KR20110050006A - Streetlight using a solar energy - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A streetlight is provided to control the brightness of a lamp according to the change of peripheral brightness. CONSTITUTION: A streetlight includes a solar cell(10), a battery(15), a controller(20), a converter(25), a lamp(35), a stabilizer(30), and a power sensor(60). The solar cell supplies electric energy by using solar energy. The battery charges or discharges the electric energy from the solar cell. The controller controls the charging or discharging of the solar cell and the battery. The converter boosts the voltage discharged from the battery to a high voltage. The lamp emits light. The stabilizer converts the boosted voltage into the driving voltage of the lamp. The power sensor senses the change of the current or voltage of the electric energy. The controller controls the brightness of light outputted from the lamp by controlling the current or voltage transmitted to the converter or stabilizer according to the change of the power information transmitted from the power sensor.

Description

Solar street light {STREETLIGHT USING A SOLAR ENERGY}

The present invention relates to a street lamp, and in particular, to a street lamp using sunlight.

Power generation using solar light is clean energy and movable part, despite the disadvantage that power generation depends on solar radiation time, large area is required to obtain large power, is expensive compared to commercial power, and DC power is obtained first. It has no high temperature, high pressure, easy maintenance, unmanned, unlimited energy source, high productivity, and small to large sized system. This is actively progressing, and in particular, has been spotlighted as the energy of the future.

In such solar power generation, a solar cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy does not have the ability to store electricity generated by sunlight on its own. Therefore, a photovoltaic system, a device using a solar cell, or the like usually includes a battery for storing electricity. The battery charges the current generated from the solar cell during the day and supplies it when electricity is needed.

Recently, many street lamps are installed along the roadside or along streets, and have been developed using solar light as described above. In general, solar street lights have a battery for storing electrical energy produced from a solar cell. Doing.

That is, as described above, since the solar cell does not have the capability of storing electric energy generated from the solar cell by itself, the solar street light using the solar cell must also have a battery.

On the other hand, the conventional solar street light as described above, the lamp is automatically turned on or off when a certain time arrives or is manually turned on and off by an administrator.

However, the method of turning on / off the lamp manually or automatically in accordance with the arrival of a certain time has a problem in that the electric energy accumulated by the sunlight cannot be efficiently used.

For example, the on / off time of the lamp as described above is set in consideration of the sunrise and sunset times of the sun, but given that a certain time has arrived, the vicinity where the solar street light is located is enough to turn on the lamp. It doesn't get dark immediately or bright enough to turn off the lamp.

Nevertheless, the conventional solar street lights are turned on / off the lamp at a certain time, so the power loss is increasing.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems, can be used to produce electrical energy using sunlight, by using the produced electrical energy can control the brightness of the lamp step by step according to the change in the brightness of the surroundings, To provide a solar street light.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a solar cell for supplying electrical energy using solar energy; A battery for charging or discharging electrical energy output from the solar cell; A controller for controlling charging or discharging of the solar cell and the battery; A converter for boosting the voltage discharged from the battery to a high voltage; A lamp for outputting light; A ballast for converting the voltage boosted by the converter into a driving power source of a lamp; And a power detector configured to detect a change in current or voltage of electrical energy generated by the solar cell or charged in the battery, wherein the controller is configured to convert the converter or the converter according to the change amount of power information transmitted from the power detector. By controlling the current or voltage transmitted to the ballast, characterized in that the step of controlling the brightness of the light output from the lamp.

The present invention can produce electrical energy using solar light, by controlling the brightness of the lamp step by step according to the change in the brightness of the surroundings by using the produced electrical energy, unnecessary consumption of power produced through solar power generation It has an excellent effect of preventing it.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a solar street light according to the present invention.

