Patent Application
20170053043
Embodiments of the present technology are related to the installation of solar photovoltaic panels or other hardware on building roofs and similar structures.
Concern about climate change, pollution, energy security, and/or energy independence have led to regulations and incentives for diversifying energy sources and increasing renewable energy production in the United States and other countries. One type of renewable energy source is solar photovoltaic technology, which includes the direct conversion of sunlight to electricity. For solar photovoltaic cell technology, costs have decreased and efficiency has increased. As a result of regulation, incentives, costs, and greater market acceptance, solar photovoltaic installations have increased in recent years, including installations on commercial, industrial, and residential rooftops. Although the costs of the solar photovoltaic cells have decreased, the cost of the framing and the installation have not decreased by the same magnitude. These so-called balance of system (BOS) costs remain a significant portion of the total cost of electricity produced from solar photovoltaic technology. Decreasing the installation costs, and therefore, the BOS costs, along with other issues may be addressed by embodiments described herein.
Solar installations on rooftops often include the fastening of a mounting frame onto a roof. Specifically, the mounting frame may be nailed through roof decking to a rafter, other beam of a roof, or other appropriate supporting structure of the roof. Accurately determining the location of the rafter or similar structure under the roof decking may increase the efficiency of installing solar panels on buildings. If an installer on the top of a roof knows where a rafter is, the installer may be able to create a hole in the roof for a fastener in only one attempt. Embodiments of the present technology may eliminate unnecessary holes in the roof, which may be the result of inaccurate and/or imprecise estimates of the location of a rafter. Unnecessary holes may weaken the integrity of the roof, make the roof more susceptible to leaks, and/or reduce consumer acceptance of solar panels. Additionally, even without the added time associated with creating and fixing unnecessary holes, embodiments of the present technology may reduce installation time by decreasing time for measurements and eliminating repeated measurements during install. In many instances, embodiments of the present technology may be able to identify locations for fasteners of solar panel frames to within one centimeter or better.
Embodiments of the present technology may include a method to indicate a solar panel mounting location. The method may include receiving, by a processor, a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The method may also include receiving, by a processor, a second data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of the roof The method may further include identifying a rafter in the second data set based on a profile. The profile may have a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the bottom side of the roof Additionally, the method may include determining a relative location of the rafter with respect to the top side of the roof. In embodiments, the method may also include generating an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of the roof based on the location of the rafter.
Some embodiments may include a method to determine the deflection of a roof The method may include receiving, by a processor, a data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The method may also include identifying four points in the three-dimensional data. Each point in the three-dimensional data may be the center of a region of a plurality of points. The region may have a predetermined size. Within each region, the difference in depth between any two points of the plurality of points may be less than a predetermined depth. The method may further include determining a displacement of one of the four points from a plane formed by the other three points. In addition, the method may include determining a deflection of the roof using the displacement.
Embodiments of the present technology may include a computer system. The computer system may include a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions that when executed control a computer system to generate an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The instructions may include receiving a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The instructions may also include receiving a second data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of the roof. Additionally, the instructions may include identifying a rafter in the second data set based on a profile. The profile may include a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the top side of the roof Furthermore, the instructions may include determining a relative location of the rafter with respect to the top side of the roof using the first data set, the predetermined set of dimensions, and the predetermined location.
Embodiments of the present technology may include a method to generate an output indicating a solar panel mounting location. The method may include receiving, by a processor, a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of the solar panel installation site. The method may also include, receiving, by a processor, a second data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of the roof The method may further include identifying a structure in the second data set based on a profile. The profile may have a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the bottom side of the roof In addition, the method may include determining a relative location of the structure with respect to the top side of the roof using the first data set, the predetermined set of dimensions, and the predetermined location. The method may also include generating an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of the roof based on the location of the structure.
Solar panels, which may include arrays of solar photovoltaic cells, may be mounted on a building using a frame or other similar mounting system. The solar panels should be stable on the roof of a building. For instance, the panels should not move under their own weight on a sloped roof and also should not move under adverse weather conditions, including heavy winds and precipitation. In order to provide stability, the solar panels should be mounted with a fastener through roof decking to a stronger roof component. Solar panel installers may seek to fasten the solar panel to a rafter (i.e., a beam that runs from the top to the bottom of the roof), a beam in the roof truss, or another structure stronger than roof decking. Fasteners may include, for example, nails, bolts, and screws.
