Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S3/00—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received
  • G01S3/78—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
  • G01S3/781—Details
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
  • F24S30/00—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules
  • F24S30/40—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement
  • F24S30/45—Arrangements for moving or orienting solar heat collector modules for rotary movement with two rotation axes
  • F24S30/455—Horizontal primary axis
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24S—SOLAR HEAT COLLECTORS; SOLAR HEAT SYSTEMS
  • F24S50/00—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors
  • F24S50/20—Arrangements for controlling solar heat collectors for tracking
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
  • G01S3/00—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received
  • G01S3/78—Direction-finders for determining the direction from which infrasonic, sonic, ultrasonic, or electromagnetic waves, or particle emission, not having a directional significance, are being received using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
  • G01S3/782—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction
  • G01S3/785—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using adjustment of orientation of directivity characteristics of a detector or detector system to give a desired condition of signal derived from that detector or detector system
  • G01S3/786—Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction using adjustment of orientation of directivity characteristics of a detector or detector system to give a desired condition of signal derived from that detector or detector system the desired condition being maintained automatically
  • G01S3/7861—Solar tracking systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
  • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
  • H01L31/042—PV modules or arrays of single PV cells
  • H01L31/0475—PV cell arrays made by cells in a planar, e.g. repetitive, configuration on a single semiconductor substrate; PV cell microarrays
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
  • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
  • H02S20/00—Supporting structures for PV modules
  • H02S20/30—Supporting structures being movable or adjustable, e.g. for angle adjustment
  • H02S20/32—Supporting structures being movable or adjustable, e.g. for angle adjustment specially adapted for solar tracking
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/40—Solar thermal energy, e.g. solar towers
  • Y02E10/47—Mountings or tracking
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a sun tracking sensor unit and a sun tracking apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a sun tracking sensor unit, which has a high tracking accuracy since the lower limit of trackable illumination intensity is low and is simple in whole structure, and a sun tracking apparatus having the sun tracking sensor unit.
• characteristics of a cadmium sulfide (CDS) photoconductive cell are used in sun tracking. That is, the characteristics of the CDS photoconductive cell include a characteristic in which its internal resistance is decreased when the CDS photoconductive cell receive various types of beams such as sunbeams and a characteristic of a bridge circuit, i.e., a characteristic in which current flows by passing through a middle portion of the bridge circuit when resistance unbalance exists between resistors arranged in a diamond pattern.
• Solar energy is the most representative example of alternative energies to be developed or researched.
• the solar energy is collected by allowing a solar panel having a plurality of solar cells attached thereon to be directed to the sun, wherein the solar cell has a characteristic, in which current is generated when the sunlight is received, i.e., photoelectric effect.
• Such solar energy collecting mechanism is a fundamental principle of an apparatus using solar energy as an alternative energy.
• studies have been actively conducted to collect a maximum amount of solar energy.
• the movement of the sun is basically tracked using a separate sensor unit so that the solar panel is continuously directed toward the sun in the daytime.
• a sensor unit for tracking the movement of the sun is a sun tracking sensor unit.
• a conventional sun tracking sensor unit comprises four optical sensors for respectively sensing solar illumination intensities at specifically partitioned areas, i.e., east, west, south and north areas; one optical sensor for sensing a total solar illumination intensity; and a computer controller for receiving information of values sensed from these optical sensors to calculate a quantity required in adjusting an angle of a solar panel and to provide a control command.
• a conventional sun tracking apparatus has a sun tracking sensor unit provided with the aforementioned structure, and mainly comprises a motor driver operating in accordance with control commands provided from the sun tracking sensor unit.
• An object of the present invention is to provide a well configured sun tracking sensor unit having a high tracking accuracy due to the lower limit of trackable illumination intensity, and a sun tracking apparatus having the sun tracking sensor unit.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide a sun tracking sensor unit having a simple whole structure and a low manufacturing and maintenance cost, and a sun tracking apparatus having the sun tracking sensor unit.
• CDS elements cadmium sulfide photoconductive cells
• a sun tracking sensor unit comprises an upright barrier for partitioning a sensor case into four specific areas of east, west, south and north; CDS elements respectively disposed in the four areas partitioned by the upright barrier; and the sensor case functioning as a body for supporting the upright barrier and the CDS elements.