Solar street light according to the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, using solar energy for supplying electrical energy (solar cell, solar cell) 10, charging or charging the electrical energy output from the solar cell The battery 15 for discharging, the control unit 20 for controlling the charging or discharging of the solar cell and the battery, the converter 25 for boosting the voltage discharged from the battery to a high voltage, the lamp 35 for outputting light , A ballast (inverter) 30 for converting the voltage boosted by the converter into driving power of the lamp, an input unit 40 for receiving various information from the manager, and an output unit for outputting various state information of the solar street light. (45), the storage unit 50 for storing various information required for driving the solar street light, the brightness sensor 55 for detecting the brightness of the surrounding of the solar street light, the solar cell And a power detector 60 for sensing a current or voltage of electric energy generated or charged in a battery, and an interface 65 for performing communication using a wired or wireless connection with a remote manager terminal.

The solar cell 10 converts solar energy generated from sunlight into electrical energy as described above, and various types of solar cells (solar cells) currently used may be used, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. do.

The battery 15 performs a function of charging electrical energy produced from the solar cell.

The controller 20 is for charging the battery with electrical energy produced from the solar cell or discharging electrical energy charged in the battery to turn on the lamp. A detailed description of the function of the controller will be given in detail with reference to FIG. 2. It is explained. That is, the controller not only controls the solar cell and the battery to turn on / off the lamp, but also the brightness information detected by the brightness detector, power information detected by the power detector, and various weather stored in the storage unit. By turning on / off the lamp using various information such as information, position information of the sun related to sunrise / sunset, this will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The converter 25 performs a function of boosting the voltage discharged from the battery to a high voltage that can be used in the lamp, and the ballast 30 performs a function of converting the boosted voltage into the driving power of the lamp. On the other hand, the converter or ballast applied to the present invention may perform a function to control the brightness of the lamp by stepping up or down the voltage in each step under the control of the controller. That is, the present invention does not allow the lamp to be turned on or off momentarily, but to be sequentially lightened or dimmed in a certain step (dimming), and this function is controlled by the controller supplied to the converter or ballast. It may be achieved by the step-up or step-down of the voltage step by step. Meanwhile, the dimming control applied to the present invention may be implemented by a PWM current controller included in the controller.

The lamp 35 is for outputting light using electrical energy supplied from the ballast, and may be configured in various forms including an LED. In addition, since the lamp needs to be capable of dimming control by a converter or a ballast, it is irrelevant whether the lamp is turned on by AC or is turned on by DC. That is, the present invention is to control the brightness of the lamp step by step by the control unit controls the voltage or current of the converter or ballast, all lamps capable of such dimming control can be used.

The input unit 40 performs a function of allowing a manager who manages a solar street light to directly input a variety of information for monitoring a necessary information by visiting a solar street light, and comprises a simple keyboard or a touch screen or a button. Can be.

The output unit 45 performs a function of outputting information so that an administrator can monitor various state information of the solar street light.

The storage unit 50 stores various state information generated from the solar street light or stores various types of information input through a user or an interface.

The brightness sensor 55 is to sense the brightness around the solar street light, and various types of brightness sensors that are currently used for sensing brightness may be used. The controller may determine on / off of the lamp using the brightness information transmitted from the brightness sensor.

The power detector 60 detects the magnitude of the voltage or current of the electrical energy produced by the solar cell, or detects the magnitude of the voltage or the current of the electrical energy charged in the battery. Various types of sensors that are currently used for the purpose of detecting the size of may be used. Meanwhile, the controller may control the degree of on / off and brightness of the lamp by using the power information transmitted from the power sensor.

The interface 65 is for performing communication with a remote manager terminal through a wired or wireless communication. The solar street light according to the present invention may automatically turn on / off a lamp under the control of a controller, but is transmitted from the manager terminal. The lamp may be turned on or off according to the on / off signal. In addition, the solar street light according to the present invention may receive a variety of information, for example, through the input unit 40, such as location information, weather information, the sun sunrise / sunset information of the solar street light, through the interface It may be transmitted from the administrator terminal. In particular, it is preferable that information, such as weather information, which can be changed in daily or real time is provided in real time through an interface.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of turning on or turning off the solar street light according to the present invention by adjusting the brightness of a lamp step by step.

The solar street light according to the present invention is to repeatedly perform the process of charging the electrical energy using the sunlight, the process of lighting the lamp using the charged electrical energy, the process of turning off the lit lamp, it will be described below For the sake of convenience, the present invention is described in the standby mode in which solar energy is converted into electrical energy using sunlight.

