JP2015105791A - Heliostat direction correcting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a heliostat direction correcting method capable of easily and surely correcting a direction of a heliostat in a power generation system generating electricity by condensed reflection light in an appropriate direction.SOLUTION: A method of correcting a direction of a heliostat 4 includes: detecting a direction of a panel member 11 in which a solar battery 14 has highest production of electricity by changing the direction of the panel member 11 by a direction adjustment device 12 in a range in which the heliostat 4 can irradiate a condensation section 7 of a solar power generation device 6 with reflection light 5; determining the direction in which the solar battery 14 has the highest production of electricity as an actually appropriate direction of the panel member 11; calculating a theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 on the basis of a theoretical solar position calculated from position coordinates of the heliostat 4 and time; and correcting the direction of the panel member 11 by the direction adjustment device 12 on the basis of a deviation amount between the actually appropriate direction and the theoretically appropriate direction.

Description

  The present invention provides a power generation system in which sunlight is reflected and collected by a heliostat that automatically tracks the sun, and power is generated by the reflected light that is collected, so that the heliostat is directed in an appropriate direction. The present invention relates to a direction correction method.

In recent years, research and development of clean energy that does not use fossil fuels such as wind power, geothermal heat, and solar heat has been conducted from the viewpoints of the problem of soaring and depletion of fossil fuels such as oil, or protection of the global environment.
In such clean energy, in particular, sunlight is collected, the heat medium is heated by the collected light, steam is generated using the heat medium as a heat source, and the steam turbine is driven by the steam to generate power. The solar thermal power generation to be performed is particularly attracting attention because it is advantageous in terms of output.

As a power generation system that performs such solar thermal power generation, a heliostat that automatically tracks the sun and reflects sunlight, and a tower provided with a condensing unit that condenses the reflected light reflected by the heliostat There is known a tower type that heats the heat medium with reflected light collected on the light collecting portion.
Alternatively, the heliostat, a tower provided with a center mirror serving as a first condensing part that reflects the reflected light reflected by the heliostat further downward on the upper side, and reflected by the center mirror There is also known a beam-down type that includes a receiver serving as a second condensing unit that collects the reflected light and heats the heat medium by the reflected light collected on the receiver.

In any power generation system that performs this type of solar thermal power generation, heliostad tracks the moving sun firmly and automatically, and always faces sunlight in the appropriate direction, especially infrared (infrared) light. It is extremely important to irradiate the light collecting portion with certainty and stability by reliably reflecting in the opposite direction.
However, in practice, the heliostat may not turn in the proper direction due to an error in its installation position, a change in the installed ground, or the like.
In a heliostat, the position adjustment device that automatically tracks the sun by changing the direction of the panel member that reflects sunlight has design errors, molding errors, or errors due to aging. The heliostad may or may not turn as originally planned.

As a result, the heliostat cannot reflect sunlight toward the condensing unit, the amount of heat for heating the heat medium is insufficient, and it becomes difficult to secure the output planned by the power generation system.
In particular, in the case of a large-scale power generation system in which thousands to tens of thousands of heliostats are installed on a vast site, depending on the position of the heliostat, the distance from the light collecting unit may be several kilometers away. Even when the direction of the reflected light to be reflected is slightly deviated, the reflected light does not strike the light collecting portion.

Therefore, in the heliostat, it is necessary to periodically correct the direction of the heliostat, more specifically, the direction of the reflecting surface of the panel member that actually reflects sunlight.
As means for correcting the direction of such a heliostat, for example, there are techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

In Patent Document 1, a tracking guide for sunlight is installed on the optical axis of reflected light reflected by the heliostat, and an optical telescope is mounted on the same axis as the guide axis of the tracking guide. A technique for correcting the direction of the heliostat by correcting the direction of the guide shaft of the tracking guide so that the irradiation direction is in an appropriate position after visually confirming the irradiation direction of the reflected light by using is disclosed. ing.
However, in the case of a power generation system that collects reflected sunlight using a heliostat, it is normal to use a large number of heliostats, so the irradiation direction of the reflected light reflected by each heliostat can be visually observed with an optical telescope. In this case, it takes a great deal of labor to check each of them and adjust the tracking guide, and since it depends on human visual observation, there is a possibility that the accuracy of correction may vary.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the direction of the heliostat is corrected based on the difference between the position where the reflected light from the heliostat is irradiated and the command irradiation position output when controlling the direction of the heliostat. A method is disclosed.
Specifically, after a light collecting target other than the light collecting unit is installed on the tower provided with the light collecting unit, the target is irradiated with reflected light from the heliostat. The camera captures the positional relationship between the reflected light and the irradiation position of the reflected light. Then, an error between the center of gravity position of the reflected light obtained from the imaging data and the command irradiation position output from the controller that controls the direction of the heliostat is calculated, and direction correction is performed based on the calculated error data. Data is created and correction control is performed by the controller.
However, in the case of the method described in Patent Document 2, reflected light is irradiated from each heliostat to the light collecting target, and data on the positional relationship between the target and the irradiation position of the reflected light is individually acquired. There is a need to. In addition, in order to reliably grasp the irradiation position of the reflected light on the target, the target cannot be irradiated with the reflected light from many heliostats at once.
Therefore, it takes a lot of time to correct the direction of the heliostat, and the correction work is very troublesome.

JP 2009-109136 A U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,275

  The technical problem of the present invention is to correct the heliostat in an appropriate direction in a power generation system that reflects and collects sunlight with a heliostat that automatically tracks the sun and generates power by the reflected light. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for correcting the direction of a heliostat that can be performed easily and reliably.

  In order to solve the above problems, a method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to the present invention includes a reflective member that forms a reflective surface that reflects infrared rays from the sun, a panel member that includes a solar cell that generates power by sunlight, A heliostat having a direction adjusting device for changing the direction of the panel member so as to automatically track the moving sun and a light collecting portion for collecting the reflected light reflected by the heliostat. And a method of correcting the direction of the heliostat in a power generation system including a solar thermal power generation device that generates power by heat generated by reflected light collected on the light collecting unit, the panel member being adjusted by the direction adjusting device. And the solar cell power generation amount of the panel member is within a range in which the heliostat can irradiate reflected light to the condensing part of the solar thermal power generation device. Is determined from the position coordinates and time of the heliostat as well as determining the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell is maximized as an appropriate measured direction that the panel member should face. The theoretically appropriate direction that the panel member should face is calculated based on the theoretical position of the sun, and on the basis of the amount of deviation between these actually measured direction and the theoretically appropriate direction, The direction of the panel member is corrected by the direction adjusting device.

  Further, in the present invention, the detection of the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell of the panel member is the highest is detected by continuously changing the direction of the panel member in either the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member. While specifying the direction of the panel member where the power generation amount of the solar cell is the highest in the changed elevation direction or turning direction, while continuously changing the direction of the panel member in the other direction, This can be done by specifying the orientation of the panel member where the power generation amount of the solar cell is highest in the changed turning direction or elevation direction.

  Alternatively, the detection of the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell of the panel member becomes the highest is determined by fixing the orientation of the panel member in the elevation direction and the turning direction within a predetermined range of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member. After changing each angle and measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell at each angle position, respectively, estimating the power generation amount in the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member based on the measured power generation amount, This can be done by specifying the orientation of the panel member that produces the highest power generation amount from the estimated power generation amount.

  In this case, the estimation of the power generation amount of the solar cell in the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member is performed by extrapolating or interpolating each power generation amount measured in the elevation direction and the rotation direction of the panel member, respectively. Is preferably performed.

  Alternatively, the detection of the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar battery of the panel member becomes the highest is performed while continuously changing the orientation of the panel member in either the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member, While continuously measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell in the changed elevation direction or turning direction, and changing the direction of the panel member in the other direction, the solar cell in the changed turning direction or elevation direction After measuring the power generation amount, the orientation of the two panel members having the same power generation amount is specified for each of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member, and the intermediate direction between the specified two panel members is determined. The orientation can be controlled by imitating the orientation of the panel member that produces the highest amount of power generated by the solar cell.

Moreover, in this invention, correction | amendment of the direction of the said panel member can be performed by correct | amending the direction of the elevation direction and turning direction of this panel member with the said direction adjustment apparatus.
Furthermore, in the present invention, the correction of the direction of the panel member is performed by detecting the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell of the panel member becomes the highest at least twice over a predetermined time, and the time of each detection. And calculating the deviation amount between the actually measured orientation of the panel member and the theoretically appropriate orientation of the panel member, and based on the difference between the calculated deviation amounts, It is possible to calculate the deviation angle generated at the time of rotation and take into account the deviation angles of the panel member in the elevation direction and the turning direction.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the correction of the orientation of the panel member is preferably performed by driving the direction adjusting device with electric power generated by the solar cell of the panel member.

