JPH06250739A - Sunshine automatic follower - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To omit a dedicated optical sensor and reduce the cost of the follower by providing two pairs of solar panels and controlling azimuth angle rotation and elevation angle slanting so that the differences between the outputs of the respective pairs of solar panels are minimized. CONSTITUTION:At the periphery of a plane type center panel 51, the upper panel 5a and lower panel 5b, and left panel 5c and right panel 5d which are equal in capacity are provided opposite each other in pairs slantingly in a V shape having a small angle theta, and the respective panels are provided with current detectors 6a-6d which detect output currents. An elevation angle controller 7 suppresses an elevation driving motor 4 so that the difference between the output currents of the upper panel 5a and lower panel 5b approximates 0. Further, an azimuth angle controller 8 controls an azimuth angle driving motor 3 as to the energy that the left panel 5c and right panel 5d receive so that the output current difference becomes 0. Consequently, an azimuth detection such as a dedicated optical sensor can be omitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic solar tracking device used in a solar power generation system for converting solar energy into electric power.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to maintain a solar panel in which solar cells are arranged in a flat plate shape at a right angle to the sun at all times, a vertical shield is provided on the surface of the solar panel, and a plurality of locations are provided around the shield. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 1-79816 discloses a solar panel tilted so that the output of each optical sensor is equalized by the shadow of a shield produced by the direction of the sun.
issue).

[0003]

However, the conventional technique has a drawback in that a plurality of dedicated photosensors for positioning the solar panel are required at a plurality of positions on the solar panel, which increases the cost of the apparatus. An object of the present invention is to eliminate the dedicated optical sensor and reduce the cost of the solar light automatic tracking device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an elevation tilting mechanism capable of tilting a solar panel having solar cells arranged in a flat plate shape in the elevation direction.
An azimuth angle rotation mechanism that supports the solar panel and can rotate in the azimuth angle direction, and drives the elevation angle tilt mechanism and the azimuth angle rotation mechanism so that the solar panel always receives sunlight. In the solar light automatic tracking device for tracking, the respective outputs of the at least one pair of solar panels in which the two solar panels are inclined at a gentle angle so as to face each other and the respective outputs of the at least one pair of solar panels are detected. Two output detectors and a control device for controlling the elevation angle tilting mechanism and the azimuth angle rotating mechanism so as to minimize the difference between the outputs of the two output detectors are provided. In particular, two pairs of solar panels are provided, one pair of solar panels is arranged so as to face each other in the azimuth direction, and one pair of solar panels is arranged so as to face each other in the elevation angle direction. A control device that controls the azimuth angle rotation mechanism so as to minimize the output difference between the pair of solar panels, and a control device that controls the elevation angle tilt mechanism so as to minimize the output difference between the other pair of solar panels. A control device is provided.

[0005]

With the above means, the outputs of the pair of solar panels facing each other at a gentle angle are detected, and the solar panels are tilted so that the difference between the outputs is zero.
The sunlight is tracked by setting the incident angle of the sunlight to the axis line, which is the bisector of the angle formed by the pair of solar panels, to zero.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a post 2 extending perpendicularly to the ground on a base 1
And an azimuth angle rotation mechanism configured to rotate in the azimuth angle direction by the azimuth angle drive motor 3. A tilting mechanism 41 capable of tilting in the elevation angle direction by the elevation angle drive motor 4 is provided on the upper portion of the column 2 to form an elevation angle tilting mechanism. A solar panel 5 having solar cells arranged on the surface is fixed to the tilting mechanism 41, and the solar panel 5 is provided around the flat central panel 51 with a gentle angle θ inclined in a V shape so as to face each other. It is composed of a pair of upper panel 5a, lower panel 5b, and a pair of left panel 5c and right panel 5d having the same capacity. The output of each panel, as shown in FIG. 2, each output current _{I a, I b, I c} , the current detector 6a which detects the I _d, 6b, 6c, and 6d provided, the current detector 6a, 6b Is output to the elevation angle control device 7 which controls the elevation angle control drive motor 4, and the outputs of the current detectors 6c and 6d are input to the azimuth angle control device 8 which controls the azimuth angle drive motor 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the elevation controller 7 controls the output current I _a and the output current I _a by the amplifier 71.
The difference in _b is amplified and the elevation angle drive motor 4 is controlled through the three-level hysteresis comparator 72 and the on-delay 73. The provision of the three-level hysteresis comparator 72 is intended to save energy by avoiding the tilting mechanism 41 from always operating. The provision of the on-delay 73 is effective for excessive movement due to movement of clouds or passage of flying objects. This is because the change in the typical light amount is ignored. The azimuth control device 8 also has a similar configuration to control the azimuth drive motor 3.

