SEMESTRIAL PROJECT AT THE COURSE

Tracking systems for solar energy convertors

Student:
Group:

2018

1
Transilvania University of Brașov

Faculty of Product Design and Environment

Department of Product Design, Mechatronics and Environment

Study programme Product Design for Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection

Course Tracking systems for solar energy convertors

PROJECT THEME

1. Formulation: Elaborate the conceptual & constructive solution of a mono-axial tracked PV

system derived from an azimuth/ pseudo-equatorial/pseudo-azimuth system

2. Input data:
 the PV tracked system will be implemented in Brasov area (φ = …… lat. N, λ = …… long E);
 the calculus season: ………………………;
 PV module type: ………………………….;
 the turbidity factor Tr: …………………...;
 the length of the diurnal rocker: r =……....mm;
 the step duration (the sum between step work time and step rest time): 1h;
 the rating speed of the electric motor: nm = ……. rpm;
 the transmission ratio of the actuator worm gear: iR = ……;
 the pitch of the actuator screw: ps = ……. mm;
 the motor pulses’ number: km = …… pulses/rotation.

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1. The variations of the sun ray angles for the winter and summer solstices, the spring equinox
and the season equivalent day (SED);

Input data:
φ - latitude
N – number of day in the year

  15º12  t 
360ºN  80
  23.45º sin
365
  sin 1 (cos  . cos . cos   sin  . sin  )  sin 1 (cos  . cos  )  sin 1 (cos  . cos  )
cos  . cos . sin   sin  . cos  sin  . sin   sin  cos  . sin  sin 
  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn(  ). cos 1  sgn(  ). cos 1
cos  cos  . cos  cos  cos 

  sin 1 (cos  . cos . sin   sin  . cos  )  sin 1 (cos  . cos )  sin 1 (cos  . sin  )
cos  . cos . cos   sin  . sin  sin  cos  . cos 
  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn(  ). cos 1
cos  cos  cos 

cos  . cos . sin   sin  . cos  cos tg

  tan 1  tan 1  tan 1
cos  . cos . cos   sin  . sin  tg cos 
cos  . cos . cos   sin  . sin  sin  cos  . cos 
  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn( ). cos 1  sgn( ). cos 1
cos  cos  cos 

Graphics:
Time variation of the solar angles in the selected tracking system for the:
1) winter solstice (N=356);
2) summer solstice (N=172);
3) spring equinox (N=80);
4) equivalent day of the selected season, Nechiv;
5) diurnal solar angles for the previous stated 4 days;
6) elevation solar angles for the previous stated 4 days.

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2. The variations of the available (maximum) beam (B), diffuse (D) and global (G) solar radiation
for the season equivalent day (SED) and selected tracking system

Modeling the beam solar radiation B [W/m2]

Extraterrestrial solar radiation

Bo  1367  1  0.0334  cos0.9856 o  N  2.72o  
Available beam solar radiation (clear sky)
 TR 
B  Bo  exp   on the sunray direction ΔB
 0.9  9.4  sin  
Available beam solar radiation (real sky R)
BR  B  FCC on the sunray direction ΔB

BR H  BR  sin  on the horizontal plane H

2
Modeling the diffuse solar radiation D [W/m ]
DR H  CD ( B0  BR )  sin  on the horizontal plane H

1  sin 
DR S  DRH on the sunray direction ΔB
2
1  sin x on a direction Δx
DR X  DRH
2
2
Modeling the global solar radiation G [W/m ]
Available global solar radiation
GRH  BRH  DRH

 GRX  BRX  DRX
Available MAXIMUM global solar radiation Gmax


 D  
 B cos(G  ) DRH (1  sinG )
G  tan1 1  RH   tan  ; GR max  BR  DR  RH 

 2 BRH  

G G
sin 2

T – beam radiation loss (Linke) factor; F – Factor of Clouds Crossing; C – diffuse radiation factor;
R CC D

Braşov Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

TR 2.8 2.9 3 3 3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3 2.9 2.8 2.8

FCC 0.28 0.27 0.36 0.36 0.38 0.44 0.48 0.46 0.44 0.45 0.40 0.29
CD 0.21 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.28 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.25 0.18

Graphics:
Time variation of the solar radiation for Nechiv:
1) BRH, DRH, and GRH;
2) BRS, DRS, and GRS;
3) BRG, DRG, and GRmax;
4) GRH, GRS, GRmax;
5) α, αG.

