Dual Axis Energy Efficient Solar Power Optimizing System
Abstract:
Present invention provides an easy to operate simple and rugged tracking mechanism system for harnessing solar energy with energy efficient tracking system. It is capable of extracting electrical power by MPPT charger as well as by mechanical tracking, both working simultaneously. Flexibility is provided to use solar panels of 250 watts to 400 watts rating on a single mounting frame structure. Once fixed on particular latitude, the system can be programmed for the whole year for tracking the sun on azimuth angle as per available data for day light hours. Hence the present invention to be known as “Dual axis energy efficient solar power optimizing system” provides solution to the observed requirement and develops system and technique for energy efficient solar power tracking system by moving the solar array changing the azimuth as well as zenith angle of the Sun with respect to Earth, which keeps on changing. Following invention is described in detail with the help of Figure 4 of sheet 2 showing mechanical assembly for tracking system, Figure 6 of sheet 3 showing schematic layout of DAS circuit & tracking mechanism circuit and Figure 7 of sheet 4 showing circuit boards for tracking mechanism.
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Notices, Deadlines & Correspondence
Renaissance Institute of Management Studies, Datala, New Chandrapur 442403
Inventors
1. S. K. Gupta
Old Saibaba ward, Behind- Gurudwara, Ballarpur 442701 District- Chandrapur
2. Zafar J. Khan
Department of Electrical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering Research & Technology, Chandrapur
3. G. Faruk N. Surya
Renaissance Institute of Management Studies, Datala, New Chandrapur 442403
Specification
Claims:We claim:-
1. A portable system for optimizing the solar power receivable by the solar array installed in stand-alone systems, capable of maximizing the energy receivable from the Sun and capable to be adapted for existing as well as new stand-alone solar tracking systems, where the said system comprises:
• An appropriate solar PV array, depending upon the application, installable for stand-alone system;
• An appropriate programmable microcontroller based azimuth angle changing system, depending upon the application, installable for stand-alone system;
• An appropriate mechanical based zenith angle changing system, depending upon the application, installable for stand-alone system;
• An appropriate battery set and inverter system, depending upon the application, installable for stand-alone system;
• An appropriate stepper motor and a driver circuit mechanism controllable by means of a programmable microcontroller for changing the azimuth angle and mechanical means for effecting change in zenith angle;
Wherein the invented system is connectible with PC and graphics adapter for ascertaining the trend and availability of solar power with:
• Minimization of energy used in operating the optimizing/tracking system,
• Improved overall gain from the solar radiations by an additional 10% to 20%.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1 consists of electrical and mechanical tracking deployed for 150° of azimuth angle and 46° of zenith angle variation throughout the year usable for harnessing more solar energy on daily basis and seasonal basis for the whole year.
3. In an embodiment of the process as claimed in claim 1 and claim 2, and as shown in figure 1 and figure 2 showing an overview of the schematic of invented solar power optimizer showing vital components of a typical system in this invention 11 represents the Az = Azimuth Angle, 12 represents the ?z = Zenith Angle, and 13 represents a = Altitude angle. FIG. 6 illustrates the functional block diagram of DAS Circuit & optimizing mechanism.
4. A tracking mechanism of the system as claimed in claim 1 consists of flexible frame structure capable of accommodating polycrystalline solar panels up to 250 watts and mono-crystalline solar panels up to 400 watts.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1 is portable and consists of Dual axis tracking mechanism wherein;
i. Electrical tracking (MPPT Charger) as well as mechanical tracking both are used for harnessing electrical energy from sun on its azimuth angle path;
ii. An automatic mechanism for azimuth angle tracking is programmed by microcontroller for whole year;
iii. A manual mechanism for zenith angle (seasonal inclination) tracking has been provided.
