WO2012018154A1

WO2012018154A1 - Efficiency-enhancing equipment for a tracking solar power generation system

Info

Publication number: WO2012018154A1
Application number: PCT/KR2010/006432
Authority: WO
Inventors: 유상필
Original assignee: (주)하이레벤
Priority date: 2010-08-03
Filing date: 2010-09-17
Publication date: 2012-02-09
Also published as: KR101107623B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to efficiency-enhancing equipment for a tracking solar power generation system. The equipment of the present invention, which maintains or improves efficiency by spraying cooling water onto an electricity-generating solar concentrator module, includes a storage tank for storing the cooling water, a cooling water spraying medium which sprays the cooling water onto the solar concentrator module while adjusting a speed at which the cooling water is sprayed according to the angle of the module, a pump which pumps the coolant water stored in the storage tank in order to supply the coolant water to the coolant water spraying medium through a coolant water supply pipe, a valve which opens or closes the coolant water supply pipe to control the coolant water sprayed by the coolant water spraying medium, and a control portion which adjusts the operation of the pump and the opening and closing of the valve so as to control the coolant water sprayed by the coolant water spraying medium.

Description

Efficiency Enhancement Facility of Tracking PV System

The present invention relates to a tracking device for improving efficiency of a photovoltaic power generation system, and more particularly, to a tracking type that can minimize the loss of cooling water by adjusting the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means according to the inclination angle of the solar module. The present invention relates to a facility for improving efficiency of photovoltaic power generation facilities.

Generally, the method of using solar energy is largely divided into a method using solar heat and a method using solar light. The method of using solar heat is to heat and generate electricity using water heated by the sun, and the method of using solar light can generate electricity by using the light of the sun to operate various machines and appliances. It is called solar power.

In the above-described method, the photovoltaic effect in which photovoltaic power generation is caused by electron-hole electromotive force generated by light energy when irradiating sunlight to a pn junction photovoltaic panel with n-type doping on a silicon crystal. Generate electricity using

To this end, a solar cell for condensing sunlight, a photovoltaic module that is an assembly of solar cells, and a solar array in which the solar cells are constantly arranged are required.

For example, when light is incident on the solar module from the outside, electrons in the conduction band of the p-type semiconductor are excited to the valence band by the incident light energy. One electron-hole pair (EHP) is formed inside the p-type semiconductor, and electrons in the electron-hole pair generated are transferred to the n-type semiconductor by an electric field existing between the pn junctions. It passes over and supplies current to the outside.

Unlike conventional energy sources such as fossil raw materials, sunlight is a clean energy source without the risks of greenhouse gas emissions, noise, and environmental degradation that cause global warming, and there is no fear of exhaustion. In addition, unlike other wind and sea power, solar power plants have the advantage of free installation and low maintenance costs.

However, in the case of the most widely used silicon solar cell, when the temperature of the photovoltaic module rises, output decrease of 0.5% per 1 ° C occurs. According to these characteristics, the output of solar power peaks in spring and autumn, not in the summer when the sun is the longest. This increase in temperature is a major cause of lowering the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic power generation.

In addition, the photovoltaic module has a disadvantage that dirt may easily accumulate on the solar panel due to meteorological phenomena such as yellow sand and bad weather. If dirt accumulates on the photovoltaic module, the light absorption rate of the photovoltaic module is significantly reduced, and thus the power generation efficiency may also be reduced.

In addition, when rain or snow falls on the solar panel in winter, a decrease in power generation efficiency may occur. In order to prevent the deterioration of power generation efficiency caused by dirt, snow, and rain, a photovoltaic power plant maintenance device is used.

Photovoltaic power generation equipment efficiency improvement equipment (maintenance equipment) performs constant power generation by photovoltaic module cooling by cooling the temperature of photovoltaic module and washing and snow removing dirt, snow and rain accumulated on solar panel. It functions to maintain and maintain photovoltaic power generation facilities.