That is, the controller blocks the discharge of the battery in the standby mode, and performs the process of charging the battery with electrical energy produced by the solar cell using sunlight (202, 204).

In operation 206, the controller determines whether a condition for turning on the lamp is satisfied while performing the charging process. The determination process is performed using three methods to be described below, and the controller performs the determination process using at least one of the three methods.

As a first method, the controller may determine whether to turn on the lamp by using the brightness information transmitted from the brightness sensor 55.

That is, the present invention does not set the time for turning on or off the lamp in advance, but the controller determines whether the lamp is turned on or off by determining the brightness around the solar street light. To this end, the solar street light according to the present invention is equipped with a brightness sensor which is a component of the brightness sensor on its surface. In general, since the street light is installed at a high position, the brightness detected by the brightness sensor may be due to the sun. However, since the brightness sensor may be affected by a plurality of light sources, for example, light generated from lamps inside or outside a building, light generated from a sign of a building, light generated from a light of a car, and the like, The manager may grasp the state of the light source around the solar street lamp in advance and store the information in the storage unit so that the controller accurately determines the brightness of the surroundings.

Therefore, the controller may turn on / off the lamp according to the change in brightness of the surroundings caused by the natural sunrise or sunset of the sun, but may turn on the lamp without the manager's management even when the weather suddenly becomes cloudy. That is, the first method is to determine the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness using not only the brightness information transmitted from the brightness sensor but also the weather information.

As a second method, the controller may determine whether to turn on the lamp using the position information of the sun.

In other words, the brightness of the solar street light is related to the position of the sun, that is, the altitude of the sun. The sun is at high altitude during the day and the sun is at low altitude at dawn or early evening, so It will get dark. Accordingly, the present invention can determine whether the lamp is on or off using the positional information of the sun.

For this purpose, the administrator can input the position information of the sun through the input unit or the interface, and the input position information of the sun is stored and managed in the storage unit.

At this time, the input position information of the sun, the position information of the sun, coordinate information and date information and time information related to the position information, coordinate information and date information of the sun in consideration of the coordinate information of the area where the solar street light is installed Location information of the sun. Since such information may be fixed by one input, unlike the date information, the information may be input through an input unit.

However, since the brightness of the area where the solar street light is installed may depend not only on the location of the sun but also on the surrounding environment, the administrator must input not only the location of the sun but also information on the surrounding environment. This information can be used to determine the on / off of the lamp. For example, in mountainous areas, the sun darkens more quickly, even at high altitudes, and in urban areas, it may darken more quickly in areas covered by tall buildings. And the surrounding information on the height of the building, the location of the building, the height of the building, etc. are comprehensively input. You can decide.

That is, the second method is a method of determining the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness by using not only the position information of the sun but also the surrounding information on which the solar street light is installed.

On the other hand, the second method by using the first method superimposed, it is possible to more effectively determine the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness. That is, even if the sun is located in a position other than the situation where the lamp should be turned on, the surroundings may become dark due to unpredictable situations or changes in the weather. Thus, the controller additionally uses methods used in the first method. It is possible to determine when the lamp is on / off and the degree of brightness.

As a third method, the controller may determine whether to turn on the lamp by using the power information, which is information on the magnitude of the voltage or current transmitted from the power sensor 60.

That is, the controller receives power information on the magnitude of the voltage or current of the electrical energy generated from the solar cell, or the magnitude of the voltage or the current of the electrical energy charged by the battery using the power detector, and the power information. Determining the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness can be performed using.

In other words, the darkening of the solar street light means that the light of the sun is reduced, and thus, when the sun light is reduced, the amount of electrical energy produced by the solar cell is also reduced. The magnitude of the current or voltage will also be smaller, and therefore, the magnitude of the current or voltage charged to the battery will also be smaller.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the controller may determine the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness according to the magnitude of the current or voltage of the electrical energy measured in the solar cell or the battery.