According to the present invention, the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell provided in the panel member of the heliostat is the highest is detected, and the panel member should be directed in the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell is the highest. As the orientation, the orientation of the panel member is corrected by the direction adjusting device. Therefore, it is possible to identify the appropriate orientation of the panel member very easily as compared with the conventional case, and it is possible to easily correct the direction of the heliostat because almost no human labor is required.
In addition, since the heliostat performs direction correction based on the power generation amount of the solar cell included in the heliostat, even if the power generation system includes a large number of heliostats, the presence of other heliostats is present. It is possible for each heliostat to independently correct the direction without being influenced by. Therefore, the correction of the direction of the heliostat included in the power generation system can be performed at the same timing, and the correction time of the heliostat as the entire power generation system can be significantly shortened compared to the conventional case.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an outline of a power generation system for carrying out the heliostat direction correcting method according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing the power generation system of FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing the outline of the heliostat. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the heliostat of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing the direction correction method of the heliostat according to the first embodiment of the present invention during automatic tracking of the sun. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for specifically explaining the first embodiment of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the panel member in the first embodiment of the heliostat direction correcting method of the present invention. However, (a) is a figure which shows the motion of this panel member at the time of searching for the suitable direction of a panel member, (b) is a graph which shows the electric energy of the elevation direction and turning direction of the panel member measured with the solar cell. It is. The broken arrow in the figure indicates the measurement direction, and the solid arrow indicates the return direction of the body panel. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for specifically explaining the second embodiment of the heliostat direction correcting method of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the panel member in the second embodiment of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the present invention. However, (a) is a figure which shows the motion of this panel member at the time of searching for the suitable direction of a panel member, (b) is a graph which shows the electric energy of the elevation direction and turning direction of the panel member measured with the solar cell. It is. The broken arrow in the figure indicates the measurement direction. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for specifically explaining the third embodiment of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the panel member in the second embodiment of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the present invention. However, (a) is a figure which shows the motion of this panel member at the time of searching for the suitable direction of a panel member, (b) is a graph which shows the electric energy of the elevation direction and turning direction of the panel member measured with the solar cell. (C) is the graph which shows the electric energy of the raising / lowering direction and turning direction of the panel member measured with the solar cell, and shows a different aspect from (b). In the figure, the solid arrow indicates the measurement direction, and the broken arrow indicates the direction of movement of the main body panel in the non-measurement state.

1 to 4 show an example of a power generation system for carrying out the direction correction method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is.
That is, the power generation system 1 collects a plurality of heliostats 4 that automatically track the moving sun 2 and reflects the sunlight 3 and the reflected light 5 reflected by the heliostat 4 and collects the light. And a solar thermal power generation device 6 that generates power by heat from the reflected light 5.

The solar thermal power generation device 6 condenses the reflected light 5 reflected by the heliostat 4 and heats a heat medium such as water, oil, or molten salt by the heat of the collected reflected light 5. In this embodiment, a so-called tower-type configuration is provided in which the light condensing unit 7 is provided on an upper portion of a tower 8 having a predetermined height.
Specifically, the solar thermal power generation device 6 includes the tower 8 such as a steel tower, the condensing unit 7 provided at the upper end of the tower 8, and a high-temperature heat medium heated in the condensing unit 7. And a high-temperature storage tank (not shown) provided on the ground. Furthermore, a generator (not shown) that generates power by driving a steam turbine with steam generated by heat energy of the heat medium stored in the high-temperature storage tank is provided. In addition, when the heat medium is a molten salt, a low-temperature storage tank is further provided that stores the heat medium that has been used for generating steam and has a reduced temperature, and supplies the heat medium again to the light collecting unit.

Each of the heliostats 4 includes a panel member 11 that tracks the moving sun, and a direction adjusting device that adjusts the direction by changing the direction of the panel member 11 so as to automatically track the moving sun 2. 12 respectively.
The panel member 11 is in the form of a plate having a reflecting member 13 that forms a reflecting surface 13a that reflects infrared rays from the sun 2 and a solar cell 14 that generates power using sunlight 3, and is on one side. With the plate surface as the front surface and the other plate surface as the back surface, sunlight 3 is received on the front surface side, and the sunlight 3 is reflected in the direction of the front surface side.

The reflection member 13 reflects the wavelength (about 780 to 2500 nm) in the infrared region of sunlight reaching the ground surface, and irradiates the light collecting unit 7 with the reflected light.
On the other hand, the solar cell 14 generates power using the wavelength of an area not reflected by the reflecting member 13 during sunlight reaching the ground surface, for example, visible light or ultraviolet light, and can measure the amount of power generation. It is possible. The power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured by a drive control device 23 (to be described later) in the direction adjusting device 12, and information on the power generation amount is output from the drive control device 23 to a higher-level control device 45 (to be described later). Is done. Accordingly, each heliostat 4 is in a state where the power generation status of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is monitored.

As a specific configuration of the panel member 11, basically, if the solar cell 14 that can reflect infrared rays in the sunlight 3 by the reflecting member 13 and can generate power by the sunlight 3 is provided, basically. Any configuration is possible.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the transparent solar cell 14 that generates power by ultraviolet rays, that is, a so-called artificial crystal solar cell has an infrared ray on the back side (the side opposite to the light receiving surface side of the panel member 11). A reflective member 13 such as a reflective film or a reflective mirror is attached. The solar cell (artificial crystal solar cell) 14 generates power using the ultraviolet rays in the sunlight 3, while the infrared ray transmitted through the solar cell 14 is reflected by the reflecting member 13.

In addition, as the said panel member 11, while attaching the infrared reflective film which reflects only infrared rays as a reflective member on the surface (light-receiving surface) of a well-known solar cell, while reflecting infrared rays by this infrared reflective film, while this infrared rays It is good also as a structure which produces electric power with a solar cell using the ultraviolet-ray, visible light, etc. which permeate | transmitted the reflective film.
In this case, a known solar cell can be used, such as the above-described artificial crystal solar cell, or a silicon-based semiconductor (for example, amorphous silicon, single crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon, etc.) or a compound semiconductor (gallium arsenide-based, indium Various solar cells composed of gallium arsenide, chalcopyrite, etc.) and organic semiconductor materials (dye sensitization, organic thin film, etc.) can be used.

Here, the panel member 11 is given a strength sufficient to withstand an outdoor environment such as rain and wind, regardless of the configuration described above.
In the case of this embodiment, in addition to the solar cell 14 and the reflecting member 13, a lattice frame-shaped base portion 15 formed of a metal having excellent rigidity is provided on the back surface side of the reflecting member 13. Yes.
In addition, the said base | substrate part 15 may be a thing of arbitrary structures, such as plate shape, if rigidity can be provided to the whole panel member. Further, as means for imparting strength to the panel member 11, the solar cell or the reflecting member itself may be provided with rigidity without providing the base portion 15.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the power required for each heliostat 4 is used, for example, for driving and controlling electric motors 28 and 37 of the elevation means 21 and the turning means 22 described later in the direction adjusting device 12. The electric power and the electric power necessary for driving the drive control device 23 are all provided by the electric power generated by the solar cell 14 provided in each heliostat 4.
Therefore, each heliostat 4 can be individually driven by the electric power generated by each heliostat 4 itself.

Further, the direction adjusting device 12 can freely change the direction of the reflecting surface 13a of the panel member 11 by adjusting two axes of the elevation direction for raising and lowering the panel member 11 and the turning direction for rotating the panel member 11 horizontally. Thus, the panel member 11 can track the moving sun 3.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the direction adjusting device 12 according to this embodiment is an elevating unit that raises and lowers the reflective surface 13 a of the panel member 11 in the vertical direction by raising and lowering the panel member 11. 21 and turning means 22 for turning the panel member 11 in the horizontal direction to turn the reflecting surface 13a of the panel member 11 in the left-right direction. Furthermore, a drive control device 23 is provided for controlling the operation of the elevation means 21 and the turning means 22 to control the direction of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction and the turning direction.

The elevating means 21 is disposed on the back side of the panel member 11 and is formed in a bar shape extending in a straight line in the horizontal direction, and the elevating shaft member 25 rotates about its axis. A bearing member 26 for raising and lowering that is supported freely and a drive device 27 for raising and lowering that rotates the shaft member 25 for raising and lowering about an axis are provided.
The raising / lowering bearing member 26 is interconnected with the raising / lowering shaft member 25, and on the upper part of the turning means 22, more specifically, a turning shaft member 35 described later in the turning means 22. It is fixed to the upper side of the.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the drive device 27 for the elevation direction is an electric motor 28 for the elevation direction as an actuator for rotating the elevation shaft member 25 about the axis, and drives the electric motor 28. A motor driver 29 for the elevation direction to be controlled is provided. Furthermore, it has an up-and-down encoder 30 that detects the number of rotations and the rotation angle of the output shaft of the electric motor 28 and outputs the information to the drive control device 23. Then, by rotating the output shaft of the electric motor 28 forward and backward, it is possible to rotate the panel member 11 up and down by rotating the shaft member 25 for raising and lowering in the forward and backward directions around the axis.