6. In one of the preferred embodiments of the device as claimed in claim 1 and shown in figure 4;
a) Component (41) made up of M.S. foundation plate and a vertical square pipe as main pedestal which supports the whole tracking system;
b) The top portion of the pedestal is connected to another pivoted square pipe which serves as supporting foundation to housing (44);
c) The housing contains stepper motor, worm reduction gear assembly and main shaft with sprockets (43);
d) The main shaft is connected to a frame structure on which solar panels are mounted;
e) The main shaft is used to turn the solar panels for azimuth angle tracking;
f) A worm screw arrangement (42) is connected to corner bottom portion of housing (44);
g) When worm screw assembly is rotated it displaces the housing (43) upwards is angular movement for Zenith angle since the housing is connected to the pivoted square pipe;
h) The housing along with the solar panels can be tilted upwards up to 92° (w. r. to vertical) during June and brought downwards up to 46° (w. r. to vertical) during December by worm screw assembly (42).
7. Main shaft of the device as claimed in claim 1 and shown in figure 5 is connected to unity ratio output gear train and worm reduction gear assembly (53) is connected to the stepper motor (54) which receives commands from stepper motor driving circuit (94) shown in figure 9.
8. In the device as claimed in claim 1 and shown in figure 6:
a) Signal inputs (61) are given to the 2 numbers OPAMP ICs-LM324 (62) which are used as filters isolate spikes and surges;
b) These ICs are unity gain OPAMP which does not changes magnitude of signals but filter out the trozens, spikes and distortions in the incoming signals and smooth distortion free signals are fed to microcontroller;
c) Microcontroller PIC18F452 (63) is a 16 bit powerful high speed controller with 10MIPS processing speed use for multitasking;
d) The controller has a flash memory of 1,000,000 erase/write cycle Data EEPROM memory and has serial communication port UART;
e) The controller can be reprogrammed according to the new requirements of data feeding at new locations because of its EEPROM feature;
f) For real time data collection a real time clock IC-DS1307 (64) is connected to the microcontroller;
g) A regulated Dc power supply of 5V is provided to all ICs by regulator IC-785 (65) which receives power from 24 V, 65Ah batteries (66);
h) The microcontroller converts analogue input signals into digital output signals with inbuilt A/D converter and transfers data to PC via RS232 communication IC (612);
i) Apart from transferring data to PC storage it displays the online data on a LCD display (611);
j) In case PC communication is not done the logged data on daily basis gets stored in storage IC-24C (610) from which daily backup can be taken;
k) The controller being programmed for 365 days gives command to stepper motor drive circuit (69) on daily basis;
l) The driver circuit (94) has L297 and L298 driver ICs which works on 9 to 24 volts DC and gives command to the stepper motor for mechanical tracking (68);
m) The mechanical tracking arrangement tracks the solar panel (67) and keeps them facing the sun throughout the day.
, Description:FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT 1970
(39 OF 1970)
AND
The patent rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10: rule 13)
1. TITLE OF INVENTION
Dual Axis Energy Efficient Solar Power Optimizing System
2 APPLICANTS
Name Nationality Address
S. K. Gupta Indian Old Saibaba ward, Behind- Gurudwara, Ballarpur 442701 District- Chandrapur
Zafar J. Khan Indian Department of Electrical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering Research & Technology, Chandrapur
G. Faruk N. Surya Indian Renaissance Institute of Management Studies, Datala, New Chandrapur 442403
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION
COMPLETE
Following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
4. DESCRIPTION.
Technical field of invention:
Present invention in general relates to design and develop dual axis energy efficient solar power optimizing system and in particular to a tracking mechanism system for harnessing solar energy.
Prior art:
Electrical power generation by various conventional and renewable methods plays an important role in GDP growth and standard of living of people in a country. The GDP growth of a country and HDI (Human Development Index) are interrelated. At present HDI of India is 0.609 and it ranks 130th position in the world. The per capita consumption of India is 1010 Kwh/year with 137th portion in the world.
