KR20200110850A - Cleaning system for solar panel using drone - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a photovoltaic panel cleaning system using a drone capable of cleaning operation of an exact location. The photovoltaic panel cleaning system using a drone comprises: a control stage including a path generation unit for generating a flight path including a cleaning position of a photovoltaic panel and a control communication unit for transmitting the flight path; and a drone bot including a main body, a plurality of lift generation units which generate lift and are fixed to the main body, a landing movement unit which is arranged on a lower side of the main body and provides a moving means on the photovoltaic panel, a location measurement unit which measures a current location based on a GPS signal, a cleaning unit which removes impurities from a surface of the photovoltaic panel, a drone communications unit which receives the flight path, and a flight control unit which controls the lift generation unit to fly along the flight path based on the current location, and landing on the photovoltaic panel of the cleaning position to clean an upper surface of the photovoltaic panel.

Description

Solar panel cleaning system using drone {CLEANING SYSTEM FOR SOLAR PANEL USING DRONE}

The present invention (Disclosure) relates to a solar panel cleaning system using a drone, and specifically, it is possible to easily clean a plurality of solar panels installed in a large area, cleaning work at an accurate location is possible, and installed in a wide range. It relates to a solar panel cleaning system using a drone that can shorten the cleaning time of a large amount of solar panels.

Here, background technology related to the present invention is provided, and these do not necessarily mean known technology (This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art).

There are over 8,500 solar power installation companies nationwide. Since the solar panel, which is the core of solar power generation, requires a large area, it is common to be installed in hills where most of the people are rare.

The power generation characteristic of a solar panel is proportional to the amount of sunlight used as an energy source. However, even if the amount of sunlight is sufficient, if the incident of sunlight to the solar panel itself is hindered, a decrease in power generation efficiency is inevitable.

That is, when dust, foreign matter, and dirt accumulate on the top surface of the solar panel, power generation efficiency decreases.

When a number of solar cells constituting one panel generate unevenly due to foreign matter accumulated in the solar panel, the resistance per cell increases and a heat generation phenomenon occurs. Therefore, foreign matter such as dust accumulated on the upper surface of the solar panel may cause a problem of not only reducing power generation efficiency, but also reducing the lifespan of the solar cell.

The conventional solar panel cleaning method uses a cleaning robot similar to a household cleaning robot or regularly cleaning using a roller mounted on the panel.

However, cleaning using a roller mounted on a panel is not easy to operate because it is fixedly installed on a solar panel, and there is a problem that it must be repeatedly installed for each individual panel.

In addition, solar panel cleaning using a cleaning robot has a problem in that a large amount of panels installed in a large area must be moved one by one to perform a cleaning operation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a solar panel cleaning system using a drone that can easily clean a plurality of solar panels installed in a wide area.

An object of the present invention (Disclosure) is to provide a solar panel cleaning system using a drone capable of performing a precise location cleaning operation by digitally converting the location and shape of a solar panel using GIS technology.

The present invention (Disclosure) is to provide a solar panel cleaning system using a drone that can shorten the cleaning time of a large amount of solar panels installed in a wide range by simultaneously operating a plurality of dronebots through a plurality of channels. The purpose.

Here, a summary of the present invention is provided, and this section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features).

In order to solve the above problems, a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to one of the various aspects describing the present invention is a path for generating a flight path including a cleaning location of the solar panel A control terminal including a generator and a control communication unit for transmitting the flight path; And a main body, a plurality of lift generating units generating a lift fixed to the main body, a landing moving unit disposed under the main body to provide a means of movement on the solar panel, and a current position based on a GPS signal. A position measuring unit for measuring, and a cleaning unit for removing impurities on the surface of the solar panel, a drone communication unit for receiving the flight path, and controlling the lift generating unit to fly along the flight path based on the current position. Including a flight control unit, a drone bot that lands on the solar panel at the cleaning position and cleans the upper surface of the solar panel.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of several aspects describing the present invention, the drone bot measures the attitude of the main body and generates tilt information of the main body. And a take-off and landing control unit for landing and taking off on the upper surface of the solar panel inclined by controlling the lift generating unit so that the lift force has asymmetry based on the tilt information.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the landing moving part is characterized in that the orbital driving device structure includes a pair of caterpillar tracks. do.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the cleaning unit is characterized in that it is a rotary brush.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the control unit is a GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis method of the solar panel. Further comprising geographic information for generating location and shape information, the route generation unit is characterized in that to generate the flight route based on the location and shape information.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of several aspects describing the present invention, the drone bot further includes a ground image acquisition unit for acquiring a ground image during flight, and the drone communication unit The ground image and the current location are matched and transmitted to the control communication unit, and the geographic information unit generates the location and shape information based on the ground image and the current location.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the ground image acquisition unit measures the terrain using a high-resolution camera or Lidar (Light Detection And Ranging). It is characterized in that it is any one of the devices.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the ground image acquisition unit is characterized in that it further comprises a thermal imaging camera.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to one of the various aspects describing the present invention, the location measurement unit is characterized by using a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS method.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to any one of several aspects describing the present invention, the control communication unit uses a plurality of available channels, and the drone communication unit includes the plurality of channels. It characterized in that the communication using any one of.