On the other hand, the turning means 22 includes a turning shaft member 35 formed in a rod shape extending linearly in a substantially vertical direction, and a turning direction drive device 36 for rotating the turning shaft member 35 about an axis. And is attached to the upper end of a pole member 40 that is fixed to the ground and formed in a bar shape extending in the vertical direction.
The shaft member 35 for turning is fixed to the upper and lower means 21 on the upper side, and the whole panel member 11 including the raising and lowering means 21 is fixed to the upper end of the pole member 40 by the driving device 36 for the turning direction. This part is rotatable around the axis of the turning shaft member 35, that is, in a substantially horizontal direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the turning direction driving device 36 has a turning direction electric motor 37 as an actuator for rotating the turning shaft member 35 around the axis, and drives the electric motor 37. And a motor driver 38 for the turning direction to be controlled. Furthermore, it has an encoder 39 for the turning direction that detects the rotation speed, rotation angle, etc. of the output shaft of the electric motor 37 and outputs the information to the drive control device 23. Then, by rotating the output shaft of the electric motor 37 forward and backward, it is possible to rotate the turning shaft member 35 in the forward and reverse directions around the axis, thereby turning the entire panel member 11 in the horizontal direction. It has become.

The drive control device 23 controls the number of rotations and the rotation angle of the drive devices 27 and 36 for the elevation direction and the turning direction, particularly the electric motors 28 and 37 for the elevation direction and the turning direction, By adjusting the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the shaft member 25 for elevation and the shaft member 35 for turning, respectively, the direction of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction and the turning direction, that is, the elevation angle and the turning angle are controlled.
Specifically, the drive control device 23 calculates the position of the sun 2 from the position and time of the heliostat 4, and for the elevation direction output from the encoders 30 and 39 for the elevation direction and the turning direction. Based on information such as the rotation speed and rotation angle of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 for the turning direction, the elevation direction (elevation angle) and the turning direction (turning angle) of the panel member 11 can be calculated. It has become.
Further, based on the calculated position of the sun 2, the panel member 11 tracks the sun 2 in a range in which the heliostat 4 can irradiate the reflected light 5 to the light collecting unit 7 of the solar thermal power generation device 6. The orientation of the panel member 11 can be changed. That is, the electric motors 28 and 37 required for the driving devices 27 and 36 for the elevation direction and the turning direction (more specifically, the motor drivers 29 and 38 for the elevation direction and the turning direction). It is possible to output a drive command including information such as the number of rotations and the rotation angle.
Therefore, the normal operation as the heliostat 4, that is, automatically tracking the moving sun 2, reflects the sunlight 3 by the panel member 11, and directs the reflected light toward the condensing unit 7 of the solar power generation device 6. The control of the operation of irradiating is performed by the drive control device 23.

In this embodiment, the drive control devices 23 of all the heliostats 4 in the power generation system 1 are controlled by the above-described upper control device 45 and output from the drive control devices 23 of the respective heliostats 4. Various information such as the direction of the heliostat 4 (strictly the direction of the panel member 11) is input, and necessary information such as time information and various operation commands are output to each heliostat 4. Can be done.
In addition, each heliostat 4 and the upper control device 45 are connected wirelessly so that various types of information can be communicated with each other. Therefore, electrical connection by wire such as a cable is not performed.
Furthermore, the drive control device 23 of each heliostat 4 is independent for each heliostat, and electrical connection by wire / wireless is not directly performed with the drive control device of other heliostats. .

By the way, the direction adjusting device 12 is caused by wind or rain with respect to the heliostat 4, particularly the panel member 11, in addition to the operation of automatically tracking the sun 2 to the panel member 11, which is a normal operation as the heliostat 4. In order to reduce the load, the panel member 11 is provided with a function of performing an avoiding operation of tilting the panel member 11 to a state where the plate surface is substantially horizontal (that is, a state where the reflection surface 13a is directed substantially in the vertical direction).
Further, the direction adjusting device 12 corrects (aligns) the direction of the heliostat 4, more specifically, the panel member 11 (specifically, the reflecting surface 13 a) that actually reflects the sunlight 5 in an appropriate direction. It has a function to operate. A method for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 will be described in detail later.
With respect to the automatic tracking operation, avoidance operation, and direction correction operation of the sun 2 in each of the heliostats 4, the higher-order control device 45 performs the drive control device 23 of the direction adjustment device 12 in each heliostat 4. This is executed by outputting an operation command.

Hereinafter, a method for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 in the heliostat 4 of the power generation system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described.
FIG. 5 shows the power generation system 1 having the above-described configuration, for example, when the heliostat 4 is installed (that is, when the direction of the heliostat 4 is corrected for the first time) or during the automatic tracking operation of the sun 2. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in the case of correcting direction.
The correction of the direction of the heliostat 4 is performed as an operation different from the automatic tracking operation of the sun of the heliostat 4.

In step S1, the direction of the heliostat 4 (direction of the panel member 11) before the direction correction at the start of the correction operation is set as the origin. Note that, when the heliostat 4 is corrected for the first time when the heliostat 4 is installed, the direction serving as the origin is the direction in which the panel member 11 faces immediately after the heliostat 4 is installed. . Further, when the direction of the heliostat 4 is corrected during the automatic tracking operation of the sun 2, the panel member 11 faces the correction operation start time during the automatic tracking operation.
In step S2, the direction of the heliostat 4 is corrected (alignment). A specific procedure for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 in step S2 of this embodiment will be described later.

In step S3, the reflected light 5 reflected by the heliostat 4 that is the target of direction correction is concentrated on a partial region of the condensing unit 7 of the solar thermal power generation device 6 together with the reflected light reflected by other heliostats. Then, addressing is performed to adjust the irradiation position of the light collecting unit 7 of the heliostat 4 whose direction is to be corrected so as not to be irradiated.
This addressing is performed in relation to the irradiation position of the reflected light reflected by other heliostats on the light collecting unit 7, and the reflected light 5 reflected by the heliostat 4 in the power generation system 1 is reflected by the light collecting unit 7. The orientation of the elevation direction and / or the turning direction of the panel member 11 of each heliostat 4 is adjusted so as to be irradiated as uniformly as possible.
For example, the heliostat 4 is divided so that the number of heliostats that irradiate reflected light to each section of the light collecting section 7 is substantially the same after dividing the light collecting section 7 into a plurality of equal sections. The orientation of the panel member 11 is adjusted.
The addressing is performed by outputting a drive command from the host control device 45 to the drive control device 23 of each heliostat 4.

In step S <b> 4, the sunlight 3 is reflected by the heliostat 4 for which the addressing has been completed, and the condensed light 7 is irradiated with the reflected light 5.
In step S5, whether or not the heliostat 4 that irradiates the reflected light 5 to a predetermined position of the light collecting unit 7 by addressing is in the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest, that is, It is determined whether or not the heliostat 4 is pointing in an appropriate direction.
Then, if correction of the direction of the heliostat 4 is necessary again, the process returns to step S2 to correct the direction, and if correction of the direction is unnecessary, the process proceeds to the next step S6.
In step S6, it is determined whether or not the automatic tracking of the sun 2 by the heliostat 4 is to be stopped. 5 is applied to the light collecting unit 7. When the automatic tracking of the sun 2 is stopped due to sunset or other maintenance, the operation of the heliostat 4 ends.

Next, the direction correction (alignment) of the heliostat 4 performed in step S2 will be specifically described.
The basic flow of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 of the present invention is that the direction of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4 is moved within a certain range, and the power generation of the solar cell 14 provided in the panel member 11 is performed. Based on the amount, an appropriate measurement direction that the panel member 11 should face is detected. On the other hand, the theoretically appropriate direction that the panel member 11 should face is calculated based on the theoretical position of the sun calculated from the position coordinates of the heliostat 4 and the time.
Eventually, the direction adjusting device 12 corrects the direction of the panel member 11 based on the amount of deviation between the actually measured appropriate direction and the theoretically appropriate direction.

The schematic flow of the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 in this embodiment first calculates the theoretical position of the sun calculated from the position coordinates of the heliostat 4 and the time.
Next, the direction of the panel member 11 is changed by the direction adjusting device 12 to detect the direction of the panel member 11 at which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is maximized, and the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is maximum. Is determined as an appropriate measured direction that the panel member 11 should face.
Then, based on the theoretical position of the sun, the theoretical proper direction that the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4 should face is calculated, and the theoretical proper direction and the proper proper direction in the actual measurement are calculated. Find the amount of deviation.
Thereafter, the direction correction of the heliostat 4 is completed by correcting the orientation of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4 in the elevation direction and / or the turning direction based on the deviation amount.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 in this embodiment, and will be described below based on this flowchart.
First, in step S <b> 10, the position of the sun 2, that is, the altitude and direction of the sun 2 are calculated from the relationship between the correction operation start time and the position coordinates of the heliostat 4. At this time, the time information is input from the host control device 45 to the drive control device 23, and the altitude and direction of the sun 2 are calculated by the drive control device 23.