As such, the efficiency improvement facilities of photovoltaic power generation facilities use enormous amounts of water (cooling water, washing water, snow removal water, etc., but may be collectively referred to as cooling water) for cooling and washing the solar modules. Depending on the location, groundwater, tap water, and river water are used as cooling water. In many areas where supply of sufficient cooling water is difficult, electricity used for supplying and spraying cooling water also reduces the efficiency of the photovoltaic plant as a whole. Efficient use of cooling water is one of the most important factors in the design of PV plant maintenance.

Therefore, the present invention has been invented to solve this problem, in consideration of the fact that the inclination angle of the photovoltaic module is changed according to the daily altitude of the sun in the tracking photovoltaic power generation equipment, is injected from the coolant injection means It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficiency improving facility of a tracked photovoltaic power generation facility that can eliminate the loss of cooling water by controlling the spraying speed of the cooling water to prevent the cooling water from being injected out of the solar module.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, in the efficiency improvement equipment of the trace-type photovoltaic power generation equipment to maintain or improve the efficiency by spraying the cooling water to the solar module that collects sunlight to generate electricity, storing the cooling water Storage tanks; Coolant spray means for spraying the coolant to the solar module, the spraying speed of the coolant according to the inclination angle of the solar module; A pump for pumping the cooling water stored in the storage tank and supplying the cooling water to the cooling water injection means through a cooling water supply pipe; A valve for opening and closing the cooling water supply pipe to control cooling water injection of the cooling water injection means; And a control unit controlling the driving of the pump and the opening and closing of the valve to control the cooling water injection of the cooling water injection means.

The efficiency improvement facility of the tracking photovoltaic power generation facility may adjust the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means by using a variable regulator.

In addition, the efficiency improving equipment of the tracking photovoltaic power generation equipment may change the motor rotation speed of the pump to adjust the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means.

In addition, the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracer photovoltaic power generation facility may adjust the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means by changing the opening and closing area of the cooling water supply pipe.

The cooling water injection means may be installed at one end of the solar module.

The efficiency improvement system of the tracking photovoltaic power generation facility further includes a sensing unit for sensing an inclination angle of the solar module, an inclination angle of the coolant injection means, or an altitude of the sun, according to the sensing result of the sensing unit. The injection speed of the injection means can be adjusted.

The controller may stop the injection of the coolant when it is determined that it is raining by determining whether the rain sensor is on or off.

The controller may continuously spray the coolant when the light transmittance of the solar module is less than a set value.

The efficiency improvement facility of the tracked photovoltaic power generation facility may measure the water pressure in the cooling water supply pipe and terminate the start if the measured water pressure is less than the set minimum pressure or exceeds the maximum pressure.

Preferably, the coolant spray means sprays a collision jet of coolant onto the solar module. For this purpose, the coolant sprayed from the coolant spray means to the solar module has a flow rate of 30 m / s based on the inlet of the coolant spray means. It is above and it is preferable that a pressure is 1.6 kg / cm <^2> or more.

According to the above-mentioned efficiency improving apparatus of the solar power plant according to the present invention, in consideration of the fact that the inclination angle of the photovoltaic module changes according to the daily altitude of the sun in the tracking solar power plant, By controlling the spraying speed to be sprayed to prevent the coolant is sprayed out of the photovoltaic module to minimize the loss of the coolant, to evenly distribute the coolant to the front of the photovoltaic module can further improve the efficiency of the solar module.

1 is a view showing the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracking photovoltaic power generation equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view for explaining a process in which cooling water is consumed according to a change in an inclination angle of a photovoltaic module in an efficiency improving apparatus of a tracking photovoltaic power generation facility. FIG.

3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of preventing the consumption of cooling water by applying the cooling water injection method of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the same reference numerals will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, with reference to the same components preferred embodiments of the present invention. The terms or words used in the specification and claims are not to be construed as being limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meanings and concepts corresponding to the technical matters of the present invention.