According to the present invention, by using a drone bot equipped with a cleaning unit capable of removing impurities from a landing surface, it is possible to easily clean a plurality of solar panels installed in a large area.

According to the present invention, by using GIS technology to digitalize the location and shape of a solar panel, it is possible to perform a cleaning operation of an accurate location.

According to the present invention, by simultaneously operating a plurality of dronebots through a plurality of channels, it is possible to shorten the cleaning time of a large amount of solar panels installed in a wide range.

1 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention.
2 to 3 are views showing an embodiment of a drone bot included in a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention.
4 to 7 are views for explaining a situation in which a drone bot included in a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention lands on a solar panel.

Hereinafter, an embodiment implementing a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

However, the intrinsic technical idea of the present invention cannot be said to be limited by the embodiments to be described below, and the intrinsic technical idea of the present invention is given below by a person skilled in the art. It turns out to cover the range that can be easily proposed by a method of substitution or change of the embodiment described in FIG.

In addition, since the terms used below are selected for convenience of description, in grasping the intrinsic technical idea of the present invention, it is not limited to the dictionary meaning and is appropriately interpreted as a meaning consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Should be.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 3 are an implementation of a drone bot included in a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention. The form is a drawing.

1 to 3, the solar panel cleaning system according to the present embodiment includes a control terminal 100 and a drone bot 200.

The control terminal 100 includes a route generation unit 120 and a control communication unit 110. The path generation unit 120 generates a flight path 121 including a cleaning position of the solar panel 1. The control communication unit 110 transmits the flight path 121 using a plurality of available channels, and communicates with the drone communication unit 210 to be described later.

The drone bot 200 includes a body, a lift generating unit 230, a landing moving unit 280, a position measuring unit 240, a cleaning unit 290, a drone communication unit 210, and a flight control unit 220. .

The body forms the skeleton of the drone bot 200, and is equipped with a lift generating unit 230, a landing moving unit 280, a position measuring unit 240, a cleaning unit 290, and a drone communication unit 210.

The lift generating unit 230 is fixed to the main body to generate lift, and preferably, a plurality of lift generating units 230 are disposed at different horizontal positions of the main body. The lift generating unit 230 may generate lift by the rotational force of the propeller.

The landing moving part 280 is disposed under the main body to provide a means of movement on the solar panel. The landing moving unit 280 is preferably an orbital driving device structure including a pair of caterpillar tracks. In addition, the caterpillar track has a high coefficient of friction and uses an elastic material, and the outer surface forms a V-shaped uneven surface.

The location measurement unit 240 measures the current location 241 of the dronebot 200 based on a GPS signal.

The cleaning unit 290 removes impurities on the surface of the solar panel 1. The cleaning unit 290 is preferably a rotary brush, and is disposed in front and rear of the landing moving unit 280 of the tracked driving device structure.

The drone communication unit 210 receives the flight path 121 generated by the control terminal 100.

The flight control unit 220 controls the lift generating unit 230 to fly along the flight path 121 based on the current position 241.

In the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention, the drone bot 200 moves along the flight path 121 created at the control stage, lands on the solar panel 1 at the cleaning position, and Clean the top surface of the panel (1).

When the drone bot 200 lands on the solar panel, the cleaning unit 290 having a rotating brush structure rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the tracked driving device. The solar panel 1 is installed inclined at a specific angle according to the altitude of the sun in order to maximize the amount of light received.

When the drone bot 200 moves in the inclined direction of the solar panel 1 and the rotating brush rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the tracked driving device, impurities on the upper surface of the solar panel 1 are moved to the lower side of the panel. Can be easily removed.

In addition, as described above, the control communication unit 110 of the control terminal 100 may operate a plurality of dronebots 200 simultaneously by using a plurality of channels. A plurality of different drone bots 200 may perform a cleaning operation while flying along different flight paths 121. By operating the plurality of dronebots 200 at the same time, in a large-scale solar power plant in which a large number of solar panels 1 are installed, there is an advantage of shortening the time required for cleaning.

In addition, in the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention, the control panel 100 may further include geographic information for generating location and shape information 131 of the solar panel 1. have. In addition, the path generation unit 120 may generate the flight path 121 based on the location and shape information of the generated solar panel 1. At this time, the geographic information unit 130 generates position and shape information of the solar panel 1 using a GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis method.

In addition, in the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention, the dronebot 200 may further include a ground image acquisition unit 270 that acquires an image of the ground during flight. The drone communication unit 210 matches the ground image 271 and the current location 241 and transmits it to the control communication unit 110. The geographic information unit 130 generates location and shape information 131 based on the ground image 271 and the current location 241.

That is, the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention uses the dronebot 200 to obtain a ground image 271 including the solar panel 1 installed in a large area, The location and shape of (1) can be converted into digital information using the GIS analysis method.

In addition, the ground image acquisition unit 270 may be any one of a high-resolution camera or a terrain measurement device using a lidar (Light Detection And Ranging).

