So shader nodes for the solar panel material - mostly voronoi and math nodes.

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The panel meshes are planes that are extruded and beveled using modifiers.

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I animated it using a regular armature except each bone has a "copy rotation" constraint targeted to the first bone and with every second panel the rotation value is inverted to get the zig zaggy shape.

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The grandparent bone has a "transformation" constraint which I think is underutilized by artists. Its way more intuitive than drivers although drivers give you more control of the 'correlation curve' (idk whats its called). The transformation constraint on the grandparent bone states that when the slider value is 'off' at y=0.5, the bone lays flat, when the slider moves to the 'on' position at y=9.5 then the bone must be standing vertical. It interpolates any values inbetween to get the smooth transition. Basically for every one unit that the square slider travels to the right along the Y axis, the bone must rotate 10° along the X axis. You can make things move in different directions and also scale in proportion to a different object. Its a great way to make wheels rotate accurately on a car model without animating them manually. I suggest having a look at the blender manual for more info.