Meanwhile, even when the third method is used, the controller may apply the second method or the third method overlappingly, and may apply both the second method and the third method.

That is, the controller determines the on / off timing and the degree of brightness of the lamp using the brightness information and the weather information together with the power information, or the on / off timing of the lamp using the sun location information and the surrounding information together with the power information. And determining the degree of brightness, or comprehensively analyzing brightness information, weather information, sun location information, and surrounding information together with power information to determine the on / off timing of the lamp and the degree of brightness.

When it is determined that the lamp needs to be turned on through the determination process 206 as described above, the controller boosts the magnitude of the voltage or current provided to the converter 25 or the ballast 30 step by step, as described above. The lamp may be turned on by adjusting the brightness of the lamp step by step (208).

That is, even when the lamp is to be turned on through the determination process 206 as described above, when the ambient brightness is still maintained at the brightness that does not need to turn on the lamp to the maximum brightness, the control unit is a converter or ballast. By controlling the power provided by the low level rather than the maximum size, it is possible to control the lamp to have a low level of brightness, thus preventing unnecessary power waste.

Meanwhile, the controller may increase the brightness of the lamp sequentially by continuously going through the above-described determination process after illuminating the lamp at a low level.

In this case, when the lamp is turned on by the information related to the sunset, the controller may brightly adjust the brightness of the lamp sequentially over time without a separate determination process. However, when the lamp is turned on by the weather information, the controller may continuously determine whether to change the brightness of the lamp to a high level or a low level again by performing the determination process as described above. . In other words, when the weather information, the day is cleared again, so the surrounding brightness may be brightened. Considering the lighting condition of the lamp as described above is to prevent the power consumption is consumed by the control unit performs the unnecessary determination process.

For this reason, the determination process 206 may also be performed only under preset conditions.

That is, when the brightness information of the first method is applied, the brightness of the surroundings is changed with a certain amount of time except for a special case such as sudden dark clouds and darkening. By performing 206 every 15 minutes, every 30 minutes, or every hour, the power consumption of the controller can be reduced.

In addition, when the weather information is applied, the control unit may predict which time of day or day the weather is going to be worse or worse by using the previously obtained weather information. You can also do the process.

Next, in the case of using the position information of the sun of the second method, since the position information of the sun is changed in a predetermined order, the control unit may perform the determination process as described above at the time of sunrise or sunset.

In addition, when the surrounding information is used, the surrounding information is considered as incidental to the position information of the sun, and when the position information of the sun is used, the controller may perform the determination process as described above using the surrounding information together. .

When the power information of the third method is applied, the power information also changes sequentially according to the altitude and the weather of the sun, except in special cases, and the controller performs the determination process as described above at regular intervals as in the brightness information determination. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the control unit.

On the other hand, after adjusting and turning on the brightness of the lamp step by step as described above, the control unit again performs a process of determining the conditions for turning off the lamp (210).

That is, the control unit performs the same determination process 206 that was performed to turn on the lamp. In this case, however, the lamp is turned off so that the state of the determined information may be different.

For example, in the first method, the controller determines whether the brightness of the surroundings is bright or the weather improves. In the second method, the controller determines the sun location information and the surrounding information related to the sunrise. In the third method, the controller determines whether the magnitude of the current or the voltage is greater than a preset value.

That is, the process of determining the condition for turning on the lamp 206 and the process of determining the condition for turning off the lamp 210 may be performed by the same principle as the contents of the determination are different.

As a result of determining the condition 210 for the lamp off as described above, when it is necessary to turn off the lamp, the control unit adjusts the brightness of the lamp step by step and uses the same principle as in the step 208 of lighting to adjust the brightness of the lamp. Step by step control can be turned off (212).

That is, even when it is dawn and the surroundings are bright, the control unit does not turn off the lamp instantaneously because it is not brightened by the brightness that the field of view is immediately visible in the state where the field of vision is invisible, but becomes brighter with time. By sequentially turning off the lamp in consideration of the brightness, the power consumption can be reduced as in the case of lighting.

