ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,580,517, issued on March 17, was assigned to Tesla Inc. (Austin, Texas).
"Photovoltaic roofing tile foot" was invented by David Molina (Martinez, Calif.), Tommy F. Rodrigues (San Ramon, Calif.), Kaleb Klauber (Oakland, Calif.) and Martin Seery (San Rafael, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A configuration for a foot for a PV (PV) roofing tile is described. The foot optionally includes multiple retaining features that are engaged by hooks or brackets of adjacent roofing tiles to prevent upward movement of roofing tiles located up roof from the foot. The foot optionally also positions the PV roofing tile a fixed distance above a roofi...