Our task was to design a solar racking system that was very inexpensive, durable, and easy to assemble. The company was developing a new type of solar panel and they needed an innovative racking system to match. We wanted to break away from the traditional metal framing and reimagine how solar racking could be implemented. As the only mechanical engineer I was responsible for bringing material and manufacturing expertise to the team. Ideas included cable tensions systems, snap-together systems and systems that could dynamically change shape in high winds. 

Below are product details for one of our concepts. This product consisted of one twin-sheet thermoformed part, similar to a large plastic stool. This formed not just the racking but the structural sheet that the solar cells would be attached to. This allowed the solar panel and the racking to be combined into one part that could be cheaply made and assembled in the factory. Field installation was reduced to tiling the modules and attaching them to the ground or roof.