Next, in step S11, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the panel member 11 is continuously rotated in a turning range from the origin position set in step S1 by a certain range. At the same time, the position is searched for a position where the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is maximized in the turning direction.
The rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction is controlled by the direction adjusting device 12 by outputting a drive command from the drive control device 23 to the motor driver 38 for the turning direction of the turning means 22. The turning shaft member 35 is rotated around the axis by the turning direction electric motor 37. At this time, for the panel member 11, for example, continuous in a range of −x to xrad in the left-right direction with respect to the origin position (for example, −π to + πrad with respect to the origin position, although depending on the origin position). Rotate to

On the other hand, the drive control device 23 can constantly measure the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 during rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction, and irradiate the light collecting unit 7 with the reflected light 5. Within this range, the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is highest in the turning direction of the panel member 11 is detected.
Further, during the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction, the drive control device 23 uses the rotation speed and rotation angle information of the output shaft of the turning direction electric motor 37 output from the turning direction encoder 39. Based on the direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11, specifically, the turning angle of the panel member 11 with respect to the origin position is always calculated. And the process which correlates each turning angle and the information of the electric power generation amount of the said solar cell 14 is performed.
During the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 changes with time according to the direction of the panel member 11, but finally the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest. The direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11 is detected, and the direction is specified as an appropriate direction of the turning direction that the panel member 11 should face in the turning direction.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, the origin position (in the case of FIG. 7A, the intersection of the horizontal axis (X axis) and the vertical axis (Y axis)) is used as a reference. After the member 11 rotates in the left-right direction within the range of −x to xrad, the panel member 11 reaches the position (orientation) where the power generation amount in the turning direction of the solar cell 14 is the highest, that is, the appropriate direction x _{1 in the} turning direction. I'm back.
In FIG. 7B, the intersection position of the X-axis and the Y-axis is the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 is highest (that is, the appropriate direction x _{1 in the} turning direction). However, in the turning direction of the panel member 11, after measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell in the range of −x to xrad with respect to the origin position as a reference, it may return to the direction x ₁ where the power generation amount was the highest. Recognize.

Further, in step S12, as shown in FIG. 7A, the panel member 11 is set to the origin position set in step S1 in the proper orientation of the turning direction of the panel member 11 detected and specified in step S11. The position where the amount of power generated by the solar cell of the panel member 11 is maximized in the elevation direction at the same time as the direction is changed by continuously rotating (raising and lowering) a certain range in the elevation direction on the basis of the position in the elevation direction. Search for.
The rotation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction is controlled by the motor driver 29 by outputting a drive command from the drive control device 23 in the direction adjusting device 12 to the motor driver 29 for the elevation direction of the elevation means 21. This is done by rotating the shaft member 25 for raising and lowering around the axis by the electric motor 28 for the elevation direction. At this time, for the panel member 11, for example, a range of −y to yrad in the direction in which the panel member 11 is tilted with reference to the position of the origin position in the elevation direction (for example, the origin position The position is continuously rotated from −π to + πrad) with respect to the position.

On the other hand, the drive control device 23 can constantly measure the amount of power generated by the solar cell of the panel member 11 during rotation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction, and can irradiate the light collecting unit 7 with the reflected light 5. Within the range, the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is highest in the elevation direction of the panel member 11 is detected.
During the rotation of the panel member in the elevation direction, the drive control device 23 is based on information on the rotational speed and rotation angle of the output shaft of the elevation-direction electric motor 28 output from the elevation-direction encoder 30. The elevation angle of the panel member 11 is always calculated based on the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction, specifically, the position of the origin position in the elevation direction. And the process which correlates each elevation angle and the information of the electric power generation amount of the said solar cell 14 is performed.
During the rotation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 changes with time according to the direction of the panel member 11, but finally the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest. The direction of the rising / lowering direction is detected, and the direction is specified as an appropriate direction of the rising / lowering direction that the panel member 11 should face in the rising / lowering direction.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the panel member 11 has the direction x ₁ specified in the step 11 in which the solar cell 14 has the highest power generation amount in the turning direction of the panel member 11. Rotating in the range of -y to yrad in the ascending and descending direction. Thereafter, the panel member 11 has returned to the position (orientation) where the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is highest in the elevation direction, that is, the appropriate direction y _{1 in the} turning direction.
Also in FIG. 7B, the panel member 11 measures the power generation amount of the solar cell in the range of −y to yrad with respect to the origin position in the turning direction of the panel member 11. It can be seen that the amount has returned to the highest direction y ₁ .
Finally, the direction x _{1 in} the turning direction and the direction y _{1 in the} elevation direction are the directions in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest in the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11.

In step S13, a deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 and the actually measured appropriate direction is calculated.
That is, a theoretically appropriate direction that the panel member 11 should face is calculated based on the altitude and direction of the sun calculated in step S10.
On the other hand, the panel member 11 faces the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is maximized, which is specified by the appropriate direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction determined in Step S11 and Step S12. The proper orientation in power measurement.
And the deviation | shift amount of the theoretical appropriate direction of these panel members 11 and the appropriate direction on actual measurement is calculated. Specifically, the shift amounts of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 are calculated.

In step S14, the procedure from step S10 to step S13, that is, the step of calculating the altitude and direction of the sun 2 from the relationship with the position coordinates of the heliostat 4, the detection of the appropriate direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11, The step of specifying, the step of detecting and specifying an appropriate direction of the elevation direction of the panel member 11, the step of determining the amount of deviation between the theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 and the measured appropriate direction are constant. It is determined whether or not it has been performed twice or more sequentially with a time interval.
If the procedure from step S10 to step S13 is executed twice or more after a certain time interval, the process proceeds to the next step S15, and if it is executed only once, the process returns to step S10. And the deviation | shift amount of the appropriate direction on the measurement of the panel member 11 in the time which detected the direction where the electric power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the said panel member 11 becomes the highest, and a theoretical appropriate direction is each calculated. .
In addition, when a series of procedures from Step S10 to Step S13 are executed once, when further executing a series of procedures, for example, it is preferable to execute them after about 2 to 3 hours.

Here, the procedure from Step S10 to Step S13 is executed twice or more after a certain time interval in order to make the orientation of the panel member 11 more appropriate and stable.
That is, when the procedure from Step S10 to Step S13 is performed only once, the proper orientation in actual measurement of the panel member 11 at that time is specified, and the deviation amount from the theoretical proper orientation is calculated. It is possible.
However, for example, there is a shift in the rotation direction of the turning shaft member of the turning means around the axis line or the rotation direction of the raising / lowering shaft member around the axis line of the raising / lowering means. There may be a deviation (shift angle) in the rotational direction of the member 11 in the turning direction or the elevation direction. In this case, even if correction of the direction of the panel member is performed based on the displacement amount only once, if the panel member rotates in the turning direction or the elevation direction during the subsequent automatic tracking, There is a possibility that the direction of the panel member 11 is shifted again with the shift angle.
In consideration of such a shift in the rotation direction of the panel member 11 in the turning direction or the elevation direction, the direction correction of the panel member 11 is performed in each direction when the panel member 11 is rotated in the rotation direction and in the elevation direction. It is preferable to carry out in consideration of the deviation angle.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the procedure from the step S10 to the step S13 is executed twice or more with a certain time interval, and an appropriate measurement direction and the theoretical direction of the panel member 11 at each time point. The amount of deviation from the appropriate direction is calculated.
Thus, in the next step S15, based on the difference between the deviation amounts, the deviation angle in each direction when the panel member 11 is rotated in the turning direction and the elevation direction is also calculated, and the panel member is obtained when the panel member 11 is rotated in each direction. The degree to which the direction of 11 is shifted is specified. Then, the direction of the panel member 11 can be corrected by taking into account (for example, adding or subtracting) the deviation angle at each rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction and the elevation direction.

In step S15, correction is made so that the panel member 11 always faces the appropriate direction based on the deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction and the actually measured direction obtained in step S13. I do.
That is, in the drive control device 23 of the direction adjusting device 12 and the motor drivers 29 and 38 for the elevation direction and the turning direction, the rotational speeds of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 for the elevation direction and the turning direction. Then, the control amount such as the rotation angle is corrected based on the shift amount so that each of the electric motors 28 and 37 can be driven so that the panel member 11 at each time points in an appropriate direction.
More specifically, first, the panel member 11 described above is calculated based on the deviation amount between the actually measured proper direction and the theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 at each time, which is calculated in step S13. The shift angle in each direction during rotation in the turning direction or elevation direction is calculated.
Then, based on the deviation amount calculated in step S14 and the deviation angle calculated from the deviation amount, the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 in the drive control device 23 and the motor drivers 29 and 38, respectively. The control amount such as the rotation speed and the rotation angle is corrected. Thereby, it becomes possible to drive each of these electric motors 28 and 37 so that the panel member 11 at each time points in an appropriate direction.
Therefore, during the automatic tracking of the sun 2 of the heliostat 4, the panel member 11 rotates in the elevation direction and the turning direction in a state in which the correction in this step S15 is reflected until the next correction is performed. It will be tracked.