The embodiments described in the specification and the configuration shown in the drawings are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical idea of the present invention, various equivalents and modifications that can replace them at the time of the present application are There may be.

1 is a view showing the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracking photovoltaic power generation equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the process of the cooling water consumption according to the change in the inclination angle of the photovoltaic module in the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracking photovoltaic power generation equipment, Figure 3 is applied to the cooling water injection method of the present invention It is a schematic diagram for explaining a process of preventing the consumption of cooling water. 2 and 3 illustrate the injection position of the coolant divided into am, noon, and pm for convenience of explanation.

According to FIG. 1, solar modules 7 are listed, and efficiency improving facilities are installed as facilities for maintaining and managing these solar modules 7.

The photovoltaic module 7 is an assembly of a plurality of solar cells. When light enters the photovoltaic module 7 from the outside, the photovoltaic module 7 is housed by the light energy in which electrons of the conduction band of the p-type semiconductor are incident. The excited electrons are excited in a valence band, and the excited electrons form an electron hole pair (EHP) inside the p-type semiconductor, and the electrons in the electron-hole pair thus generated are interposed between the pn junctions. The existing electric field (electron field) is transferred to the n-type semiconductor to supply the current to the outside.

However, since the solar module 7 is installed outside to collect sunlight, it is exposed to the external environment as it is, and contaminants such as scattering dust, algae secretions, yellow dust, and snow are attached, and the amount of condensation is reduced, thereby generating power generation efficiency. This decreases. In addition, by being continuously exposed to sunlight and heated by solar heat, the internal resistance of the photovoltaic module is increased, which is also a factor for lowering the power generation efficiency.

The present invention relates to a facility that can maintain and improve the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation by removing factors that lower the efficiency of photovoltaic power generation facilities by cooling, washing, and snow removing the photovoltaic module (7).

As shown in FIG. 2, the tracked photovoltaic power generation facility also has an inclination angle (tilt) of the photovoltaic module 7 according to the change in the daily altitude of the sun in order to improve the condensing efficiency of the photovoltaic module 7. Change. In the tracked photovoltaic power generation facility, the cooling water injection means 6 is typically located at one end of the solar module 7 to inject the cooling water toward the solar module 7. Therefore, as the inclination angle of the photovoltaic module 7 changes, the direction of cooling water is gradually changed when viewed based on the direction of gravity. Done. As a result, as the direction in which the coolant is injected from the coolant jetting means 6 and the gravity direction become more similar, more coolant injected outside the solar module may be generated. The more the flight, the larger the area where the coolant does not reach the other end of the solar module (7).

Here, the 'spraying speed' refers to the speed at which the coolant is injected based on the inlet of the coolant spraying means 6, and the 'inlet' of the coolant spraying means 6 means the coolant spraying means 6 in which the coolant is sprayed to the outside. The term "end" is used to mean the same throughout this specification.

The present invention considers that the inclination angle of the photovoltaic module 7 changes with time in the tracked photovoltaic power generation facility, thereby controlling the loss of the cooling water by adjusting the injection speed of the cooling water injected from the cooling water injection means 6. To prevent and allow the coolant to be evenly sprayed on the solar module 7.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the efficiency improvement facility of the tracer photovoltaic power generation facility includes a storage tank 1, a coolant injection means 6, a coolant supply pipe 5, a pump 25, a valve 20, and a control unit ( 3) and the sensing unit 4.

Cooling water injection means (6) is installed to correspond to each of the solar modules (7) is a means for injecting the coolant to spray the coolant to the solar module (7). In the present embodiment, the coolant spray means 6 is designed to correspond to the solar module 7 in a one-to-one manner, but considering the area of the solar module 7 and the sprayed area of the coolant spray means 6, Two or more solar modules 7 may correspond to one coolant injection means 6, or one solar module 7 may correspond to two or more coolant injection means 6.

