US Patent 9923515 Solar panels with contactless panel-to-panel connections

A solar panel array comprises a first plurality of solar panels arranged side-by-side in a first course and a second plurality of solar panels arranged side-by-side in a second course, the second course partially overlapping the first course. Electrical energy produced by each solar panel of the array is aggregated with the electrical energy produced by the other solar panels of the array without physical electrical contacts between the solar panels. In one embodiment, contactless inductive couplers are used to couple the electrical energies of the panels together.