Embodiments of the present technology allow for an accurate, precise, and efficient way to identify locations for fasteners used in the mounting of solar panel frames onto building roofs. By capturing data of the top side of the roof, capturing data of the bottom side of the roof, possibly correlating common features, or a combination of two or more of these operations, the location of rafters and other structures normally visible only from the bottom side of the roof may be known with a high degree of certainty when on the top side of the roof Knowing the location of structures on the bottom side of the roof while on the top side of the roof may reduce installation time, reduce installation costs, improve roof longevity, and increase market acceptance of solar panels. Installing solar panels already may require taking images or generating dimensional data of the roof to understand optimal placement of the solar panels, and in some embodiments, these images or dimensional data may be used for locating rafters and other structures.
Conventional methods of installing solar panels may include a technician measuring locations of rafters and other structures while in an attic or unfinished portion of the building under the roof prior to installing the solar panels. Measurements may be time consuming both for the technician and the building owner. The building owner or technician may need to clear out space in order for the technician to have enough room to complete measurements. The technician may also need to take measurements on the top of the roof and then transform the measurements taken on the bottom side of the roof to the coordinate system on the top of the roof. Measurements may also depend on the skill and experience of an individual technician. The measurements and information of rafters and other structures may then be passed on to a second individual, the installer. The transfer of information introduces another layer where errors can be introduced into the process. The installer may misinterpret the technician's measurements, or the technician may not include sufficient documentation for the installer to understand the technician's measurements. The accuracy and precision of determining mounting locations based on the technician's measurements may depend significantly on the skill and experience of an individual installer. Some installers may locate rafters by knocking on the roof and listening for changes in the sound of the knock. This knock method may not be accurate or precise. Stud detectors, which may be used on drywall to determine location of beams in a wall, may not work for roofing applications as a result of the variation of thickness of shingles and rough surface of shingles.
Conventional methods may also include installing a flashing, a metal sheet, over a hole that is formed in the roof to mount a solar panel. These flashing sheets may be made to size large enough to cover not only the correct drill hole but also other drill holes that may have been created by mistake. Embodiments of the present technology may reduce the size of the flashing used in installation, saving on material costs. In some examples, the flashing may be eliminated.
Turning to the figures,
Each of shingles 102, underlayment 104, and decking 106 are shown as cutaways to provide a view of the plurality of rafters 108 that provide structural support to roof 100 and decking 106. Individual rafters 108a, 108b, and 108c are examples of specific rafters that provide structural support to roof 100. The plurality of rafters may be spaced equally. For example, the distance between rafter 108a and rafter 108b may be the same as between rafter 108b and rafter 108c. However, with some roof, particularly with less traditional roofs, the rafters may not be spaced equally. Rafters on one side of the roof may meet rafters from another side of the roof at a tie beam 114. The line where both sides of roof 100 meet may be termed the ridge. One or more features 116 may be visible on the top side of roof 100. Feature 116 may be a vent, an exhaust, a beacon added to the roof, or another structure attached to roof 100. Feature 116 may not be covered by shingles 102. Although roof 100 is shown in
Other parts or terms describing the roof may include eaves (i.e., the lower edges of a roof that extend past the building structure); valley (i.e., an angle formed at the intersection of two sloping roof sections); truss (i.e., a support framework of beams that support the roof and may include the rafters); and joist (i.e., with a flat roof, the horizontal structure to which the decking is fastened).
As shown in
In some embodiments, method 300 may exclude an optical source coupled to a sensor. Light that reflects off of the top side or the bottom side of the roof may be from a natural source, such as the sun or an artificial source that is not coupled to a sensor. The artificial source may be room lighting, a camera flash, an LED lamp, or other similar sources, and the artificial source may have its primary function to better illuminate shaded areas. The sensor may be a charged coupled device (CCD) or any sensor that can detect photons or electromagnetic radiation. In embodiments, the sensor may be part of a camera, including a light-field camera. In some embodiments, the sensor may be a depth sensor, and the depth sensor may be mounted on a device, such as a digital camera, that captures additional image information. The digital camera may have a camera lens in addition to the depth sensor. In embodiments without a sensor coupled to an optical source, a 3D point cloud may still be generated from an image captured by the sensor.
The 3D data of the top side of the roof may include detections at different times, such as image or video taken by a technician or installer on the roof or from a nearby vantage point that provides a view of the roof, image or video data taken with a sensor mounted on a drone or other airborne vehicle, satellite images, or the like. Similarly, the 3D data for the bottom side of the roof may include image or video data taken by a technician or installer under the roof, and may be taken with a sensor mounted on a drone or other airborne vehicle.
