EP2979041A1

EP2979041A1 - Device for supporting a length of a control bar of a solar tracking system

Info

Publication number: EP2979041A1
Application number: EP14727600.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: François PAPONNEAU
Original assignee: Exosun SAS
Current assignee: Exosun SAS
Priority date: 2013-05-03
Filing date: 2014-04-29
Publication date: 2016-02-03
Also published as: WO2014177808A1; US20160102891A1; FR3005335A1; FR3005335B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for supporting a length of a control bar (4) connecting two elements separated from one another, the control bar having a degree of freedom, characterised in that said device comprises a carrier cable (10) extending vertically parallel and opposite the control bar, a series of hangers (30) connecting the carrier cable to the control bar, arranged such as to maintain the degree of freedom of the control bar.

Description

"Device supporting a length of a control bar of a solar tracking system".

The invention relates to a device for supporting a control bar length connecting two elements distant from each other, in particular two solar modules of a solar tracking system.

In a solar tracking system comprising a series of solar modules arranged on a ground remote from each other, a solar module of the solar tracking system is connected to at least one of the neighboring solar modules via busbars. control that allow to transmit from one solar module to another one or more movements allowing the correct positioning over time of the solar treatment element of the solar module. In order that, during operation, the solar module does not cast any shadow on one of the adjacent solar modules, large distances separate said solar module from its neighbors. Therefore, the control rod length for connecting said solar module to at least one of its neighbors is important. Therefore, under the effect of their own weight, these control rods deform by taking an arrow, which can lead to contact with the ground. This deformation and this contact with the ground are detrimental to the good behavior, on the one hand and, on the other hand, to the precision of the movement thus transmitted from one solar module to the other.

To this end, there is provided, according to the invention, a device for supporting a control bar length connecting two elements distant from each other, the control rod comprising a degree of freedom, characterized in that it comprises a carrier cable extending parallel in height and facing the control bar, a series of lines connecting the carrier cable to the control bar arranged to maintain the degree of freedom of the control bar. Thus, the use of a carrier cable associated with a series of lines makes it possible to ensure that the control bar remains rectilinear between the two solar modules distant from each other that it connects. In addition the lines are arranged so as to maintain the degree of freedom of the control bar they support. Therefore, keeping the control rod straight while leaving it its degree of freedom, allows to transmit from one solar module to the other or the control movements and this in a permanent and accurate manner.

Advantageously, but optionally, the support device according to the invention has at least one of the following additional technical characteristics:

each line of the series of lines comprises a housing for receiving and supporting the control bar arranged so as to maintain the degree of freedom of the control bar;

- The control bar is received in the receiving housing and support, with a game of operation retaining the degree of freedom of the control bar;

the reception and support housing comprises a first lower bearing part;

the first lower bearing part comprises a material having a reduced coefficient of friction and excellent resistance to the external environment;

the reception and support housing comprises a second upper part forming means for retaining the control bar in the receiving and support housing;

each line comprises a "U" shaped housing, extending vertically from an upper face of the hanger, arranged so as to receive the carrier cable by making it possible to adjust a distance between the carrier cable and the control rod;

each line comprises locking means in position of the carrier cable in the housing in the form of "U";

- The support device supporting a length of a second control bar extending parallel and remote from the first control bar, it further comprises spacer means between the two control rods;

the device comprises a second carrier cable extending parallel and at a distance from the first carrier cable; and

- The spacer means also form the lines connecting the control rods to (x) cable (s) carrier (s).

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of two embodiments. In the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A-1C are three-dimensional partial views of a first embodiment of a support device with a length of a control bar;

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional partial view making it possible to illustrate the connection of a second embodiment of a support device with a length of a control bar according to the invention with a solar module;

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional partial view illustrating the second mode of realization of a device for supporting the length of a control bar according to the invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are three-dimensional partial views illustrating an alternative embodiment of the second embodiment of a support device with a length of a control bar according to the invention; and

