Get your Solar Panels even Snappier!
A new solar PV module mounting system that ‘snaps-together’ has been developed by a company in California. The mounting system is estimated to reduce installation time by half for household solar systems and even reducing the skill level required to install.
The on roof installation eliminates equipment grounding and allows modules to be lifted to the roof ready-to-install, the ‘snap’ connectors replace the current bolts, bonding clips and nuts used in installations today, allowing adjacent modules to snap together.
The planned application for the ‘snap’ connectors will be for many different structures, they are currently being applied to pitched composite shingle roofing.
The recently developed PV module mounting system will have a real impact on the cost of residential solar installations, and since funding has been secured from U.S Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative Incubator Program for a second time, the first time being to develop the system, it will not be long before the product hits the market.
The SunShot Initiate Incubator Program was launched in 2007, it aims to shorten the time between laboratory-scale proof of concept and prototype development and accelerate the process for companies to transition pre-commercial prototypes through the pilot stage into full-scale manufacture. Most projects are cooperative agreements that last from twelve to eighteen months with payment made upon completion and verification of aggressive project deliverables.
When the mounting system does arrive in the market your solar panels will enjoy a ‘snap-together’ frameless module system, making them visually more appealing and the reduced installation time translates to a shorter interruption to your day, reduced time needed to take off work, an opportunity to fit the installation within your current schedule to avoid any interruption to your day and best of all you can start generating solar power sooner.