On the other hand, if the cooling water injection means 6 flows or weakly sprays the cooling water into the solar module 7, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient cooling and cleaning effect. In this embodiment, the collision jet of the cooling water is injected into the solar module 7. Do it. The impingement jet has excellent heat and material transfer effects from the fluid to the impingement surface, thereby improving the cooling and cleaning effects. However, in order to generate a collision jet, the spraying speed of the cooling water is preferably 30 m / s or more and the pressure is 1.6 kg / cm ² or more.

The cooling water spraying means 6 according to the present embodiment is fixed so that the cooling water is evenly sprayed on the front surface of the solar module 7 while reciprocating left and right, instead of spraying the cooling water only in one direction.

If the cooling water injection means 6 is fixed to spray the cooling water to the front of the photovoltaic module 7, the amount of water that can be used is limited, so the water pressure is not easy to generate a collision jet on the front of the photovoltaic module. However, as in the present embodiment, when the coolant injection means 6 reciprocates to the left and right, spraying the coolant only on a part of the photovoltaic module 7 may increase the water pressure of the coolant to easily generate a collision jet. Cooling and cleaning efficiency can be improved.

The injection speed of the coolant injected from the coolant injection means 6 changes according to the inclination angle of the solar module, and more specifically, the direction of the coolant injected from the coolant injection means 6 becomes closer to the direction of gravity. The lower the injection speed, the higher the injection speed as it moves away from the direction of gravity.

Referring to FIG. 3, the injection direction of the coolant is increased in the morning to increase the injection speed because it is different from the gravity direction, and in the afternoon, the injection direction of the coolant is directed downward, so that the injection speed is lowered to decrease the injection speed. . In FIG. 3, for convenience of description, three time points of morning, noon, and afternoon are shown. However, since the inclination of the solar module 7 gradually changes from morning to evening, the spraying speed of the coolant injection means 6 is gradually reduced. do. In this way, the cooling water can be prevented from being sprayed out of the solar module 7, and the cooling water can be evenly sprayed on the front surface of the solar module 7.

The method of adjusting the injection speed of the cooling water injected from the cooling water injection means 6 is not particularly limited and general injection water pressure adjusting methods may be used. Typically, a method using a variable regulator and a method of adjusting the motor rotational speed of the pump 25 by changing the current or voltage, a method of adjusting the opening and closing area of the cooling water supply pipe 5 by adjusting the opening and closing degree of the valve, etc. Can be used.

On the other hand, the injection speed of the coolant may be adjusted according to the inclination of the photovoltaic module 7 measured by the sensing unit (4). However, since the inclination of the photovoltaic module 7 changes according to the altitude of the sun, the sensing unit 4 may measure the altitude of the sun and adjust the spraying speed of the coolant according to the measured altitude of the sun. In this case, the measurement result of the sensing device for the altitude of the sun installed in the photovoltaic facility for the rotation of the photovoltaic module 7 may be utilized without having a separate sensing unit 4. In addition, since the inclination of the coolant injection means 6 changes as the inclination of the solar module 7 changes, the sensing unit 4 causes the inclination of the coolant injection means 6 to be measured, and according to the measurement result. The injection speed of the cooling water injection means 6 can also be adjusted.

The cooling water supply pipe 5 serves to deliver the cooling water supplied from the storage tank 1 to the injection means 6 through the pump 25. The cooling water supply pipe 5 is preferably embedded in the ground to maintain the temperature of the cooling water.

The pump 25 pumps the cooling water stored in the storage tank 1 to supply the cooling water to the cooling water injection means 6 through the cooling water supply pipe 5, and the valve 20 opens and closes the cooling water supply pipe 5 to spray the cooling water. The means 6 controls the cooling water injection.