• a sun tracking sensor unit comprises the sun tracking sensor unit having the aforementioned characterized configuration; a solar panel combination including a solar panel having a plurality of solar cells attached thereon and a solar support body coupled to a rear thereof; a housing functioning as a body for supporting the sun tracking sensor unit and the solar panel combination; and an east- west driving motor and a south-north driving motor, coupled to the housing to adjust an angle of the solar panel by rotating the solar support body respectively in east- west and south-north directions.
• the sun tracking sensor unit comprising the CDS elements respectively disposed in the four specific areas partitioned by the upright barrier and there is provided the circuit for controlling an angle of the solar panel comprising two bridge circuits respectively having two CDS elements corresponding to each other, which are disposed separately in the east- west or south-north.
• the two CDS elements corresponding to each other constitute a bridge circuit in which they are disposed at the same point on different branch lines, and current flows into the bridge circuit, current passing across a middle portion of the bridge circuit (hereinafter, referred to as "unbalanced current”) flows due to the internal resistance unbalance between the CDS elements and the voltage unbalance between the branch lines including the CDS elements.
• the operation of an east- west driving motor or south-north driving motor is controlled using the intensity of the unbalanced current generated due to the internal resistance unbalance between the two CDS elements corresponding to each other as a signal value, thereby allowing the solar panel to be continuously directed to the sun.
• CDS element as a unit sensor, has a change in internal resistance even with respect to a considerably weak light. While a conventional sun tracking sensor unit does not properly operate in an illumination intensity state of below 10000 LUX, the sun tracking sensor unit according to the present invention precisely operates even in an illumination intensity state of about 300 LUX, thereby having tracking accuracy considerably superior to that of the conventional sun tracking sensor unit.
• FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an east- west tracking sensor unit constituting a sun tracking sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 2 is a front view showing a sun tracking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 4 is a left side view showing the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a mutual coupling relation between a solar support body and an upper connection body, which constitute the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a mutual coupling relation between an upper support body and a connection body, which constitute the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention
• Figs. 7 and 8 are partial circuit diagrams showing a circuit for controlling an east- west angle of a solar panel in the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (they are interconnected through three points A, B and C on these figures); and
• FIGs. 9 to 10 are partial circuit diagrams showing a circuit for controlling a south- north angle of the solar panel in the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention (they are interconnected through three points A, B and C on these figures).
• CDS(E) East CDS element
• CDS(W) West CDS element
• CDS(S) South CDS element
• CDS(N) North CDS element
• Fig. 1 is a front sectional view showing an east- west tracking sensor unit 10-1 constituting a sun tracking sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• the east- west tracking sensor unit 10-1 comprises an upright barrier 12 for partitioning a sensor case 11 into both east and west areas; CDS elements, i.e., an east CDS element CDS(E) and a west CDS element CDS(W), respectively disposed in the specific areas partitioned by the upright barrier 12; and the sensor case 11 functioning as a body for supporting the CDS elements and the upright barrier 12.
• CDS elements i.e., an east CDS element CDS(E) and a west CDS element CDS(W)
• the sensor case 11 is a cylinder having a top-opened sidewall with an appropriate height of about 30 mm, at which integral sidelight projected onto the CDS elements CDS(E) and CDS(W) can be blocked.
• the top of the cylinder is covered by a cover 13 made of a transparent or translucent plate material, such as glass or acrylic.
• the cover 13 is made of a glass material whose color is changed depending on the brightness of light, considering that the CDS elements are considerably sensitive to light because of their material characteristics.
• the upright barrier 12 is made of an opaque material which casts its shadow over the CDS elements CDS(E) and CDS(W) attached on a bottom surface of the sensor case.
• an east- west tracking sensor unit and a south-north tracking sensor unit are separately formed by dividing the upright barrier 12 into a barrier for east- west partitioning and a barrier for south-north partitioning and allowing the barriers to be respectively disposed in separate sensor cases 11.
• all the functions of the east- west tracking sensor unit and the south-north tracking sensor unit may be implemented in one sensor case by forming the upright barrier in an X shape for east- west-south-north partitioning and allowing CDS elements to be disposed in the respective areas.