FIG. 3C is a three-dimensional partial view illustrating a second variant embodiment of the second embodiment of a support device with a length of a control bar according to the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C, we will describe a first embodiment of a support device with a length of a control bar making it possible to maintain a long length of control rod arranged between two adjacent adjacent solar modules. one of the other, so that this control bar remains straight in order to ensure a transmission of a movement of a solar module to the other in a perennial and precise manner. It should be noted that, in the embodiment illustrated in these FIGS. 1A to 1C, we are in the presence of a solar tracking system comprising so-called two-axis solar modules for which the transmission of the movement between two adjacent solar modules takes place. performs with two parallel control rods 4, each of the control rods 4 transmitting a movement along a single axis. The device for supporting a control bar length comprises a mast 1 which is anchored in the ground supporting the solar modules of the solar tracking system. This anchoring in the soil can be carried out in different ways, well known to those skilled in the art. In particular, the mast 1 is anchored in the ground by threshing or by fixing on a concrete slab. All of these methods make it possible to hold the mast 1 thus anchored in the ground stably and permanently. At a free end of the mast 1, the support device of a length of a control bar comprises a transverse element acting as spacer 2 and fixed at the free end of the mast 1 to the using a clamping system 21. Here, the clamping system 21 comprises a U-shaped metal rod whose free ends of the legs of the U comprise a thread and through holes provided for this purpose in this spacer 2. The clamping in place of the spacer 2 on the mast 1 being done by screwing nuts engaged with the threads located at the free ends of the branches of the U of the wire forming the clamping system 21. Such a clamping system 21 allows a height adjustment on the mast 1 of the spacer 2. At the ends of the spacer 2, the latter comprises means for receiving and supporting each a control bar 4. These means form reception and support housing each of which comprises a lower bearing part 3 fixed on the end of the spacer 2 by means of fastening and clamping means 31, here in the form of bolt + nut assemblies. The reception and support housing of the control bar 4 also comprises an upper part 5 forming retaining means of the control bar 4 in the receiving and support housing. This upper part 5 extends facing the lower bearing part 3. Again, the upper part 5 is removably mounted on the spacer 2 by means of fastening and clamping means 51, here under form of bolt + nut assemblies. The first bearing portion 3 and the second upper retaining means 5 have complementary shapes of an outer surface of the control bar 4 to be received in the receiving and support housing. In this way, the two upper 5 and lower 3 parts marry the control bar 4 they surround. In addition, an operating clearance J is provided between the reception and support housing of the control bar formed by the upper 5 and lower 3 parts with the control bar 4 once it is received in the receiving housing and of support. The presence of this operating clearance J allows the control bar 4 thus received to maintain a degree of freedom within the reception and support housing of the control rod 4. Here, the degree of freedom is the rotational movement of the control bar 4 about a longitudinal axis of said control bar 4 for transmitting a rotational movement between the two adjacent solar modules thus connected by the control rod 4. It should be noted that the lower portion 3 forming the reception and support housing of the control rod is manufactured and made of a material whose main characteristic is a reduced coefficient of friction and excellent resistance to the external environment, in particular excellent resistance to rain, ultraviolet and to dust. The upper part 5 of the receiving and support housing prevents, once in place, the control rods 4 out of the receiving housing and support during operation.

The use of a spacer 2 having at each of its ends a housing for receiving and supporting a control rod as described above makes it possible not only to ensure that the control rod remains rectilinear between the two solar modules that it connects but also to maintain and ensure parallelism between the two control rods 4 as part of a two-axis solar tracking system. Depending on the length of control rod to be supported, one or more support devices of a control rod length are installed between the two solar modules in a uniformly distributed manner.

We will now, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, describe a second embodiment of a device for supporting a control bar length according to the invention. In this second embodiment, the support device of a length of a control bar according to the invention comprises a carrying cable 10 and at least one hanger 30 for vertically connecting the carrier cable 10 to the control bar 4 which is intended to be supported by the support device of a control bar length according to the invention. FIG. 2 illustrates how the support device of a control rod length according to the invention is connected to a solar module 140 forming part of a pair of adjacent solar modules that are distant from one another and that go be connected by the control bar or control rods 4 (as part of a dual-axis solar tracking system, as shown here). The solar module 140 will not be described here in detail, except that it comprises at a base a foot 110 which is connected to a base 100 of concrete directly arranged in the ground, and this, to 120. The first control bar 4 is connected to the solar module 140 by means of a first interface 150. Next to this connection, the solar module 140 comprises first anchoring means 130 of a first carrier cable which is positioned and extended facing the first control bar 4. This first control bar 4 will allow to transmit to or from the solar module 140 a first movement according to a first axis. Similarly, a second command bar 4 is connected to the solar module 140 via a second connection box 160. Again, the solar module 140 has second anchoring means 170 of a second carrier cable 10 which is positioned and extends next to the second control bar 4. This second control bar 4 will allow to transmit from or to the solar module 140 a second movement along the second axis. It should be noted that, at the level of a second solar module connected to the solar module 140 by the first and second control rods 4, the first and second carrying cables 10 are fixed to this second solar module in a similar way with fastener performing a function similar to fastening means 130, 170.