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3. The variations of the beam (Bn), diffuse (Dn) and global (Gn) solar radiation captured by a
horizontal PV module, current capture efficiencies, average daily capture efficiencies, hourly
and daily electrical energy produced by the PV module (on SED and selected tracking system);

cos  esr  ePV  Az  cos   cos  n  cos(  n )  sin   sin  n : azimuthal system

cos  esr  ePV  Eq  cos   cos  n  cos(  n )  sin   sin  n : equatorial system

cos  esr  ePV  PEq  cos   cos  n  cos(   n )  sin   sin  n : pseudo-equatorial system

cos  esr  ePV  PAz  cos   cos  n  cos(   n )  sin   sin  n : pseudo- azimuthal system

Bn  BR  cos

1  sin  n
Dn  DRH : azimuthal system
2
1  cos  n  cos n  cos   sin  n  sin 
Dn  DRH : equatorial system
2
1  cos  n  cos  n
Dn  DRH : pseudo-equatorial system
2
1  cos  n  cos  n
Dn  DRH : pseudo- azimuthal system
2
Gn  Bn  Dn

Bn D G
B   cos ;  D  n ;  G  n
BR D RH G max

E ( Bn ) E ( Dn ) E(Gn )
 Bmed  ;  Dmed  ; Gmed 
E ( BR ) E ( DRH ) E(GR max )

E(G n12 )  (G n 2  G n1 ) * (t s 2  t s1 ) / 2

Pel  PV  Gn  A

Pel is the output electric power of the PV module; Gn - the collected global solar radiation (normal incident solar
radiation on the PV surface), depending on the available solar radiation and the current tracking angles (diurnal and
elevation angles) of the PV module; A – the PV module area;  PV (mat PV , Tm ) - instantaneous efficiency of the PV cell
which depends mainly on the photovoltaic material (matPV) and the PV module temperature Tm= Tm (Ta , G* ) , where Ta
– outdoor air temperature

PV  STC  [1  c1  (Tm  TSTC )]

where c1 is the power temperature coefficient of the PV module,

and

Tm  Ta  c2  Gn

where c2  ( NOCT  20) / 800, NOCT - normal operating cell temperature.

OBS: typically, c1 is given in [%/°C] and it should be transformed in absolute value.

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For example: c1 = -0.44 [%/°C] = -0.0044 [°C ].

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OBS: compare and check the monthly values of E(BRH) and E(DRH) with the data obtained from Meteonorm:

Outdoor temperature variation (Brasov location, 2013)