In the recent past one of the major thrust in the era of power generation is to generate power by renewable energy systems like wind, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, biomass generation, biogas and small hydro. The pollution levels, greenhouse gas emission and global worming are the alarming issues which are becoming detrimental to human civilization. Renewable energy systems are proving advantageous to combat these three problems. India is highly polluted country, with non-uniform distribution of population over its land. One of the major issues with government is to increase per capita energy consumption which direct relates to HDI and GDP of country. Hence various attempts are made which are discussed below.
US 20160285409 A1 discloses system and method for controlling a dual-axis solar array tracker based on solar array output signals. A solar array tracking system includes a solar array module having at least three separate cells mounted on a platform coupled to a drive mechanism. Each separate cells provides an electrical output in direct current form. Micro-inverters are provided for each of the separate cells. Each micro-inverter receives the electrical signal output from the associated cell and convert the electrical signal to alternating current form and provided such signal on an output thereof. Sensors, one for each micro-inverter, provide an output signal proportional to a magnitude of the electrical power or energy provided by the associated micro-inverter. A controller is coupled to receive the output signals from each of the sensors. The controller is configured to generate control signals for the drive mechanism that move the platform and solar array module such that the electrical output signals from each of the separate cells in the solar array module are optimized.
US 20090032084 A1 discloses optimization of ground coverage of terrestrial solar array system. A concentrator photovoltaic solar cell array for terrestrial use for generating electrical power from solar radiation including a central support which is rotatable about its central longitudinal axis, a support frame carried by, and rotatable with respect to, the central support about an axis orthogonal to said central longitudinal axis, and a solar array mounted on the support frame. The solar cell array includes a plurality of Fresnel concentrator lenses and multi-junction III-V compound semiconductor solar cells each producing in excess of 10 watts of DC power. An actuator is provided for rotating the central support and the support frame so that the solar cell array is maintained substantially orthogonal to the rays of the sun as the sun traverses the sky.
US 8895836 B2 discloses dual axis solar tracker apparatus and method. The dual axis solar tracker apparatus and method uses an azimuth actuator to adjust the azimuth of an attached solar panel and an elevation actuator to adjust the elevation of a panel seat holding the solar panel to track the azimuth and elevation of the sun as it moves through the sky. The panel seat rotatably supports the solar panel with two pins, and a support structure supports the panel seat with an elevation tracking pivot. The actuators are controlled with an actuator controller circuit that is controlled by a microcontroller. The microcontroller uses information about latitude, longitude, time of day and date to control the actuators and track the motion of sun without the need for sensors.
US 20130000632 A1 discloses sun tracking solar power collection system. This invention presents a unique design for a sun tracking, solar panel mounting system that is intended to be mounted onto utility light poles, wind turbine poles, and other pole type structures. Rings are clamped around the pole and form a structural interface to support the tracking mount assembly and allow it to rotate around the centerline of the pole. An actuator powers the tracking structure rotate right or left around the centerline of the pole. A secondary structure in the mount assembly supports solar panels on either side of the vertical mounting poll and an optional second actuator tilts the elevation solar panels up and down. A control system reads the position of each actuator and periodically adjusts them to track the motion of the sun and optimize the solar energy collection efficiency.
US 8367995 B2 discloses system and method for automatic positioning of a solar array. The system and method for automatic positioning of a solar array utilizes modular neural processors pre-trained from existing solar data to estimate the direction of the sun at any location and at any time, irrespective of the orientation or movement of the base unit, and to determine solar panel servo tracking system steering commands for optimal orientation of the solar panel surfaces towards the sun. The automatic positioning system may be used in power generation or water desalination facilities. The device integrates a GPS system, an electronic compass, and an inclination sensor for determination of the orientation of the base unit. Periodic control commands are issued to conventional servo systems for automatic steering of a solar array for maximum solar power acquisition to optimize energy gain versus energy consumption in steering.