Means for adjusting a tension of the first and second carrying cables 10 (not shown) are provided in order to adjust the tension of said carrying cables 10. The means for adjusting a tension are known per se by the person skilled in the art and will not be described further.

Throughout the entire length of the control rod 4, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the device for supporting a length of control rod according to the invention comprises a series of hangers 30, of which here only one is illustrated for each of the control rods 4, for connecting the carrier cable 10 to the control bar 4 opposite which the carrier cable 10 extends. The series of lines 30 may be one, two, three or more evenly distributed over the length separating the solar module 140 from the second solar module to which it is connected by means of the control rods 4 and the carrying cables 10 of the device for supporting control bar lengths according to the invention. This number is a function of the length of the control bar 4 intended to be supported by the support device of a control bar length according to the invention.

The hanger 30 comprises a reception and support housing 34 of the control bar 4. The control bar 4 is received in its housing with an operating clearance J which allows the reception and support housing of the control bar 34 to receive and support said control bar 4 while allowing the control bar 4 to retain at least one degree of freedom, which is here a rotational movement about a longitudinal axis of the control bar 4. This functional clearance J allows the control bar 4 to rotate about its longitudinal axis without locking in the receiving and support housing 34 of the hanger 30.

Extending above this reception and support housing 4, the hanger 30 comprises, extending from an upper end of the hanger 30, a U-shaped housing 33 for receiving the carrying cable 10. This U-shaped housing extends over a predetermined length from an upper end of the hanger 30, without opening into the receiving and support housing 34. The presence of this U-shaped housing 33 will allow to adjust a distance between the carrier cable 10 and the control bar 34 to ensure that the control bar 34 is rectilinear between the solar module 140 and the second adjacent solar module it connects. The clamping in position of the hanger 30 on the carrier cable 10 is effected by means of a clamping device 32 arranged transversely at the upper end of the hanger 30 through two branches forming the U-shaped housing. The use of this clamping system 32 will allow to bring closer to one another the ends of the branches of the U forming the U-shaped housing 33. At this approximation, the branches of the U of the U-shaped housing 33 go pincer the carrier cable 10 and thus maintain the selected distance between the carrier cable 10 and the control bar 4. In alternative embodiment, the faces vis-à-vis the branches of the "U" forming the housing 33 have a series recesses or cavities for defining a series of discrete positions of the carrier cable 10 within the housing "U" 33, the carrier cable 10 is then received in a pair of cavities or recesses facing.

To facilitate the assembly in place of the hanger 30, it is made in two parts 31 identical and positioned symmetrically with respect to each other. A second clamping system 32 is provided at a lower end of the hanger 30 to ensure the assembly of the two parts 31 forming the hanger 30. Other variants are possible of the hanger 30 in order to achieve its assembly in place. The hanger 30 is made of a material whose main characteristic is a reduced coefficient of friction in order to allow a good movement according to the degree of freedom of the control bar within the reception and support housing 34 and having excellent resistance to friction. external environment, especially rain, ultraviolet and dust. Thus, the receiving and support housing 34 has a lower portion in contact with an outer surface of the control bar 34. This lower portion forms a bearing. The reception and support housing 34 has an upper part facing the lower part which forms means for retaining the control bar in the reception and support housing 34 of the hanger 30. With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B , we will now describe an alternative embodiment of second embodiment of the device for supporting a control bar length according to the invention. This embodiment is intended to support two control rods 4 extending parallel to each other and for connecting two adjacent solar modules distant from each other in a solar tracking system said two axes. The support device of a control bar according to the invention comprises, in this variant embodiment, two carrying cables 10, of which a first carrying cable 10 extends opposite and above a first control bar 4 while the second carrying cable 10 extends parallel to the first carrying cable 10 but offset from the second control bar 4 so that a distance between the two carrying cables 10 is less than the distance between the two two control rods 4. The connection between the carrying cables 10 and the control rods 4 is formed by a spacer 40 having a first angled end 44 comprising a receiving and support housing 43 made in a manner similar to the receiving housing and support described above in the context of the first embodiment of a device for supporting a control bar length. The reception and support housing 43 comprises a lower portion 3 forming a bearing and made of a material having as a main characteristic a reduced coefficient of friction and excellent resistance to the external environment as previously described and an upper portion 5 forming a retaining means. of the control bar 4. The lower part 3 and the upper part 5 are fixed as previously described for the first embodiment.