• a solar tracking apparatus 20 comprises the solar tracking sensor unit 10 having the aforementioned configuration; a solar panel combination 20 including a solar panel 22 having a plurality of solar cells attached thereon and a solar support body 24 coupled to the rear thereof; a housing 30 functioning as a body for supporting the sun tracking sensor unit 10 and the solar panel combination 20; and an east-west driving motor 40 and a south-north driving motor 50, coupled to the housing to adjust an angle of the solar panel 22 by rotating the solar support body 24 in east-west and south-north directions.
• the housing 30 is configured in the form of a combination of a support body 31 and a connection body 32. While the support body 31 defining a lower end of the housing 30 is fixed to a ground or platform (not shown), the connection body 32 defining an upper end thereof serves to connect the solar support body 24 to the support body 31.
• the support body 31 is configured in the form of a combination of a lower support body 31-1 fixed directly to the ground or the like and an upper support body 31-2 providing a mutually coupling portion to the connection body 32.
• the lower support body 31-1 is formed with horizontal plates respectively welded to both upper and lower ends of a quadrangular steel tube.
• various types of wires constituting a circuit for controlling an angle of the solar panel pass through the interior of the lower support body.
• the upper support body 31-2 has two bent plates coupled to the upper end of the lower support body 31-1.
• the bent plates are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval to define a vertical gap, and a vertical plate- shaped lower end of the connection body 32 is inserted into the gap.
• connection body 32 is coupled to each other through a rotation shaft of the south-north driving motor 50, which makes a relative rotary motion possible.
• a storage battery 60 and a control box 70 are coupled to the support body 31 constituting the housing 30.
• the storage battery 60 is an essential component for controlling an angle of the solar panel as described above, while the control box 70 serves as a container in which various types of electric elements constituting the circuit for the control are accommodated.
• the sun tracking apparatus 100 as configured above rotates from east to west, i.e., in a direction of the arrow, at the same time when the sun rises.
• the rotation is performed about a rotation shaft of the east- west driving motor 40 by the operation thereof.
• Unexplained reference numeral B designates a bolt for fixing a driving motor or the like.
• FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
• a support plate 23 is coupled to a rear surface of the solar panel 22 to which the plurality of solar cells are directly attached, and the solar support body 24 of a U- shaped bent plate is welded to the rear surface of the support plate 23, so that they are formed in a single body.
• connection body 32 comprises an upper connection body 31-1 and a lower connection body 32-2 welded to a lower end thereof. While the upper connection body 32- 1 is a U-shaped bent plate, the lower connection body 32-2 is formed in the shape of a vertical plate.
• a lower end of the U-shaped solar support body 24 is inserted into a U-shaped internal space of the upper connection body 32-1.
• connection body 32-1 and the solar support body 24 are coupled to each other through a rotation shaft of the east- west driving motor 40, which makes a relative rotary motion possible.
• Unexplained reference numeral N designates a nut for fixing the support plate 24.
• FIG. 4 is a left side view showing the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is used to illustrate a mounting state of the sun tracking sensor unit 10, or a south inclination of the solar panel 22.
• the sun tracking sensor unit 10 comprises an east- west tracking sensor unit 10-1 and a south-north tracking sensor unit 10-2.
• the internal structure of the east- west tracking sensor unit 10-1 is identical to that of the south- north tracking sensor unit 10-2, except that the aforementioned two upright barriers are vertically or horizontally disposed respectively.
• the sun tracking sensor unit of the present invention should not be limited to a structure in which it is divided into sensor units for east- west tracking and south-north tracking.
• the solar panel 22 having the plurality of solar cells 21 attached thereon in line rotates from east to west while tracking the sun. Practically, the solar panel rotates from east to west while maintaining a state where it is slightly inclined to the south.
• Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a mutual coupling relation between the solar support body and the upper connection body (see Fig. 3).
• the left side of the solar support body 24 is directly supported by the upper connection body 32-1, while the right side of the solar support body 24 is supported by an additional round bar-shaped support shaft S, which is welded while passing through the center of the plate.
• a decelerator R is mounted at the right side of the east- west driving motor 40.
• Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a mutual coupling relation between the upper support body and the connection body (see Fig. 2).
• connection body 32 Outer ends of a steel tube T welded while passing through a lower end of the connection body 32 are respectively supported by both the left and right bent plates constituting the upper support body 31-2. As bearings Br are mounted at the support portions, a relative rotary motion between the members is implemented.
• the steel tube T is fixedly coupled to the rotation shaft of the south-north driving motor 50 through the key K.