Method 300 may include receiving, by a processor, a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site (block 306), as shown in
Method 300 may further include identifying a rafter in the second data set based on a profile (block 310). The profile may have a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the bottom side of the roof The predetermined set of dimensions and/or the predetermined location may be based on a standard in roof construction or other trade standard. Standards may be based on builder, subdivision, or geographic location. For example, a rafter may be required to have dimensions (in inches), such as 2×4, 2×6, 2×8, or 2×10. These dimensions may differ by rafter material, geographic location, roof type, and building use. Rafters may be made of wood, steel, aluminum, composites, metals, metal alloys, or other appropriate materials. In some cases, identifying the dimensions or configuration of the rafter may help identify the material. The type of rafter material may inform installation decisions and deflection judgments.
Rafters may also have certain predetermined locations with respect to the bottom side of the roof The predetermined location may include the proximity of a rafter to decking. For example,
The rafter may be identified based on the combination of the predetermined set of dimensions and the predetermined location. In some examples, the rafter may be identified based on either the predetermined set of dimensions or the predetermined location but not both. In some embodiments, a rafter may be identified through image recognition techniques, including identifying color variations, shadows, and edges of objects.
Additionally, with returning reference to
Determining the relative location of the rafter may include determining a displacement of the rafter from the feature on the bottom side of the roof (block 316). Method 300 may then include locating on the top side of the roof the displacement of the rafter from the feature (block 318). For instance, from the three-dimensional data of the bottom side of the roof, a rafter may be determined to be a given displacement from an edge of the roof The given displacement can then be used to locate the rafter by marking off the given displacement from the edge of the roof on the top side of the roof
Determining the relative location of the rafter with respect to the top side of the roof may exclude the use of a feature common to both the top side of the roof and the bottom side of the roof The method may include accelerometer, location, and/or GPS data between and/or during the photographs. As shown in
Once the relative location of the rafter with respect to the top side of the roof is determined, an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of the roof based on the location of the rafter may be generated (block 320). The output may be generated using a variety of different techniques. In some embodiments, the output is projected by a laser onto the top side of the roof For example, as shown in
Embodiments may include using two-dimensional data instead of three-dimensional data. For example, the location of rafter 606, rafter 608, and rafter 610 in
As shown in
The deflection of the roof, rafter, or other structure may be important in determining if the roof can support a solar panel installation. In some cases, deflection is measured as a fraction of the span. The span may be the distance between load bearing supports. A load bearing support may be a truss or a wall. Deflection may be measured from roof peak to the gutter or from edge-to-edge (e.g., truss to truss). A roof that sags with a deflection greater than that allowed by building codes or by solar installation codes may be disqualified from a solar panel installation. In some embodiments, a roof that sags with a deflection of greater than or equal to 1/800 may be disqualified. For example, a roof may be disqualified if the deflection is greater than or equal to 1/600, 1/400, or 1/200. In the case of a sagging roof, the roof should be replaced before solar panels are installed. The sagging of the roof typically is identified through unassisted human observation.
Because region 1020 and region 1028 are circles with diameter 1016 and if the decking is flat, the dimensional data for region 1020 may appear flat. In contrast, the dimensional data for region 1028 may not be flat and show the profile of rafter 1014 because region 1028 has diameter 1016 greater the width of rafter 1014. The dimensional data for region 1028 would show height 1034 of the rafter. Because method 900 and similar methods may not want to use a point on a rafter measured against points on decking to determine the deflection of a roof, method 900 may require that the difference in depth between any two points in a region may have to be less than the height of a rafter. Because at least two points in region 1028 have a difference in depth equal to the height of rafter 1014, point 1012 cannot be identified as a point in method 900. Point 1002, point 1004, point 1006, and point 1008 may be identified as the four points. Three of these points—point 1002, point 1004, point 1006—define plane 1036. Displacement 1038 of point 1008 from plane 1036 can be determined. The deflection of the roof at point 1008 can then be determined. Planes defined by any three of point 1002, point 1004, point 1006, and point 1008 can be used to determine the displacement of the remaining point. The three points 1002, 1004, and 1006, each may be near a different corner of the roof The distance between any two of point 1002, point 1004, and point 1006 may be at least a predetermined distance. For example, the predetermined distance may be greater than 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% of the width of the roof Point 1008 may be at or near the center of the roof. For example, point 1008 may be in the center 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, or 50% of the roof by area. This method may be repeated for additional points identified to meet the criteria discussed above, and the defections obtained may be averaged across the different planes generated by additional points.