US 7252084 B2 discloses a solar collector collects solar radiation to produce solar cell output voltage. One type of solar collector moves with the sun, to face toward the sun as the sun changes its position during a daylight period. The elevation angle of the sun changes as the sun ascends and descends, and the horizontal angle of the sun changes with the movement of the sun from horizon to horizon. A solar tracking system adjusts an elevation angle of the solar collector and adjusts a horizontal angle of the solar collector to correspond with changes in the sun's position throughout a daylight period. This invention discloses a solar tracking system having a first set of solar heat gain transducers that produce respective first output signals to drive a reversible first motor for changing a vertical angle of a solar collector; and a second set of solar heat gain transducers that produce respective second output signals to drive a reversible second motor for changing a horizontal angle of the solar collector ; each of the transducers having a thermistor in thermal contact with a thermal mass; and a communications apparatus receiving output voltage from solar cells on the solar collector
US 4,628,142 discloses a solar tracking system that foregoes a computer program. The system includes a cable that lengthens and shortens to move a solar collector about a horizontal axis. The cable is attached to coils of shape memory alloys that absorb solar energy. When illuminated by the sun, the coils of shape memory alloys uncoil, which lengthen the cable. When shaded from the sun, the shape memory alloys form tighter coils, which shorten the cable.
US 20130000632 discloses a unique design for a sun tracking, solar panel mounting system that is intended to be mounted onto utility light poles, wind turbine poles, and other pole type structures. Rings are clamped around the pole and form a structural interface to support the tracking mount assembly and allow it to rotate around the centerline of the pole. An actuator powers the tracking structure rotate right or left around the centerline of the pole. A secondary structure in the mount assembly supports solar panels on either side of the vertical mounting poll and an optional second actuator tilts the elevation solar panels up and down. A control system reads the position of each actuator and periodically adjusts them to track the motion of the sun and optimize the solar energy collection efficiency
US 6281485 B1 discloses a power tracker that maximizes the power deliverable from a power source, such as a solar array using increasing, decreasing and maintaining states controlled by a set point signal modulated by a dither signal for stabilized regular power tracking during under demand conditions and maximum power tracking during periods with over demand conditions of a load. Multiple converters and respectively maximum power trackers can be coupled in parallel using shared bus control signal for fault tolerant equalized power conversion through the converters.
Therefore to avoid the drawbacks of the conventional system and method there is need to design and develop an cost effective and efficient system for solar power optimization. Hence the present invention designs and develops dual axis energy efficient solar power optimizing system.
Object:
1. Primary object of the present invention is to provide dual axis energy efficient solar power optimizing system.
2. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for optimum harnessing of solar power and to make it available for public use in urban and rural areas.
3. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an easy to operate simple and rugged tracking mechanism system for harnessing solar energy with energy efficient tracking system.
4. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a clean method of energy generation which is pollution free.
5. Yet another object of the present invention is to save high cost of installation of utility grid lines to extend power to rural areas and remote locations.
6. Yet another object of the present invention is to maximize the solar power conversion at every instant of sun radiation available by electrical tracking (MPPT) as well as by sun tracking (dual axis tracking).
7. Yet another object of the present invention is that it is capable of extracting electrical power by MPPT charger as well as by mechanical tracking simultaneously.
8. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide flexibility to use solar panels of 250 watts to 400 watts rating on a single mounting frame structure.
9. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide portable system that can be fixed either on ground or on any building.
10. Yet another object of the present invention is to track the sun on azimuth angle on daily basis.
Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from detail description and appended claims to those skilled in art.