Now, at the position where the position of the sun is perpendicular to the central panel 51, that is, at the incident angle φ with respect to the axis Q which is the bisector of the angle formed by the upper panel 5a and the lower panel 5b. In some cases, the incident angle of the upper panel 5a is θ−φ
And the incident angle of the lower panel 5b is θ + φ. When the output constant of the solar panel is k, the energies P _a and P _b received by the upper panel 5a and the lower panel 5b are P _a = k · cos (θ−φ) P _b = k · cos (θ + φ) As shown in FIG. 3 (a), a difference occurs between P _a and P _b depending on the size of the incident angle φ. The elevation angle control device so that the difference between the output currents I _a and I _b proportional to P _a and P _b approaches the point O shown in FIG. 3B, that is, I _a −I _b becomes zero. By controlling the elevation angle drive motor 4 by 7 and setting the incident angle φ with respect to the axis Q to zero,
The solar panel 5 can track the elevation angle of sunlight. The azimuth angle control device 8 is also set so that the difference between the energies received by the left panel 5c and the right panel 5d is also zero.
By controlling the azimuth drive motor 3 with, the azimuth of the sunlight can be tracked. In the above, when comparing the amount of energy received by each pair of solar panels of the upper panel and the lower panel or the left panel and the right panel, the example in which the output current of the solar panel is detected has been described. The same result can be obtained with electric power. Further, the solar panel 5 omits the central panel 51, and the upper panel 5a, the lower panel 5b, the left panel 5c, and the right panel 5 are omitted.
You may comprise d.

[0008]

As described above, according to the present invention, the direction of the sun is detected and tracked by using the output of the solar panel itself, so that a direction detector such as a dedicated optical sensor is required. Therefore, it is possible to provide a low-cost automatic solar tracking device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of the solar panel of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing characteristics of the solar panel of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Supports 3 Azimuth drive motor 4 Elevation drive motor 41 Tilt mechanism 5 Solar panel 5a Upper panel 5b Lower panel 5c Left panel 5d Right panel 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d Current detector 7 Elevation controller 71 Amplifier 72 3 level hysteresis comparison Device 74 On-delay 8 Azimuth control device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An elevation angle tilting mechanism capable of tilting a solar panel in which solar cells are arranged in a flat plate shape in an elevation angle direction,
An azimuth angle rotation mechanism that supports the solar panel and can rotate in the azimuth angle direction, and drives the elevation angle tilt mechanism and the azimuth angle rotation mechanism so that the solar panel always receives sunlight. In the solar light automatic tracking device for tracking, the respective outputs of at least one pair of solar panels in which the two solar panels are inclined at a gentle angle so as to face each other and the respective outputs of the at least one pair of solar panels are detected. A sun provided with two output detectors and a control device for controlling the elevation tilt mechanism and the azimuth rotation mechanism so as to minimize the difference between the outputs of the two output detectors. Optical automatic tracking device. 2. A pair of solar panels are provided, one pair of solar panels is arranged so as to face each other in an azimuth direction, and the other pair of solar panels is arranged so as to face each other in an elevation direction. A control device for controlling the azimuth angle rotation mechanism so as to minimize the difference in output of the one pair of solar panels, and the elevation tilt mechanism so as to minimize the difference in output of the other pair of solar panels. The automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1, further comprising a control device for controlling.