  As a result, since the heliostat 4 can track the sun 2 in a state where the panel member 11 is oriented in an appropriate direction, the reflected light 5 can be stably irradiated to the light collecting unit 7, Thereby, in the solar thermal power generation device 6, power can be generated efficiently and stably by the heat generated by the reflected light 5 collected on the light collecting unit 7.

As described above, according to the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat, the appropriate direction in which the panel member 11 should face the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 provided in the panel member 11 itself is the highest is detected and specified. Therefore, it is very easy to specify an appropriate direction of the panel member 11 as compared with the conventional case, and human labor is hardly required.
Therefore, there is no need to correct the orientation of the panel member for each heliostat as in the prior art, or to prepare and correct various other members, and it is extremely easy to correct the orientation of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4. Can be done.

Further, since the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat 4 is performed based on the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 provided in the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4, the power generation system includes a large number of heliostats, for example. However, each heliostat can independently correct the direction regardless of the presence of other heliostats.
Therefore, the correction of the direction of all the heliostats 4 included in the power generation system 1 can be performed at the same timing. As a result, the correction time of the direction of the heliostat 4 as the entire power generation system 1 is compared with the conventional one. It can be significantly shortened.

In the case of the first embodiment, each heliostat 4 can rotate the panel member 11 by the electric power generated by the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4. In the case of automatic tracking, when the panel member 11 is moved to the retracted position, or when the direction of the heliostat is corrected, the power used by the direction adjusting device 12 or the like can be provided in the heliostat 4. .
Therefore, since it is not necessary to supply the electric power for driving the heliostat 4 from another place, such as the solar thermal power generation apparatus 6, the electric wire for power transmission etc. is unnecessary.
Note that, as described above, each heliostat 4 has the direction adjusting device 12 that controls the rotation of the panel member 11 connected to the host control device 45 by radio, and is directly connected to other heliostats. Since no general connection is made, a cable for transmitting information is also unnecessary.
Therefore, the first embodiment has an advantage that each heliostat 4 can independently cope with various operations. This advantage is very effective especially when the power generation system has many heliostats.

In the first embodiment, when correcting the direction of the heliostat, the panel member 11 is rotated in the turning direction and the elevation direction, and at the same time, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is constantly measured. Then, by detecting the direction of the panel member 11 that maximizes the amount of power generation from the amount of power generation that changes over time during the rotation of the panel member 11, the appropriate direction that the panel member 11 should face is determined. It was.
However, in the second embodiment described below, in the method for correcting the specific direction of the heliostat, the detection method for the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 becomes the highest is the same as that of the first embodiment. It is different from the form.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of the direction correcting method according to the second embodiment in the heliostat direction correcting method of the present invention.
In the direction correction method of the second embodiment, the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4 are set at a constant angle within a predetermined range of the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member 11. The power generation amount of the solar cell 14 at each angular position is measured respectively. Thereafter, based on the measured power generation amount, the power generation amount for the entire elevation direction and the entire turning direction is estimated, and the direction in which the power generation amount is highest is specified from the estimated power generation amount.

A specific procedure for performing the direction correction method according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.
The power generation system 1 in which the heliostat direction correction method according to the second embodiment is implemented has basically the same configuration as the power generation system used in the first embodiment, and thus the same. Detailed description will be omitted.
Further, the direction of the heliostat is basically corrected by the same procedure except that the detection method in the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest is different from that in the first embodiment.
Therefore, in the heliostat 4 of the power generation system 1 having the above-described configuration, the procedure for correcting the direction during the initial setting or during the automatic tracking operation of the sun is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. Detailed description is omitted.

First, in step S <b> 20, the position of the sun 2, that is, the altitude and direction of the sun 2 are calculated from the relationship between the correction operation start time and the position coordinates of the heliostat 4.
At this time, the time information is input from the host control device 45 to the drive control device 23, and the altitude and direction of the sun are calculated by the drive control device 23. In addition, this step S20 is the same process as step S10 of the said 1st Embodiment.

Next, in step S21, the panel member 11 is changed by a predetermined angle in the elevation direction or the turning direction within a predetermined range of the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member 11, and the sun at each angular position is changed. Each power generation amount of the battery 14 is measured.
When changing the angle of the panel member 11 in the up / down direction or in the turning direction, with the origin position set in step S1 as a reference, in the case of the turning direction, in the range of -x to xrad in the horizontal direction, In this case, the angle is changed by a certain angle (for example, by 1 mrad (0.001 rad)) in a range of −y to yrad in the vertical direction.
On the other hand, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 at each angle position in the elevation direction and the turning direction is measured for each angle position.

Each range of the elevation direction or the turning direction in which the orientation of the panel member 11 is changed is arbitrarily set according to the direction of the set origin position.
For example, when the direction of the heliostat 4 is corrected for the first time when the heliostat 4 is installed, the panel member 11 is likely to be oriented in a direction that is not so much related to the position of the sun 2. Since the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 should be measured in a wide range, it is preferable to change the direction of the panel member 11 in the range of −π to πrad in the elevation direction and the turning direction, respectively.
On the other hand, when correction of the direction of the heliostat 4 is performed during the automatic tracking operation of the sun 2 or the like, when there is a high possibility that the panel member 11 is facing a direction close to an appropriate direction, The difference between the direction before the direction correction and the theoretically appropriate direction is considered to be small. Therefore, since it is not necessary to measure the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in such a wide range, each range of the elevation direction or the turning direction in which the direction of the panel member 11 is changed is the case where the direction correction of the heliostat 4 is performed for the first time. It may be set narrower than the above.
Further, the angle when changing the panel member 11 to the elevation direction or the turning direction is arbitrary as long as the power generation amount for the whole elevation direction and the whole turning direction can be estimated based on the measured power generation amount of the solar cell. However, as will be described later, it is preferable that the angle is such that the number of measurement points can be secured so that the power generation amount of the solar cell can be obtained by extrapolation or interpolation.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, from the lower side of the origin position, the first direction of the turning direction (in the case of FIG. 9A, the direction from the left side to the right side of the panel member). The panel member 11 is rotated by the same angle and the direction is changed, and the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 is measured at each angle position (the white circle in FIG. 9A is Represents a measurement point.)
When the panel member 11 is rotated by a certain range in the turning direction, the direction is changed by rotating the panel member 11 by a certain angle upward in the elevation direction, and this time, the first direction in the turning direction is changed to the first direction. The direction of the panel member 11 is rotated by the same angle in the opposite direction (in the case of FIG. 9A, the direction from the right side to the left side of the panel member 11; hereinafter referred to as the second direction). Also in this case, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured at each angular position.
As described above, in this embodiment, the panel member 11 is repeatedly moved back and forth in the turning direction and the orientation of the panel member 11 is changed in the up-and-down direction. At the same time, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 at each angular position is measured while changing the elevation direction or the turning direction by a certain angle.

When the direction of the panel member 11 is changed by a certain angle in the turning direction or the elevation direction, the direction adjusting device 12 uses the motor controller 38 for the turning direction of the turning means 22 from the drive control device 23 or the elevation means. A drive command is output to each motor driver 29 for the elevation direction 21. Then, the turning shaft member 35 or the raising and lowering shaft member 25 is rotated around the axis by the electric motors 37 and 28 for the turning direction or the elevation direction controlled by the motor drivers 38 and 29, respectively. At this time, the control of the angle when the panel member 11 is rotated in the turning direction or the elevation direction is acquired by the encoders 39 and 30 for the turning direction or the elevation direction, respectively. This is performed based on information on the rotation speed and rotation angle of the output shaft of each of the electric motors 37 and 28.
On the other hand, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured by the drive control device 23, and whenever the angle of the panel member 11 in the turning direction or the elevation direction is changed, the solar cell 14 at the position of the angle is measured. Measure power generation. And the process which links | relates the position of each angle and the information of the electric power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in the position of the angle is performed.

In step S22, based on the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 at each angle position in the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 measured in the step S21, the solar cell for each of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member. 14 is estimated (strictly speaking, changes in the respective power generation amounts when the panel member moves in the elevation direction and the turning direction), and the direction in which the power generation amount is maximized is specified.
At this time, the estimation of the power generation amount of the solar cell with respect to the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member is specifically performed by extrapolating or interpolating each power generation amount measured with respect to the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member, respectively. This is done by inserting.

