Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
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October 2010
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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Fig.1: Comparison between a dual-axis tracking system and a static one. www.ws-energia.com
Most Common ways to track the sun are: The astronomical calendar approach
Uses time and geographical coordinates
Machine vision
Uses arrays of photo-sensitive devices like CCD cameras.
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Solar filter
The use of a solar filter is crucial to avoid damaging and the saturation of the camera.
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Light-sensor
Works by comparison.
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
Light-sensor
Which photosensitive device shall be used?
Photodiode (red) Response is too oscilatory Photoresistor (blue) Good response Phototransistor (green) Response is too abrupt
Light-sensor
Which photosensitive device shall be used?
Photodiode (red) Response is too oscilatory Photoresistor (blue) Good response Phototransistor (green) Response is too abrupt
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
Astronomical sensor
Error propagation chain
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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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