At a second end, the spacer 40 of the embodiment of the support device with a length of a control bar according to the invention comprises a hanger 30 similar to the hanger 30. previously described with reference to FIG. 3. This hanger 30 makes it possible to bind the first carrier cable 10 to the first control bar 4 along a predetermined distance, along which the first carrier cable 10 is opposite as was previously described in FIG. connection with the support device of a control bar length according to the invention illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

The second carrier cable 10 is fixed in a housing 42 arranged before the bent end 44 of the spacer 40. The housing 2 is made U-shaped from an upper or lower outer edge of the spacer 40. Here, in the In the particular case illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the U-shaped housing 42 extends from the lower edge of the spacer 40. Once the second carrier cable 10 has been received in the housing 42, the support device of FIG. a control bar length according to the invention according to this embodiment variant, comprises retaining means 41 of the second carrier cable 10 in the housing 42 of the spacer 40 of the support device with a length of control bar according to the 'invention. When adjusting to ensure that the two control rods 4 are straight, one spacer 40 is pivoted around the second carrier cable 10 received in the housing 42. A second role performed by the spacer 40 is to allow ensure the parallelism and the distance between the two control rods 4 connecting two adjacent solar modules of a solar tracking system said two axes. In addition, the housing 42 comprises means for adjusting a height of the spacer 40 relative to the carrier cable 10 received in this housing 42.

In an alternative embodiment, the relative positioning of the support cables 10 with respect to the control rods 4 is arbitrary. In another variant embodiment, the two carrying cables 10 are replaced by a single carrier cable 10. Of course, the number of carrier cables and the number of control rods may vary according to the needs and technical constraints.

With reference to FIG. 3C, we will now describe a second variant embodiment of the second embodiment of the device for supporting a control bar length according to the invention. This second variant embodiment is intended to support two control rods 4 extending parallel to one another and making it possible to connect two adjacent solar modules distant from each other in a so-called solar tracking system. two axes. In fact, this variant embodiment of the support device of a control bar length according to the invention differs from the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 by the presence of a spacer 50 connecting two lines 30 each located on a control bar 4 and facing one another. As for the spacer 40 of the variant embodiment of FIGS. 3A and 3B, a role performed by the spacer 50 is to make it possible to ensure the parallelism and the distance between the two control rods 4 connecting two adjacent solar modules of FIG. a solar tracking system says two axes.

Of course, it is possible to bring to the invention many modifications without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims

REENDICATIONS

1. Device for supporting a control bar length connecting two elements (140) remote from each other, the control rod (4) comprising a degree of freedom, characterized in that it comprises a cable carrier (10) extending parallel in height and facing the control rod (4), a series of lines (30; 40) connecting the carrier cable to the control rod arranged so as to maintain the degree of freedom of the control bar.

2. Support device according to claim 1, characterized in that each line of the line of suspension lines comprises a receiving housing and support (3, 4; 34) of the control bar arranged to maintain the degree of freedom from the command bar.

3. Support device according to claim 2, characterized in that the control rod is received in the receiving and support housing, with an operating jue (J) retaining the degree of freedom of the control rod.

4. Support device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the receiving housing and support comprises a first lower bearing portion (3).

5. Support device according to claim 4, characterized in that the first lower bearing portion comprises a material having a reduced coefficient of friction and excellent resistance to the external environment.

6. Support device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the receiving housing and support comprises a second upper portion (5) forming retaining means of the control bar in the receiving housing and support.

7. Support device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that each line comprises a U-shaped housing (33), extending vertically from an upper face of the hanger, arranged to receive the carrier cable allowing to adjust a distance between the carrier cable and the control bar.

8. Support device according to claim 7, characterized in that each line comprises locking means in position (32) of the carrier cable in the housing shaped "U".

9. Support device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, the support device supporting a length of a second control bar extending parallel and remote from the first control bar, it comprises furthermore spacer means (40; 50) between the two control rods.

10. Support device according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a second carrier cable extending parallel and at a distance from the first carrier cable.

11. Support device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the spacer means also form the lines connecting the control rods to (x) cable (s) carrier (s).