More specifically, in step S21, the relationship between the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 and the position of each angle in the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 (the direction of the panel member 11) is specified. Yes.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9B, the relationship between the direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11 and the amount of power generation of the solar cell 14, and the relationship between the direction of the elevation direction of the panel member 11 and the amount of power generation of the solar cell 14. Can be represented as graphs (in the case of FIG. 9B), the Z axis is the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14, the X axis is the direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11, and the Y axis is the direction of the elevation. ).

At this time, since the power generation amount measured in step S21 is data obtained by changing the orientation of the panel member 11 by a certain angle, the direction of the panel member 11 and the power generation amount are shown in the graph (FIG. 9B). (Plot points in the graph).
Therefore, a series of power generation amounts in the entire elevation direction and in the entire turning direction are obtained by extrapolating or interpolating numerical values between adjacent points in the graph.
When performing the extrapolation or interpolation, various methods such as linear extrapolation or linear interpolation using a linear function, or extrapolation or interpolation using a spline connecting points with a curve can be used.

Thereafter, the power generation of the solar cell 14 in each of the turning direction and the turning direction from the relationship between the direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 obtained by extrapolation or interpolation and the power generation amount of the solar cell 14. The direction of the panel member 11 having the highest amount is estimated.
And in the turning direction of the panel member 11, let the direction of the panel member 11 with the highest electric power generation amount of the said solar cell 14 be an appropriate direction of the turning direction in the panel member 11. FIG. Further, in the elevation direction of the panel member 11, the direction of the panel member 11 having the highest power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is set to an appropriate direction of the elevation direction of the panel member 11.

In step S23, a deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 and the actually measured appropriate direction is obtained.
That is, the theoretically appropriate direction that the panel member should face is calculated based on the altitude and direction of the sun calculated in step S20.
On the other hand, the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is specified by the appropriate direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction determined in step S22 is determined as the appropriateness in actual measurement of the panel member 11. Specific orientation.
And the deviation | shift amount of the theoretical appropriate direction of these panel members 11 and the appropriate direction on actual measurement is calculated. Specifically, the shift amounts of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 are calculated.

In step S24, it is determined whether or not the steps from step S20 to step S23 are sequentially performed twice or more.
If the procedure from step S20 to step S23 is executed twice or more, the process proceeds to the next step S25, and if it is executed only once, the process returns to step S20.
The reason why the procedure from step S20 to step S23 is executed twice or more, and in this step S24, when a series of procedures from step S20 to step S23 are executed once and then a series of procedures are executed further. Executed after a certain period of time (about 2 to 3 hours) is basically the same as in step S14 of the first embodiment.

In step S25, correction is made so that the panel member 11 always faces the appropriate direction based on the deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction and the actually measured direction obtained in step S23. I do.
The correction of the orientation of the panel member 11 is performed in the drive control device 23 of the direction adjusting device 12 and the motor drivers 29 and 38 for the elevation direction and the turning direction, as in the first embodiment. This is performed by correcting the control amount such as the rotation speed and rotation angle of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 for the elevation direction and the turning direction based on the deviation amount.
At this time, based on the shift amount calculated in step S23, the shift angle in each direction when the panel member 11 is rotated in the turning direction or the elevation direction is calculated, and these shift angles are taken into account. Then, on the basis of the deviation amount, the control amount of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 in the drive control device 23 and the motor drivers 29 and 38 is corrected. This is the same as step S15 in the first embodiment.
Thereby, during the automatic tracking of the sun 2 of the heliostat 4, the panel member 11 rotates in the elevation direction and the turning direction in a state in which the direction corrected in step S25 is reflected until the next correction is performed. The sun 2 will be tracked.
Therefore, since the heliostat 4 can track the sun with the panel member 11 facing an appropriate direction, it is possible to stably irradiate the light collecting unit 7 with the reflected light 5.

As described above, according to the heliostat direction correcting method of this embodiment, basically the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
However, when detecting the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 becomes the highest, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured every time the direction of the panel member 11 is changed by a certain angle in the elevation direction or the turning direction. Since a series of power generation amounts in the entire elevation direction and the entire turning direction of the panel member 11 are estimated, there is no need to constantly measure the power generation amount.
Moreover, since the measurement of the power generation amount of the solar cell is performed while repeating the rotation in the turning direction and the rotation in the elevation direction of the panel member 11 many times, compared with the first embodiment, Since the region for measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is wide (the power generation amount is measured by directing the panel member 11 in multiple directions), the detection accuracy of the orientation of the panel member where the power generation amount becomes the highest can be improved. There is an advantage that you can.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of the direction correcting method according to the third embodiment in the heliostat direction correcting method of the present invention.
The method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the third embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that the method of detecting the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest. Is different.
That is, in the third embodiment, while the orientation of the panel member 11 is continuously changed in either the elevation direction or the turning direction, the sun in the changed elevation direction or the turning direction is changed. The power generation amount of the battery 14 is continuously measured. On the other hand, while continuously changing the panel member 11 in the other direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in the changed turning direction or elevation direction is measured.
And about each of the elevation direction and turning direction of the said panel member 11, the direction of the two panel members 11 with the same electric power generation amount of the said solar cell 14 is each specified, and direction of those specified two panel members is determined. The direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest is detected by assuming the middle direction as the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest.

Hereinafter, based on FIG.10 and FIG.11, the specific procedure at the time of implementing the direction correction method of the heliostat of 3rd Embodiment is demonstrated.
The power generation system 1 in which the heliostat direction correction method of the third embodiment is implemented has basically the same configuration as the power generation system 1 used in the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are given and detailed description is omitted.
Further, in the third embodiment, the helio is basically performed in the same procedure except that the detection method in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest is different from that in the first embodiment. Correct the direction of the stat. Therefore, in the heliostat 4 of the power generation system 1 having the above-described configuration, the procedure for correcting the direction during the automatic tracking operation of the sun 2 is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. Is omitted.

In step S <b> 30, the position of the sun 2, that is, the altitude and direction of the sun 2 are calculated from the relationship between the correction operation start time and the position coordinates of the heliostat 4.
At this time, the time information is input from the host control device 45 to the drive control device 23, and the altitude and direction of the sun 2 are calculated by the drive control device 27. This step S30 is the same process as step S10 of the first embodiment.

In step S31, while the orientation of the panel member 11 is continuously changed to one of the elevation direction and the turning direction within a predetermined range of the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member 11, The power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in the changed elevation direction or turning direction is measured. Further, the direction of the panel member 11 is the other direction (that is, the turning direction if the orientation of the panel member 11 is changed to the elevation direction, and the elevation direction if the orientation is changed to the turning direction). While continuously changing, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in the changed turning direction or elevation direction is measured.
When the orientation of the panel member 11 is continuously changed to the elevation direction or the turning direction, the origin position set in step S1 is used as a reference, and in the case of the turning direction, a range of -x to xrad in the horizontal direction, the elevation direction In the case of, in the range of −y to yrad in the direction in which the panel member 11 rises and falls. On the other hand, while the direction of the panel member 11 is continuously changed to the elevation direction or the turning direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is constantly measured.

  Each range of the elevation direction or the turning direction for changing the orientation of the panel member 11 is set according to the direction of the set origin position, and when the panel member 11 is changed to the elevation direction or the turning direction. The angle can be arbitrarily set as long as the power generation amount for the entire elevation direction and the entire turning direction can be estimated based on the measured power generation amount of the solar cell. Since it is the same as that of a form, specific description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Here, when measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 while continuously changing the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction or the turning direction, the orientation of the panel member 11 is changed to the elevation direction or the turning direction. During this time, it is not necessary to continuously measure the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 and may be intermittent. However, when intermittently measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell 14, in the next step S32, the power generation amount of the obtained solar cell 14 is extrapolated or interpolated as in the case of the second embodiment. It is necessary to determine the change in the amount of power generation depending on the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction or the turning direction.

In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), first, the panel member 11 is kept within a certain range (FIG. 11 (a) while maintaining the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction at the origin position. a) in the range of −x to x) in a), the panel member 11 is rotated in a fixed direction (in the case of FIG. 11A, from the left side to the right side of the panel member 11). The amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 is measured while continuously changing. At this time, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured only during the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction, only in the direction of a part of the panel members 11, specifically, only in a certain range other than the vicinity of the origin position ( This is performed only in the direction of the solid arrow in the X-axis direction in FIG. 11A (that is, the range of −x to −x _{2 and} the range of x _{2 to} x).
Then, after the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction is finished, the panel member 11 is kept within a certain range (FIG. 11A) while maintaining the orientation of the panel member 11 at the origin position in the turning direction. The panel member 11 is continuously rotated in a certain direction (in this case, the direction in which the panel member 11 is rotated in the upper direction of the panel member 11) by rotating in the elevation direction in the range of -y to y in the middle. While changing, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is measured. At this time, the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14 is measured only during the rotation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction, only in the direction of some panel members 11, that is, in a certain range other than the vicinity of the origin position (in FIG. 11A). Y-axis direction of the range of the solid line arrow, the direction only i.e. range and scope of the y ₂ ~y of -y~-y ₂₎ are carried out.

