CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is filed pursuant to 35 USC 371 and claims priority benefit to PCT patent application PCT/IB2018/058621 filed Nov. 2, 2018 which claims priority benefit to Italian patent application no. 102017000130000 filed Nov. 14, 2017 the entire contents of both applications incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and a system for positioning photovoltaic solar panels on a support structure arranged in an outdoor space, wherein a vehicle is provided, on board of which the photovoltaic solar panels to be installed are arranged, and in which the vehicle is equipped with a manipulator robot programmed for picking-up one or more photovoltaic panels from the vehicle and for positioning them on said support structure.

BACKGROUND

A method and a system of the type indicated above are known from document WO 2012/015451 A2. In the case of this known solution, the photovoltaic solar panels are mounted on rails forming part of the support structure arranged in the field, and are carried into their final position by causing the support frame of the panels to slide between said rails. The robot operates with the vehicle stationary in a predetermined position, and inserts the frames carrying the panels between the rails, one after the other, and then causing the entire row of frames to slide between the rails. This method is not clearly applicable in an efficient way on a large scale, due to the need to align and slide each support frame of the panels between the rails and due to the difficulty of positioning the panels precisely and safely in a final required position. The known solution envisages that the rails may have portions configured so that the panels can be dropped from above, but in any case after positioning the panels on the rails, the panels must be always caused to slide along the rails until the required end position is reached. This also involves the further drawback of requiring the provision of a support structure having a particular configuration, provided with sliding guides for the panels.

SUMMARY

The object of the present invention is to propose a method and a system for installation of photovoltaic solar panels which makes the installation operation easier, safer and faster compared with the known methods, and which can be adopted for any configuration of the support structure provided on the field.

A further object of the invention is to provide an installation method which can be easily automated and controlled from a remote control station.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and a system for installing photovoltaic solar panels which ensures a high level of safety against the risk of damage to the photovoltaic solar panels during the installation operation.

In view of achieving one or more of the aforesaid objects, the invention relates to a method for installing at least one photovoltaic solar panel on a support structure, characterized in that:the vehicle moves on one side, and along, said support structure for successively positioning said row of photovoltaic solar panels, each photovoltaic solar panel being positioned by the manipulator robot on the support structure, with an approaching movement of the photovoltaic solar panel towards the support structure, in such a way that at the end of this movement each photovoltaic solar panel is already in its final position along said row.

Once positioned, each photovoltaic solar panel can be locked in its operating position above the support structure. This operation can be performed manually, for example, by screwing, or with the aid of a coupling device of any type. The coupling device does not form part of the present invention. In the case of automatic coupling, the robot preferably imparts a movement to the panel, substantially from above downwardly and/or substantially perpendicular to the plane of the area designed to receive the panel.

In the present description, and in the claims that follow, the term “support structure” of the photovoltaic solar panel means any structure arranged on the ground designed to receive and support the photovoltaic solar panel. This structure can be formed—in some cases—by the movable part of a tracking device (or “tracker”), of any known type, which is able to orientate the photovoltaic solar panel during the day in such a way as to follow the apparent movement of the sun.

According to a further preferred characteristic, the aforesaid vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, for example an AGV (“Automated Guided Vehicle”) mounted on wheels or on tracks.

Still according to a further preferred characteristic, the aforesaid manipulator robot is equipped with an optoelectronic system for automatic optical recognition of the correct position for picking-up a photovoltaic solar panel to be installed, as well as the correct installation position of the photovoltaic solar panel on the support structure.

In this stage, a problem arises in providing the electronic controller of the robot with precise coordinates of a plurality of points that correctly identify the installation position of the photovoltaic solar panel. This problem is not easy to solve, since the support structure on which the photovoltaic solar panels should be mounted generally has a certain degree of flexibility, and tends to deform as it is gradually loaded with a row of photovoltaic solar panels. This causes a change in the position in which the area of the support structure designed to receive a given panel is located, at the moment when the robot brings this panel close to the structure.

In one embodiment, this problem is solved by that the optoelectronic system includes an electronic controller programmed to calculate the correct position for installing each photovoltaic solar panel on a predetermined area of the support structure, on the basis of the optical detection of the position of another photovoltaic panel, previously installed on the support structure adjacent to said predetermined area.

The invention also relates to the system for implementing the above method.

In a preferred embodiment, the aforesaid vehicle is provided with a cover that protects the robot and the photovoltaic solar panels carried by the vehicle, and which protrudes at least on one side of the vehicle to create a protected chamber above the positioning area of each photovoltaic solar panel. Still preferably, the cover has a portion movable between an extracted position, in which it defines said protruding portion of the cover, and a retracted position within the vehicle structure. In its extracted condition, the movable portion of the cover protects the working area from direct sunlight, this area being illuminated with artificial light.

According to a further characteristic, the manipulator robot can be provided with a protective sheath, inside which air can be blown at a controlled temperature.