Embodiments of the present technology may include a computer system. The computer system may include a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions that when executed control a computer system to generate an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The instructions may include receiving a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of a solar panel installation site. The instructions may also include receiving a second data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of the roof. Additionally, the instructions may include identifying a rafter in the second data set based on a profile. The profile may include a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the top side of the roof Furthermore, the instructions may include determining a relative location of the rafter with respect to the top side of the roof using the first data set, the predetermined set of dimensions, and the predetermined location. The instructions may include any operations in methods described herein.
Embodiments of the present technology may include a method to generate an output indicating a solar panel mounting location. In some embodiments, methods may be extended to other rooftop applications, not limited to mounting solar panels. The method may include receiving, by a processor, a first data set including three-dimensional data for a top side of a roof of the solar panel installation site. The method may also include, receiving, by a processor, a second data set including three-dimensional data for a bottom side of the roof The method may include any three-dimensional data or operations to obtain three-dimensional data described herein.
The method may further include identifying a structure in the second data set based on a profile. The structure may be a joist, a rafter, a truss, or other beam of the roof In some embodiments, the structure may be any appropriate supporting structure within the roof. The profile may have a predetermined set of dimensions and a predetermined location with respect to the bottom side of the roof In addition, the method may include determining a relative location of the structure with respect to the top side of the roof using the first data set, the predetermined set of dimensions, and the predetermined location. The method may also include generating an output indicating a solar panel mounting location on the top side of the roof based on the location of the structure. The structure may be the target for a fastener attached to a solar panel mounting frame. Methods described herein that applied to a rafter may also be applied more generally to a structure, including a joist or a truss. In some embodiments, methods may be used to determine the location of an underlying structure, even if the location of the underlying structure may not be used for a solar panel installation.
Embodiments of the present technology may also identify structures that cannot be used for solar panel installation. For example, a solar panel may not be mounted onto the eaves of a roof. Outputs generated by methods may also indicate what locations are not suited for mounting solar panels. Methods described herein may not be limited to mounting solar panels and may include any structure that may be mounted onto a roof These structures may include, for example, a satellite dish, an evaporative cooling system, and a water handling system.
Internal bus subsystem 1104 can provide a mechanism for letting the various components and subsystems of computer system 1100 communicate with each other as intended. Although internal bus subsystem 1104 is shown schematically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem can utilize multiple buses.
Network interface subsystem 1116 can serve as an interface for communicating data between computer system 1100 and other computer systems or networks. Embodiments of network interface subsystem 1116 can include wired interfaces (e.g., Ethernet, CAN, RS232, RS485, etc.) or wireless interfaces (e.g., ZigBee, Wi-Fi, cellular, etc.).
User interface input devices 1112 can include a keyboard, pointing devices (e.g., mouse, trackball, touchpad, etc.), a scanner, a barcode scanner, a touch-screen incorporated into a display, audio input devices (e.g., voice recognition systems, microphones, etc.), and other types of input devices. In general, use of the term “input device” is intended to include all possible types of devices and mechanisms for inputting information into computer system 1100.
User interface output devices 1114 can include a display subsystem, a printer, a fax machine, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. The display subsystem can be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or light emitting diode (LED), or a projection device. In general, use of the term “output device” is intended to include all possible types of devices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system 1100.
Storage subsystem 1106 can include a memory subsystem 1108 and a file/disk storage subsystem 1110. Subsystems 1108 and 1110 represent non-transitory computer-readable storage media that can store program code and/or data that provide the functionality of embodiments of the present invention.
Memory subsystem 1108 can include a number of memories including a main random access memory (RAM) 1118 for storage of instructions and data during program execution and a read-only memory (ROM) 1120 in which fixed instructions are stored. File storage subsystem 1110 can provide persistent (i.e., non-volatile) storage for program and data files, and can include a magnetic or solid-state hard disk drive, an optical drive along with associated removable media (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.), a removable flash memory-based drive or card, and/or other types of storage media known in the art. Processor 1102 may be a processor used to receive and process data in the methods described herein.
Computer system 1100 is illustrative and not intended to limit embodiments of the present technology. Many other configurations having more or fewer components than system 1100 are possible.
In the preceding description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous details have been set forth in order to provide an understanding of various embodiments of the present technology. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that certain embodiments may be practiced without some of these details, or with additional details.
Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those of skill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Additionally, a number of well-known processes and elements have not been described in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Additionally, details of any specific embodiment may not always be present in variations of that embodiment or may be added to other embodiments.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. Each smaller range between any stated value or intervening value in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither, or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included.
As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a method” includes a plurality of such methods and reference to “the rafter” includes reference to one or more rafters and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth. The invention has now been described in detail for the purposes of clarity and understanding. However, it will be appreciated that certain changes and modifications may be practice within the scope of the appended claims.