For example, conventionally, while driving the lamp at the maximum brightness until 6 am, assuming that the lamp is turned off after 6 o'clock, in the case of the present invention, the brightness of the lamp is sequentially reduced from 5:30, 6 When the time comes, the lamp can be turned off completely, thus reducing the power.

3 is a graph illustrating an example of a principle of sequentially controlling the brightness of a lamp by a solar street light according to the present invention. In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates a state of controlling the brightness of a lamp according to a charging amount (power information).

That is, FIG. 3 shows an operation state of the present invention in the case of considering power information (a magnitude of voltage or current), which is the third method among the above-described determination methods. Is the same as the graph shown in FIG.

First of all, when the sun rises at dawn, the amount of sunlight is sequentially increased, so that the amount of charge, that is, the voltage or current is also sequentially increased. Afterwards, when the sun is kept above a certain altitude, the amount of charge is also maintained at a constant amount. When the sun's altitude decreases in the afternoon, the amount of sunlight decreases sequentially and the amount of charge decreases sequentially. Then, when the sun sets, the amount of charge becomes zero. After that, when dawn comes again, the process as described above is repeated.

Next, the brightness change of the lamp by the dimming control of the lamp by sunlight is as shown in the graph shown in FIG.

That is, when the voltage or current sequentially increases after sunrise, the controller determines that the day is getting brighter and turns off the lamp, but decreases the brightness of the lamp step by step in proportion to the increase in the voltage or current or charge amount.

Afterwards, the lamp is completely turned off during the day, and again in the afternoon, as the sun's altitude decreases, when the voltage, current, or charge decreases, the lamp is judged to be darker, and the lamp is turned on. Alternatively, the brightness of the lamp may be increased step by step in proportion to the decrease in current or charge amount.

That is, the present invention as described above, by controlling the brightness of the lamp step by step in consideration of the brightness of the surrounding of the solar street lamp to the maximum, it has a feature that it is possible to prevent unnecessary consumption of the power produced in the solar power generation.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification, but should be defined by the claims.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a solar street light according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for turning on or turning off the solar street light according to the present invention by adjusting the brightness of the lamp step by step.

Figure 3 is an embodiment graph showing the principle that the solar street light according to the invention sequentially controls the brightness of the lamp.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10 solar cell 15 battery

20: control unit 25: converter

30: ballast (inverter) 35: lamp

40: input unit 45: output unit

50: storage unit 55: brightness detection unit

60: power detection unit 65: interface

Claims (6)

Solar cell for supplying electrical energy using solar energy; A battery for charging or discharging electrical energy output from the solar cell; A controller for controlling charging or discharging of the solar cell and the battery; A converter for boosting the voltage discharged from the battery to a high voltage; A lamp for outputting light; A ballast for converting the voltage boosted by the converter into a driving power source of a lamp; And It includes a power detector for detecting a change in the current or voltage of the electrical energy generated in the solar cell or charged in the battery, The control unit controls the brightness of the light output from the lamp step by step by controlling the current or voltage transmitted to the converter or ballast in accordance with the change amount of the power information transmitted from the power sensor. . The method of claim 1, Further comprising a brightness sensor for detecting the brightness of the surroundings, The control unit is a solar street light, characterized in that for controlling the brightness of the light of the lamp by using the brightness information transmitted from the brightness sensor along with the power information. The method of claim 2, Further comprising an interface for performing communication using a wired or wireless with a remote administrator terminal, The control unit is a solar street light, characterized in that for controlling the brightness of the light of the lamp step by step using the weather information transmitted through the interface, along with the power information and the brightness information. The method of claim 1, Further comprising a storage for storing information, The control unit is a solar street light, characterized in that for controlling the brightness of the light of the lamp by using the position information of the sun stored in the storage unit along with the power information. The method of claim 4, wherein The control unit, along with the power information and the location information, using the ambient information stored in the storage unit, the solar street light, characterized in that for controlling the brightness of the lamp step by step. The method of claim 5, The surrounding information includes at least one of the shape of the mountain around the region where the solar cell is located, the height of the mountain, the height of the building, the location of the building.

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