STATEMENT:
Accordingly following invention provides a design and developed dual axis energy efficient solar power optimizing system. The present invention provides an easy to operate simple and rugged tracking mechanism system for harnessing solar energy with energy efficient tracking system. This newly developed mechanism uses a stepper motor which is programmed and driven by microcontroller (PIC18F452) to track the sun on azimuth angle on daily basis. The sun rise and sun set timings of all 365 days in a year at Nagpur location (79° 7’E; 21°7’N) have been fed into microcontroller. The PIC18F452 has a flash memory for program storage and can be reprogrammed according to new requirement at new locations. The stepper motor receives power from driver circuit which takes commands from microcontroller. The day light hours for which solar radiation is available, changes on each day. They are minimum for 21st December and maximum for 22nd June. The controller compares the daylight hours and starts giving signals for stepper motor movement after 15° advancement of sun during sun rise. It stops giving commands after 150° rotation of solar panel, just before 15° left for sun set. Thus the solar panels track the sun for 150° on azimuth angle on daily basis. The inclination angle (zenith angle) has a change of 8° in every month. This comes out to be 2° for every week. This is done by providing a worm screw arrangement for lifting the housing accommodating stepper motor, worm reduction gear and main shaft for azimuth angle tracking along with solar panels. Thus the optimum tilt of solar panels (w. r. t. vertical) at Nagpur is 46° in December which goes up to 92° in June. This gradually decreases from July and again comes to 46° in December. Thus a total zenith angle travels of 46° (92°- 46°).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING:
This invention is described by way of example with reference to the following drawing where,
Figure 1 of sheet 1 shows azimuth and zenith angles where 11 denotes Azimuth angle, 12 denotes Altitude angle, 13 denotes Zenith angle, 14 denotes Normal to center of the earth.
Figure 2 of sheet 1 shows zenith angle and sun path in 3 seasons where 21 denotes west, 22 denotes east, 23 denotes north, 24 denotes south, 25 denotes Long day, 26 denotes Short day, 27 denotes winter, 28 denotes Summer Sun rises well north of east, 29 denotes spring autumn, 30 denotes Solar panel angle consideration.
Figure 3 of sheet 2 shows optimum tilt of solar panel by months.
Figure 4 of sheet 2 shows mechanical assembly for tracking system where 41 denotes Main pedestal, 42 denotes Assembly for zenith angle (seasonal) tracking (manual), 43 denotes Azimuth angle (sunrise-sunset) tracking (programmed), 44 denotes Housing for stepper motor and gear drive, 45 denotes Solar panel.
Figure 5 of sheet 3 shows components of tracking system where 51 denotes Main pivot for changing zenith angle tracking, 52 denotes Main shaft for azimuth angle tracking, 53 denotes Worm reduction gear assembly, 54 denotes Stepper motor.
Figure 6 of sheet 3 shows schematic layout of DAS circuit & tracking mechanism circuit where 61 denotes Signal input, 62 denotes OP AMP IC LM 324 2noms. 63 denotes Controller PIC 18 F 452, 64 denotes RTC DS 1307, 65 denotes Regulator IC 785, 66 denotes 24V battery, 67 denotes Solar panel, 68 denotes Mechanical tracking, 69 denotes Stepper motor driver, 610 denotes Storage IC 24 C, 611 denotes LCD display, 612 denotes RS 232 PC Communication.
Figure 7 of sheet 4 shows circuit boards for tracking mechanism where 91 denotes Current Sensor, 92 denotes MPPT charge controller, 93 denotes DAS circuit for tracking mechanism, 94 denotes Stepper motor driver circuit.
Figure 8 of sheet 4 shows fixed panel and tracking system circuit boards and their respective batteries where 10.1 denotes Batteries for fixed panel system, 10.2 denotes Batteries for tracking system.
Figure 9 of sheet 5 shows flow chart for MPPT charger where 55 denotes Clear WDT, 56 denotes Present PWT= Past PWT, 57 denotes Calculate present PWT, 58 denotes Present PWT- Past PWT, 59 denotes Difference >0?, 60 denotes Power decreased, 61 denotes Power increased, 62 denotes No, 63 denotes Yes, 75 denotes Direction INC?, 64 denotes Decreased PWM D.C., 65 denotes Increased PWM D.C., 66 denotes Set direction flag, 67 denotes Clear direction flag, 68 denotes PWM D.C.