• the whole components except the south-north driving motor 50 and the key K i.e., the upper support body 31-2 and the connection body 32 are assembled, and then, the rotation shaft of the south-north driving motor 50 is inserted.
• FIGs. 7 and 8 are partial circuit diagrams showing a circuit for controlling an east- west angle of the solar panel in the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein they are interconnected through three points A, B and C on these figures.
• a bridge circuit which is a basic component of the sun tracking apparatus according to the present invention, is shown in an upper region of Fig. 7.
• the two CDS element corresponding to each other, i.e., the east CDS element CDS(E) and the west CDS element CDS(W) are disposed at the same position on different branch lines ⁇ J and g, at a side of a current inlet terminal (point a) on the bridge circuit.
• CDS(W) offsets resistance unbalance between the CDS elements, caused under mass production, so that the exact same resistance is formed between points a and b and between points a and c.
• a branch line r that allows middle points on the two branch lines £ and cj. constituting the bridge circuit to be connected to each other is divided into two sub- branch lines, and then, diodes Dl and D2 are disposed on the sub-branch lines, respectively.
• the diodes Dl and D2 have directions opposite to each other so as to detect currents flowing in opposite directions to each other.
• a rectifying circuit is disposed just below the bridge circuit.
• AC 220 V is converted into about DC 240 V via the rectifying circuit comprising a bridge diode BD and an electrolytic capacitor (a portion designated by 350 V and 33 ⁇ F).
• An AC input unit (a portion designated by AC 220 V) shown at a lower portion of the circuit diagram is connected to an inverter (not shown) that converts DC current into AC current.
• the inverter is also connected to the storage battery (reference numeral 60 in Figs. 3, 4 and 5) that is a storage place of solar energy collected from the solar cells on the solar panel.
• the illustrated circuit diagram is only an embodiment showing the angle controlling system of the solar panel in the sun tracking apparatus according to the present invention.
• the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.
• CDS(E) as the sun is more inclined toward the west as compared with the direction in which the east- west tracking sensor unit is directed.
• a west magnet switch MC2 operates, which as a result, causes an east- west driving motor Ml to rotate clockwise (based on the rotational direction of the east- west driving motor in Fig. 3).
• the east- west tracking sensor unit precisely tracks the movement of the sun to the west.
• the unbalanced current flows from the point b to the point c on the bridge circuit.
• the unbalanced current is detected by the diode Dl and flows into an OP amplifier AMPl through connection points A and B via the photo coupler PC shown in Fig. 8.
• an east magnet switch MCl operates, which as a result, causes the east- west driving motor Ml to rotate counterclockwise (see Fig. 3).
• the east-west tracking sensor unit is also directed to the sun, i.e., its angle is adjusted to the east.
• the solar panel combination causes a west limit switch Ll to operate, and at the same time, a timer T operates.
• unexplained reference numeral D designates a light emitting diode for indicating a direction of current, i.e., whether current flows to the east or the west. It will be apparent that if the light emitting diode is not necessary, it may be removed from the circuit.
• FIGs. 9 to 10 are partial circuit diagrams showing a circuit for controlling a south- north angle of the solar panel in the sun tracking apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which they are interconnected through three points A, B and C on these figures.
• Figs. 9 and 10 are substantially identical to Figs. 7 and 8 except that the east CDS element CDS(E), the west CDS element CDS(W) and the east- west driving motor Ml are replaced by a south CDS element CDS(S), a north CDS element CDS(N) and a south-north driving motor M2, respectively.
• a sun tracking sensor unit and a sun tracking apparatus having the same wherein CDS elements that are very sensitive to light are used as unit sensors, so that its tracking accuracy is high and its whole structure is simple, thereby having a low manufacturing and maintenance cost.
• the present invention can be variously applied to industrial fields using solar energy as a main alternative energy.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Sustainable Energy (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
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• Control Of Position Or Direction (AREA)

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• 2007
  • 2007-09-03 KR KR1020070088774A patent/KR100898501B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-10-29 JP JP2010524766A patent/JP2011512017A/ja active Pending
  • 2007-10-29 WO PCT/KR2007/005354 patent/WO2009031726A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2007-10-29 AU AU2007358713A patent/AU2007358713A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-10-29 EP EP07833662A patent/EP2191208A1/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2010
  • 2010-03-01 US US12/714,834 patent/US20100192940A1/en not_active Abandoned

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