The control unit 3 is a part for controlling the cooling water injection of the cooling water injection means 6 by adjusting the pump 25 and the valve 20, driving or stopping the pump 25, and opening or closing the valve 20. Let's do it.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the rain during the rain according to the on-off state of the rain sensor 43, the controller 3 can stop the injection of the cooling water to prevent unnecessary consumption of the cooling water. In addition, by measuring the light transmittance of the photovoltaic module 7 by using the light transmittance measuring sensor 44, the snow can be removed quickly when the snow module 7 is snow.

In addition, the control unit 3 measures the pressure in the cooling water supply pipe 5 and terminates the start of the efficiency improving equipment when the pressure is out of the predetermined pressure range. If the measured pressure exceeds the maximum value of the set pressure range, a problem such as freezing of the coolant occurs in the coolant supply pipe 5, and if the measured pressure does not reach the minimum value of the set pressure range, the coolant supply pipe Since problems such as leakage occur in (5), this can prevent the failure of the equipment and use the cooling water more efficiently.

The controller 3 receives various sensing information from the sensing unit 4 to control the driving of the pump 25 and the opening and closing of the valve 20 as described above. The sensing unit 4 may include a timer 41, a pressure sensor 42, a rain sensor 43, a light transmittance measuring sensor 44, and the like.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various modifications and changes without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

In the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracer photovoltaic power generation equipment that maintains or improves the efficiency by spraying cooling water to the solar module that collects sunlight to generate electricity,

A storage tank for storing coolant;

Coolant spray means for spraying the coolant to the solar module, the spraying speed of the coolant according to the inclination angle of the solar module;

A pump for pumping the cooling water stored in the storage tank and supplying the cooling water to the cooling water injection means through a cooling water supply pipe;

A valve for opening and closing the cooling water supply pipe to control cooling water injection of the cooling water injection means; And

And a control unit controlling the driving of the pump and the opening and closing of the valve to control the cooling water injection of the cooling water injection means.
The method of claim 1,

Efficiency improvement equipment of the tracked photovoltaic power generation facility characterized in that for controlling the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means using a variable regulator.
The method of claim 1,

The efficiency improvement equipment of the tracked photovoltaic power generation equipment, characterized in that for controlling the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means by changing the motor rotational speed of the pump.
The method of claim 1,

The efficiency improvement system of the trace-type photovoltaic power generation equipment, characterized in that for controlling the cooling water injection speed of the cooling water injection means by changing the opening and closing area of the cooling water supply pipe.
The method of claim 1,

The cooling water spraying means is installed in one side end of the photovoltaic module efficiency improvement equipment of the track type photovoltaic power generation equipment.
The method of claim 1,

Further comprising a sensing unit for sensing the inclination angle of the solar module, the inclination angle of the coolant spray means or the altitude of the sun,

The efficiency-enhancing facility of the tracked photovoltaic power generation system, characterized in that for controlling the injection speed of the cooling water injection means in accordance with the sensing result of the sensing unit.
The method of claim 1,

The control unit, the efficiency improvement equipment of the tracking type solar power generation facility characterized in that the rain sensor to determine whether the rain or not to stop the injection of the cooling water when it is determined that the rainfall.
The method of claim 1,

Wherein the control unit, if the light transmittance of the photovoltaic module is less than the set value, the efficiency improvement equipment of the trace-type photovoltaic power generation equipment, characterized in that for continuously spraying.
The method of claim 1,

Measuring the water pressure in the cooling water supply pipe and if the measured water pressure is less than the set minimum pressure or exceeds the maximum pressure, the efficiency of the tracking type solar power plant characterized in that the start-up.
The method of claim 1,

The cooling water spraying means is an efficiency improving equipment of the trace-type photovoltaic power generation equipment, characterized in that for spraying the jet of the cooling water to the solar module.
The method of claim 10,

The cooling water sprayed from the cooling water spraying means to the solar module has a flow rate of 30 m / s or more and a pressure of 1.6 kg / cm 2 or more based on the inlet of the cooling water spraying means. Upgrade facility.