The operation of the direction adjusting device 12 when changing the orientation of the panel member 11 to the turning direction or the elevation direction, the control of the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction or the elevation direction, etc. are basically described above. Since it is the same as Embodiment 1, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
In addition, the drive control device 22 measures the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14, and the electric motors 37 for the turning direction and the elevation direction output from the encoders 39 and 30 for the turning direction and the elevation direction. , 28 based on the rotation speed and rotation angle information of the output shafts 28, the direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 is always calculated, and the direction of the panel member 11 and the information on the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 are associated with each other. The point of processing is the same as in the first embodiment.

  In step S <b> 32, two orientations of the panel member 11 having the same power generation amount of the solar cell 14 are specified for the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member 11, and the two specified panel members 11. An intermediate direction is assumed as the direction of the panel member 11 where the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest, and is specified as an appropriate direction.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 according to the direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 measured in the step S31. Based on the relationship between the direction of the turning direction of the panel member 11 and the power generation amount of the solar cell 14, and the relationship between the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction and the power generation amount of the solar cell 14, the vertical axis represents the power generation amount and the horizontal axis. Is expressed as a graph with the orientation of the panel member.
Further, on this graph, after specifying two directions (points on the graph) of the panel member 11 having the same power generation amount of the solar cell 14, an intermediate between the directions of the two specified panel members 11 is specified. Is assumed to be the orientation of the panel member that produces the highest amount of power generated by the solar cell 14. And such a process is performed about each of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11, and the suitable direction which the panel member 11 should face in the turning direction and the elevation direction is determined.

Here, on the graph, the relationship between the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 and the direction of the panel member 11 is usually represented by a curve as shown in FIG. 9B or FIG. 9C. The shape of this curve is a symmetric figure with the perpendicular lines L ₁ and L ₂ passing through the point where the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest as the axis of symmetry.
Therefore, on this graph, the direction of the panel member (the point on the graph) where the power generation amount is the same in each of the region where the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is increasing and the region where the power generation amount is decreasing. ) Appear (points A ₁ and B ₁ in FIG. 9B, points A ₂ and B ₂ in FIG. 9C).
At this time, points C ₁ , C indicating the intermediate directions of points A ₁ , B ₁ , points A ₂ , B ₂ on the graph indicating the directions of the two panel members 11 having the same power generation amount of the solar cell 14. _{Since 2} is positioned on the symmetry axes L ₁ and L ₂ , it is possible to specify the direction of the panel member 11 having the highest power generation amount of the solar cell 14.
Therefore, since the middle direction of the two panel members 11 having the same power generation amount of these solar cells 14 can be assumed to be the direction of the panel member 11 having the highest power generation amount of the solar cells 14, The direction is specified as an appropriate direction that the panel member 11 should face.

Here, when two directions of the panel member 11 with the same power generation amount of the solar cell 14 are specified, it is performed in a region where the increase rate of the power generation amount is the largest and a region where the decrease rate of the power generation amount is the largest. Is preferred.
This is because, for example, in the region where the increase rate or decrease rate of the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is small (for example, the region near the symmetry axis L ₂ in FIG. 11C), the increase or decrease in the power generation amount is small. This is because there is a possibility that the power generation amount does not change, and it is difficult to specify the orientation of the panel member having the same power generation amount in a region where the increase rate or decrease rate of such power generation amount is small in consideration of measurement errors, etc. . In areas where the rate of increase in the power generation amount of solar cells is the largest and in the region where the rate of decrease is the greatest, the amount of power generation increases and decreases, so there are few such problems, and the orientation of panel members with the same power generation amount is specified. It's easy to do.

In this embodiment, as described above, the measurement of the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in step 31 is performed while a part of the panel member 11 is rotated during the rotation of the panel member 11 in the turning direction or the elevation direction. Only the direction range, specifically, the direction of a certain range other than the vicinity of the origin position is performed. Therefore, the obtained power generation amount data of the solar cell 14 is represented as a graph in which the vertical axis indicates the power generation amount and the horizontal axis indicates the direction of the panel member 11, and extrapolation or interpolation is performed for a portion where there is no power generation amount data. Thus, a series of power generation amounts in the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member 11 is obtained.
In addition, on the graph showing the relationship between the direction of the panel member 11 in the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 and the amount of power generated by the solar cell 14, the panel member having the same amount of power generated by the solar cell 14. Two directions (points on the graph) of 11 are specified, and an intermediate direction between the two specified panel members 11 is set to be the same as the direction of the panel member 11 in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 is the highest. Then, the direction is set to an appropriate direction that the panel member 11 should face in the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11.

In step S33, a deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction of the panel member 11 and the actually measured appropriate direction is obtained.
That is, the theoretically appropriate direction that the panel member should face is calculated based on the altitude and direction of the sun calculated in step S30.
On the other hand, in the actual measurement that the panel member 11 should face in the appropriate direction of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 specified in the step S32, the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member is maximized. The proper orientation.
And the deviation | shift amount of the theoretical appropriate direction of these panel members 11 and the appropriate direction on actual measurement is calculated. Specifically, the shift amounts of the turning direction and the elevation direction of the panel member 11 are calculated.

In step S34, it is determined whether or not the steps from step S30 to step S33 are sequentially performed twice or more.
If the procedure from step S30 to step S33 is executed twice or more, the process proceeds to the next step S35, and if it is executed only once, the process returns to step S30.
The reason why the procedure from step S30 to step S33 is executed twice or more, and in this step S34, when the sequence of steps from step S30 to step S33 is executed once and then the sequence of steps is executed further. Executed after a certain period of time (about 2 to 3 hours) is basically the same as in step S14 of the first embodiment.

In step S35, correction is made so that the panel member 11 always faces the appropriate direction based on the deviation amount between the theoretically appropriate direction and the actually measured direction obtained in step S33. I do.
The correction of the orientation of the panel member 11 is performed in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. The drive control device 23 of the direction adjusting device 12 and the motor drivers 29 for the elevation direction and the turning direction, In 38, the control amount such as the rotation speed and the rotation angle of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 for the elevation direction and the turning direction is corrected based on the deviation amount.
At this time, based on the shift amount calculated in step S23, the shift angle in each direction when the panel member 11 is rotated in the turning direction or the elevation direction is calculated, and these shift angles are taken into account. Then, on the basis of the deviation amount, the control amount of the output shafts of the electric motors 28 and 37 in the drive control device 23 and the motor drivers 29 and 38 is corrected. This is the same as step S15 in the first embodiment.
As a result, during automatic tracking of the sun 2 of the heliostat 4, the panel member 11 rotates in the elevation direction and the turning direction with the direction corrected in step S35 being reflected until the next correction is performed. The sun 2 will be tracked.
As a result, the heliostat 4 can track the sun 2 in an appropriate direction of the panel member 11, and thus can stably irradiate the light collecting unit 7 with the reflected light 5.

As described above, according to the heliostat direction correcting method of this embodiment, basically the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
However, in the case of this embodiment, the directions of two panel members 11 having the same power generation amount are respectively specified, and the intermediate direction between the two specified panel members 11 is determined as the power generation amount of the solar cell 14. This is effective when the difference in the amount of power generation is small in the vicinity of the direction in which the power generation amount is the highest and it is difficult to specify the direction in which the power generation amount is the highest. .

In the said 1st-3rd embodiment, the direction correction method of this invention is implemented about the heliostat 4 of the electric power generation system 1 in which the solar power generation device 6 has a tower type structure.
However, the direction correction method of the present invention condenses the reflected light reflected by the center mirror and the tower having the center mirror as the first light collecting portion that reflects the reflected light from the heliostat further downward. And a receiver serving as a second light condensing unit, and the heat medium may be heated by reflected light collected by the receiver.

  Further, the heliostat 4 may not be provided with one panel member 11 as in the first to third embodiments, and one heliostat includes a plurality of panel members. It may be a thing. Further, the configuration of the elevation means and the turning means of the heliostat direction adjusting device may be any configuration as long as the panel member can be rotated in the elevation direction and the turning direction.

In the first to third embodiments, correction of the orientation of the panel member 11 of the heliostat 4 is performed by changing the orientation of the panel member 11 by the direction adjusting device 12 in two directions, that is, the elevation direction and the turning direction. This is done by adjusting.
However, the method for correcting the direction of the heliostat of the present invention detects the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell is highest within the range in which reflected light can be applied to the condensing unit of the solar thermal power generation device, and the direction is detected. If it can correct | amend with a direction adjustment apparatus as an appropriate direction which a panel member should face, it can apply also about the heliostat which can adjust the direction of a panel member by adjustment of the multi-axis of 3 axes or more.

