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COMPARISON BETWEEN ASTRONOMICAL AND LIGHT SENSOR FEEDBACK SUN-TRACKING ALGORITHMS

D. Gomes* | L. Pina** | J. Martins***


* Faculdade de Cincias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. {davidcoimbragomes@gmail.com} **WS-Energia, Taguspark Edf Tecnologia II, Pavilho 46,2740-257 Porto Salvo, Portugal. {pina@ws-energia.com } *** CTS, Uninova, Dep. de Eng. Electrotcnica, Faculdade de Cincias e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. {jf.martins@fct.unl.pt}

www.ws-energia.com

October 2010

D. Gomes* | L. Pina** | J. Martins***

Structure of the presentation

Company introduction Why track the Sun? How to track the Sun? High precision sensor Light sensor Astronomical sensor Comparison between sensors
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What we do

Core Business
High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Technology

WS Energia develops, designs, manufactures and commercializes solar trackers, optics for solar concentrators and robotic controllers for solar trackers.

Mission
To be the number one in creating leading edge technology and know-how in the solar energy sector.

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Who we are
Values

We are
leaders in introducing reliable PV innovation leaders in customization and client benefits
July 2010

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Our products
Robotic control for solar systems
Monthly capacity of 10.000 units

Photovoltaic Trackers
Monthly capacity of 5.000 units

Photovoltaic Concentrators
Monthly capacity of 1.000 units

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Where we are
Company that installed the largest number of photovoltaic concentration systems in the world (by Photon 2009)

WS ENERGIA WORLDWIDE
2.000 trackers and concentrators

WS ENERGIA IN PORTUGAL
> 300 instalations
Until July de 2010

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Why track the Sun?


The performance of a photovoltaic application depends essentially on the amount of solar energy captured by the cells. Dual-axis tracking systems can improve the amount of energy collected in about 40% when compared to static systems.

Fig.1: Comparison between a dual-axis tracking system and a static one. www.ws-energia.com

How to track the Sun?

Most Common ways to track the sun are: The astronomical calendar approach
Uses time and geographical coordinates

The light sensor-based approach


Uses photo-sensitive devices like: photoresistors photodiodes Phototransistors

Machine vision
Uses arrays of photo-sensitive devices like CCD cameras.

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High precision sensor

A CCD camera Genius eFace 1300 was used.

Solar filter

Fig.2 a): CCD camera used

Fig.2 b): Precision Sensor

The use of a solar filter is crucial to avoid damaging and the saturation of the camera.
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High precision sensor

This sensor provides the tracking error in both axis, in degrees.


Where the system is pointing to

Fig.3: Illustration of the tracking error in both axes.

The center of the Sun

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Light-sensor

Works by comparison.

Fig.4: Illustration of the sensor.

The devices E and W are compared to track the sun in the horizontal axis. The devices N and S are compared to track the sun in the vertical axis.
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Light-sensor
Which photosensitive device shall be used?
Several tests were made in order to choose it:
- Light direction. - Light intensity. - Electric design.

Phototransistor

Photoresistor

Photodiode

Fig.5 a): Picture of the test.

Fig.5 b): Assembly of the three devices. www.ws-energia.com

Light-sensor
Which photosensitive device shall be used?

Photodiode (red) Response is too oscilatory Photoresistor (blue) Good response Phototransistor (green) Response is too abrupt

Fig.6: Comparison of the three devices with a 1K resistor. www.ws-energia.com

Light-sensor
Which photosensitive device shall be used?

Photodiode (red) Response is too oscilatory Photoresistor (blue) Good response Phototransistor (green) Response is too abrupt

Fig.6: Comparison of the three devices with a 1K resistor. www.ws-energia.com

Light-sensor

Photoresistors

Integrated Circuit Communication with actuator controller Fig.7 a): Scheme of the sensor Fig.7 b): Picture of the sensor

1) 2) 3)

The light-sensor uses four photoresistors The PIC compares the readings The information is sent to the tracking controller
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Light-sensor
Error propagation chain

Fig.11 : Error propagation chain

Fig.10: Assembly error www.ws-energia.com

Astronomical sensor
Error propagation chain

Fig.9 a) : Assembly errors

Fig.8 : Error propagation chain Fig.9 b) : Gravity sensor error www.ws-energia.com

Comparison between astronomical and light sensor approaches


Sun tracking with light sensor ( East West axis )

True Sun position Light sensor Astronomical approach

Fig.12 : Finding the suns path www.ws-energia.com

Comparison between astronomical and light sensor approaches


Sun tracking with light sensor ( North South axis )

True Sun position Light sensor Astronomical approach

Fig.13 : Finding the suns path www.ws-energia.com

Comparison between astronomical and light sensor approaches


In a cloudy day, the light sensor approach is not robust

True Sun position Tracker position Detected Suns position

Fig.14 : Sun tracking in a cloudy day with a light sensor

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Conclusions

Light sensor: Very accurate; Simple and economic way to track the sun; Installation misalignments do not influence tracking accuracy; Not robust in a cloudy day. Astronomical approach: The accuracy does not depend on the weather; Many sources of error; Installation misalignments influence tracking accuracy; No feed-back.

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