Photovoltaic awning structures

Abstract

A photovoltaic awning assembly includes a sheet of material carrying photovoltaic strips thereon. A rotatable roll receives the sheet of material and has a contoured drum at opposite ends thereof for deploying and retrieving the sheet of material through the use of a cable connected to a boom at an opposite end of the sheet. A pair of support tubes extend along opposite sides of the sheet of material, and support legs serve to position the sheet. In one embodiment of the invention, one of the support legs is out of plane with the others, introducing a saddle surface in the sheet of material to provide it with stability to resist wind. The roll for retrieving and maintaining the material is constructed of a non-metallic material such as corrugated fiberglass sheet, rolled about take-up drums at opposite ends thereof, and having reinforcing flanged disks in the interior thereof. The corrugations provide conduits for the passage of electrical conductors to an externally maintained control box. Retracting of the awning sheet is facilitated by means of a spring maintained in side rails that is loaded when the awning is deployed, and which assists in the retraction of the awning, when required. A cable is interposed between the boom of the awning and the take-up drum, passing through a pulley arrangement to achieve the desired loading of the spring. An adjustment of the spring tension is provided by bolt adjustment.