In addition, the ground image acquisition unit 270 further includes a thermal imaging camera to monitor the heating state of the solar panel 1 when the drone bot 200 flies the flight path 121 for cleaning work. can do.

In addition, in an embodiment of the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention, the location measurement unit 240 may be set to a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) navigation mode to use an RTK survey technique. Therefore, it is possible to minimize an error that occurs in location measurement using a general GPS.

The drone bot 200 included in the solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a posture measurement sensor 260 and a take-off and landing control unit 250.

The posture measuring sensor 260 measures the posture of the main body and generates tilt information 261 of the main body. The attitude measurement sensor 260 may preferably include a 3-axis or 6-axis gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor.

The take-off and landing control unit 250 controls the lift generation unit 230 so that the lift force has asymmetry based on the slope information 261. Since the lift force generated by the lift generating unit 230 has an asymmetry, the main body can be easily taken off and landed on the inclined upper surface of the solar panel 1.

In the drone bot 200 having a plurality of lift generating units 230, a plurality of propellers rotate to generate lift. When a plurality of propellers all generate the same lift, the body of the drone bot 200 is maintained horizontally, and if no external force is applied, the horizontal position may be fixed.

If the lift by multiple propellers is not the same, an imbalance in lift occurs. The lift imbalance tilts the body of the drone bot 200 at a specific angle, and at this time, the drone bot 200 may move in the tilted direction.

In general drones, the main body is tilted to move in a horizontal position, and in order to maintain a specific horizontal position, the main body must be kept horizontal.

When landing on an inclined surface using a general drone, when the inclination of the main body is detected, the inclination is prevented by enhancing the lift force of the lift generating unit 230 in the inclined direction. Therefore, normal landing is impossible. If the lift generation operation of all the lift generation units 230 is stopped during landing, damage may occur by impacting the landing point on the slope, or if the inclination angle of the slope is large, the drone may fall.

The dronebot 200 of the cleaning system according to the present invention performs a cleaning operation only after landing on the solar panel 1 installed at an inclined angle. In the solar panel 1, power generation efficiency and power generation amount are determined according to the amount of incident sunlight. This is why the cleaning operation of removing impurities on the upper surface of the solar panel 1 is important.

When the drone bot 200 landing on the upper surface of the solar panel (1) for cleaning, strikes the upper surface of the solar panel (1) during take-off and landing, or other accidents occur, the solar panel (1) upper surface Can cause irreversible damage.

The drone bot 200 according to the present invention must land on the top surface of the inclined solar panel 1 so that it does not deviate from the landing point, which is a cleaning position, and does not cause scratches or damage.

The take-off and landing control unit 250 first contacts the upper surface of the solar panel 1 in which one side of the lower surface of the landing moving unit 280 of the drone bot 200 is inclined, and the body is tilted to the other side Until it contacts the upper surface of the solar panel 1, the lift force generated by the lift generating unit 230 according to the tilt information 261 of the main body maintains the back symmetry.

4 to 7 are views for explaining a situation in which a drone bot included in a solar panel cleaning system using a drone according to the present invention lands on a solar panel.

First, referring to FIG. 4, the take-off and landing control unit 250 reduces or stops the operation of the lift generating unit 230-2 in the first contact with the solar panel 1. On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 4 to 6, the decrease in the lift force of the lift generating unit 230-1 in the direction in which the separation distance from the solar panel 1 remains long is reduced at a slow speed. At this time, based on the inclination information 261, a change in inclination of the body 201 according to the amount of decrease in the lift force of the lift generating unit 230-1 is sensed. As the lift force of the lift generating unit 230-1 decreases, as shown in FIG. 7, the entire lower surface of the landing moving unit 280 is completely in contact with the upper surface of the solar panel 1, so that the dronebot 200 You can make a soft landing on the top of this panel.

100 control team
110 Ministry of Control and Communication
120 path generator
121 Flight Path
130 Geographic Information Department
131 Panel position shape
200 dronebots
210 Drone Communication Department
220 flight control unit
230 Lift generator
240 Position measurement unit
241 Current location
250 Take-off and landing control
260 attitude sensor
261 Tilt information
270 Paper Image Acquisition Department
271 Paper Image
280 Landing Movement
290 cleaning department

Claims (2)

A control terminal including a path generator for generating a flight path including a cleaning position of the solar panel and a control communication unit for transmitting the flight path; And
The main body, a plurality of lift generating units that generate lift fixed to the main body, a landing moving unit disposed under the main body to provide a means of movement on the solar panel, and a current location based on a GPS signal A position measuring unit to measure, a cleaning unit to remove impurities from the surface of the solar panel, a drone communication unit to receive the flight path, and a flight to control the lift generation unit to fly along the flight path based on the current position Including a control unit, a drone bot that lands on the solar panel at the cleaning position and cleans the upper surface of the solar panel; a solar panel cleaning system using a drone. The method according to claim 1,
The dronebot,
Landing on the upper surface of the solar panel inclined the main body by controlling the lift generating unit so that the lift has asymmetry based on the tilt information and a posture measuring sensor that measures the posture of the main body And a take-off and landing control unit for taking off. A solar panel cleaning system using a drone.

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