-drilled screw holes at the base plate for screw connecting to the roof rafters, also pre-drilled screw holes at the rail holder for screw connecting to the rail. All of the materials are cut from existing metal structural members in the market. 
     
     
         3 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with the supporting circular tube can be cut sloped to have the solar panels tilt toward the sun. 
     
     
         4 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with a rail cut a slot on the top for supporting solar panels and the slot to guide plurality of clamps to proper locations to clamp the solar panels to the rail, the metal rail is available in the market as standard metal structural members. 
     
     
         5 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with a clamp consists of a threaded rod, a square holding plate weld connected to the threaded rod and clip on the top of the solar panels to tie down the solar panels. All of the materials are available in the market as metal structural members 
     
     
         6 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with the threaded rod sitting on the upper face of the lower side of rail to have the clamp system stay at a proper height for fastening. 
     
     
         7 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with a square holding plate welded to the threaded rod at the lower face of the top side of rail to prevent from spinning when tightening the nut above the solar panels. 
     
     
         8 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with a square holding plate welded to the threaded rod at the lower face of the top side of rail to hold the solar panels by clips above. 
     
     
         9 . The mounting system as set forth in  claim 1 , with the clip for the end panel is cut from a rectangular metal tube in two identical pieces. 
     
     
         10 . A method for installing the mounting system, comprising the steps of
 fastening a plurality of supports to the roof rafters;   fastening a plurality of rails to the plurality of supports;   connecting the solar panels to the rails with a plurality of clamps.   
     
     
         11 . The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in  claim 6 , uses gasket screws with further water-proofing by placing liquid washer at the screw locations to fasten the supports to the roof rafters.. 
     
     
         12 . The method of installing mounting system, as set forth in  claim 6 , places rail on supports prior to fasten the supports to roof rafters to ensure a proper alignment of the supports. 
     
     
         13 . The method of installing mounting system, as set forth in  claim 6 , places supports at staggered locations for each row of solar panel to ensure a proper load distribution to the rafters. 
     
     
         14 . The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in  claim 6 , screw connected to the rail at job site to ensure the evenness of the rail on an inevitable small unevenness of the roof surface. 
     
     
         15 . The method of installing a mounting system, as set forth in  claim 6 , provides the space between solar panels at a distance of threaded rod diameter.