In the first to third embodiments, the orientation of the panel member 11 is corrected by driving the direction adjusting device 12 with the electric power generated by the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11. However, it is not always necessary to do so, and the direction adjustment device 12 may be driven by the power generated by the solar power generation device 6 to correct the orientation of the panel member 11.
Moreover, in the said 1st-3rd embodiment, although the electric power which the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 generated was used only for the drive of the direction adjustment apparatus 12, power generation efficiency is high as a solar cell of a panel member. The power generated by the solar cell may be transmitted to a place other than the heliostat and output. In this case, the power generation system is configured to perform so-called hybrid power generation by solar thermal power generation by a solar thermal power generation apparatus and solar power generation by a solar cell of a heliostat.
However, when transmitting the electric power from the solar thermal power generation device to the direction adjusting device of each heliostat or transmitting the electric power generated by the solar cell of the panel member to another place, each heliostat and the power transmission source or the power transmission It is necessary to electrically connect the tip with a cable or the like.

In the first embodiment, when detecting the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest, the solar member 11 is first changed while continuously changing the direction of the panel member 11 in the turning direction. After measuring the power generation amount of the battery 14, the power generation amount is measured by continuously changing in the elevation direction.
However, after measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell while continuously changing the orientation of the panel member in the elevation direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell is determined by measuring the power generation amount while continuously changing in the turning direction. The highest direction may be detected.

In the second embodiment, when detecting the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest, the orientation of the panel member 11 is set at a certain angle in the first direction of the turning direction. It changes and measures the electric power generation amount of the solar cell 14 in the position of each angle. Thereafter, the direction of the panel member 11 is changed by a certain angle in the elevation direction, and then the direction of the panel member 11 is changed by a certain angle in the second direction of the turning direction to generate power by the solar cell 14 at each angle position. The operation of measuring the amount is repeated.
However, after changing the orientation of the panel member by a certain angle in the elevation direction, for example, the upper direction of the panel member, and measuring the amount of power generated by the solar cell at that angle position, the orientation of the panel member is a certain angle in the turning direction. Change, this time repeat the operation of measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell at the position of each angle by changing the direction of the panel member by a certain angle in the direction opposite to the elevation direction, that is, the lower direction of the panel member, The direction in which the power generation amount of the solar battery of the panel member becomes the highest may be detected based on the obtained power generation amount data.
Alternatively, by changing the orientation of the panel member at a certain angle randomly in the elevation direction and the turning direction, and repeating the operation of measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell at the position of each angle, the solar cell in the orientation of the plurality of panel members May be measured, and the orientation of the panel member at which the power generation amount of the solar cell becomes the highest may be detected based on the data of the power generation amount.

In the third embodiment, while maintaining the orientation of the panel member 11 in the elevation direction at the origin position, the orientation of the panel member 11 is continuously changed to a constant turning direction, After measuring the power generation amount of 14, the solar cell while continuously changing the orientation of the panel member 11 in a certain elevation direction while maintaining the orientation of the turning direction of the panel member 11 at the origin position. 14 power generation amounts are measured.
However, first, after measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell while continuously changing the orientation of the panel member in the elevation direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell is measured while continuously changing the direction of the panel member in the turning direction. May be.

Moreover, in the said 3rd Embodiment, while measuring the electric power generation amount of the solar cell 14, changing the direction of the panel member 11 continuously to a raising / lowering direction or a turning direction, only a part of direction, That is, it is carried out only in a certain range direction other than the vicinity of the origin position.
However, the measurement of the power generation amount of the solar cell may be always performed when the direction of the panel member is continuously changed to the elevation direction or the turning direction. In this case, unlike the third embodiment, it is not necessary to obtain a series of power generation amounts in the elevation direction and the turning direction by extrapolation or interpolation based on the data of the power generation amount obtained by measurement.

Furthermore, in the first to third embodiments, the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell 14 of the panel member 11 is the highest is detected at least twice or more after a predetermined time interval, and each detection is performed. The amount of deviation between the actually measured proper direction and the theoretical proper direction of the panel member 11 at the time is calculated. Then, based on the difference between the calculated deviation amounts, the deviation angle generated when the panel member 11 rotates in the elevation direction and the turning direction is calculated, and each of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member 11 is calculated. The orientation of the panel member 11 is corrected by taking the deviation angle into account.
However, it is not always necessary to determine the amount of deviation at least twice in this way, and based on the amount of deviation, the difference in the calculated amount of deviation is used to move the panel member in the elevation direction and the turning direction. It is not necessary to calculate the deviation angle that occurs during rotation.
For example, when the deviation angle generated when the panel member is rotated in the elevation direction and the turning direction can be grasped in advance by another operation such as maintenance, the deviation amount is not necessarily calculated two times or more. It is not necessary to calculate the deviation angle that occurs when rotating in the direction and the turning direction (however, in this case, the known deviation angle is calculated based on the rotation speed of the output shaft of each electric motor for the elevation direction or the turning direction, It is necessary to take into account the correction of the control amount of the rotation angle.)
Alternatively, based on the known deviation angle, the rotational speed of the output member of each electric motor for the elevation direction or the rotation direction and the control amount of the rotation angle are corrected for the rotation direction in the elevation direction and the turning direction in the panel member. Even if it has already been performed, it is not always necessary to calculate the deviation amount twice or more.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power generation system 2 Sun 3 Sunlight 4 Heliostat 5 Reflected light 6 Solar power generation device 7 Condensing part 11 Panel member 12 Direction adjustment device 13 Reflective member 13a Reflecting surface 14 Solar cell

Claims (8)

A reflecting member that forms a reflecting surface that reflects infrared rays from the sun, and a panel member that includes a solar cell that generates power by sunlight, and the orientation of the panel member is changed to automatically track the moving sun. A heliostat having a direction adjusting device for adjusting the direction and a condensing unit for collecting the reflected light reflected by the heliostat, and generating power by heat from the reflected light collected on the condensing unit A method for correcting the direction of the heliostat in a power generation system including a solar thermal power generation device,
The direction of the panel member is changed by the direction adjusting device, and the solar cell power generation amount of the panel member is the highest in the range in which the heliostat can irradiate reflected light to the condensing portion in the solar power generation device. And the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell is maximized is determined as an appropriate measured direction that the panel member should face, and is calculated from the position coordinates of the heliostat and the time. Calculate the theoretically correct orientation that the panel member should face based on the position of the sun,
A method for correcting the direction of a heliostat, in which the direction of the panel member is corrected by the direction adjusting device based on the amount of deviation between the appropriate direction in actual measurement and the appropriate direction in theory.   The detection of the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell of the panel member becomes the highest is performed by continuously changing the orientation of the panel member in either the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member. After identifying the orientation of the panel member that produces the highest amount of power generated by the solar cell in the elevation direction or turning direction, the orientation of the panel member is continuously changed to the other direction, and the changed turning direction or elevation is determined. The method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed by specifying a direction of a panel member in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell is highest in the direction of the direction.   The detection of the direction in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell of the panel member becomes the highest is performed by determining the orientation of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member by a predetermined angle within a predetermined range of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member. And measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell at each angle position, and estimating the power generation amount in the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member based on the measured power generation amount. The method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed by specifying the direction of the panel member that produces the highest power generation amount from the power generation amount.   The estimation of the power generation amount of the solar cell in the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member is performed by extrapolating or interpolating each power generation amount measured in the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member. 3. A method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to 3.   The detection of the direction in which the power generation amount of the solar cell of the panel member becomes the highest is performed by continuously changing the orientation of the panel member in either the elevation direction or the turning direction of the panel member. While continuously measuring the power generation amount of the solar cell in the up and down direction or turning direction, changing the direction of the panel member to the other direction, the power generation amount of the solar cell in the changed turning direction or up and down direction After measuring the above, the direction of the two panel members having the same power generation amount is specified for each of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member, and an intermediate direction between the two specified direction of the panel members is determined. The method of correcting the direction of a heliostat according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed by simulating the orientation of the panel member that generates the highest amount of power from the solar cell.   The direction correction of the panel member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the correction of the orientation of the panel member is performed by correcting the orientation of the panel member in the elevation direction and the turning direction with the direction adjusting device. Method.   The correction of the orientation of the panel member is carried out by detecting the orientation in which the amount of power generated by the solar cell of the panel member is the highest at least twice after a certain time interval, and measuring the panel member at the time of each detection. A deviation amount between an appropriate direction and a theoretically appropriate direction is calculated, and a deviation angle generated when the panel member is rotated in the elevation direction and the turning direction is calculated based on the difference between the calculated deviation amounts. The method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the direction correction is performed by calculating and taking into account respective deviation angles of the elevation direction and the turning direction of the panel member.   The method for correcting the direction of a heliostat according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the direction of the panel member is corrected by driving the direction adjusting device with electric power generated by a solar cell of the panel member. .

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