Time Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

3:00 -3,3 0,2 0,9 8,4 12,6 14,9 16,4 17,3 11,3 7,2 5,9 -2,9
3:50 -3,3 0,0 0,7 8,0 12,5 14,7 16,0 17,0 11,0 7,0 5,9 -3,0
4:00 -3,5 0,0 0,6 7,7 12,3 14,5 15,7 16,7 10,7 6,8 5,8 -3,1
4:30 -3,6 0,0 0,4 7,5 12,0 14,4 15,4 16,5 10,4 6,7 5,6 -3,1
5:00 -3,6 0,0 0,3 7,1 11,8 14,3 15,3 16,3 10,3 6,6 5,5 -3,3
5:30 -3,7 0,0 0,2 6,9 11,6 14,3 15,3 16,2 10,1 6,4 5,4 -3,4
6:00 -3,7 -0,2 0,0 6,9 11,6 14,6 15,5 16,1 10,0 6,1 5,4 -3,4
6:30 -3,7 -0,3 0,0 7,2 12,0 15,1 15,8 16,2 10,0 6,1 5,3 -3,3
7:00 -3,6 -0,2 0,2 7,6 12,7 15,5 16,3 16,6 10,2 6,1 5,1 -3,4
7:30 -3,5 -0,3 0,3 8,2 13,5 16,0 16,9 17,3 10,5 6,1 4,8 -3,4
8:00 -3,3 -0,2 0,6 8,8 14,3 16,5 17,7 18,0 10,9 6,4 4,8 -3,5
8:30 -2,8 0,0 1,1 9,5 15,1 17,1 18,5 18,8 11,4 6,9 5,0 -3,4
9:00 -3,0 0,3 1,6 10,2 15,7 17,7 19,4 19,7 12,0 7,5 5,3 -3,2
9:30 -2,8 0,6 2,3 11,0 16,6 18,1 20,1 20,5 12,5 8,1 5,8 -3,0
10:00 -2,9 1,1 2,9 11,8 17,5 18,6 20,7 21,4 12,9 8,8 6,4 -2,7
10:30 -2,5 1,5 3,4 12,6 18,2 19,1 21,2 22,2 13,4 9,6 6,9 -2,2
11:00 -2,0 2,2 4,0 13,1 18,8 19,4 21,7 22,9 13,8 10,5 7,6 -1,8
11:30 -1,7 2,8 4,5 13,6 19,3 19,8 22,2 23,5 14,3 11,4 8,2 -1,5
12:00 -1,4 3,1 4,9 14,0 20,0 20,3 22,4 24,0 14,7 12,3 8,9 -1,0
12:30 -1,1 3,3 5,2 14,4 20,5 20,7 22,8 24,5 15,1 13,2 9,2 -0,6
13:00 -1,1 3,7 5,7 14,6 20,8 21,2 23,0 24,7 15,6 13,9 9,5 -0,3
13:30 -0,8 4,1 6,2 14,9 21,0 21,4 23,3 24,9 15,8 14,4 9,8 0,1
14:00 -0,6 4,2 6,5 15,1 20,8 21,6 23,6 25,1 16,1 14,8 10,2 0,4
14:30 -0,5 4,3 6,6 15,2 20,8 21,6 23,7 25,4 16,2 15,2 10,4 0,6
15:00 -0,6 4,1 6,7 15,4 20,7 21,6 23,9 25,4 16,3 15,5 10,6 0,7
15:30 -0,6 4,0 6,8 15,5 20,2 21,5 23,9 25,6 16,3 15,5 10,6 0,7
16:00 -0,7 3,8 6,9 15,4 19,9 21,4 23,9 25,6 16,4 15,5 10,5 0,6
16:30 -0,9 3,5 6,8 15,4 19,7 21,2 23,9 25,5 16,3 15,4 10,2 0,2
17:00 -1,1 3,1 6,5 15,2 19,6 21,0 23,9 25,2 16,1 15,0 9,6 0,0
17:30 -1,2 2,9 6,2 15,0 19,4 20,7 23,5 24,9 15,9 14,2 9,1 -0,1
18:00 -1,2 2,6 5,9 14,7 19,2 20,5 23,1 24,4 15,5 13,4 8,8 -0,2
18:30 -1,3 2,4 5,3 14,3 18,9 20,2 22,9 23,9 15,1 12,9 8,4 -0,2
19:00 -1,4 2,1 4,9 13,8 18,5 20,1 22,4 23,4 14,7 12,6 8,2 -0,4
19:30 -1,6 1,9 4,6 13,2 18,0 19,7 21,8 22,5 14,3 12,4 8,0 -0,6
20:00 -1,8 1,8 4,2 12,7 17,5 19,0 21,1 21,9 14,0 12,1 7,8 -0,7
20:50 -1,9 1,7 3,8 12,5 16,8 18,4 20,4 21,3 13,8 11,7 7,6 -0,8
21:00 -2,0 1,5 3,6 12,2 16,3 17,8 19,9 20,9 13,7 11,5 7,5 -0,9

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Graphics:
Time variation (in the selected tracking system for the SED) of the:
1) incidence angle ν;
2) Bn, Dn, Gn;
3) Bn, BRS;
4) Dn, DRH;
5) Gn, GRmax;
6) ηB, ηD, ηG (and notice the values of ηBmed, ηDmed, ηGmed);
7) ηPV (and notice the value of ηPVmed);
8) Pel (and notice the value of Eel).

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4. The solar capture efficiency variation depending on the elevation angle, in the beam and
global radiation prerequisites, and the identification of the optimum elevation angles (on SED
and selected tracking system)

For the tracking diurnal angle equals zero (e.g. Ψn = βn = εn = 0) , find the optimum fixed PV
elevation angle that maximize the collected (direct / global) solar energy, i.e. the maximum
value of the  Bmed and Gmed respectively.
The PV elevation angle changes its values from 0 to 90 degrees and register de obtained values
for  Bmed and Gmed . Supplementary, the optimum elevation angle must be obtained using the
Solver excel function.

Graphics:
Variation with the elevation angle on the SED for:
1)  Bmed ;
2) Gmed
and identification of the optimum values of the fixed PV elevation angle that maximize  Bmed and
Gmed , respectively:
αnBopt and αnGopt ; γnBopt and γnGopt ; ρ Bopt and ρnGopt (according to the selected tracking system).

Example:
ηGmed (βn = 0)
95%

90%

85%

80%

75%
η [%]

70%

65%

60%

55%

50%
0 10 20 30 40 50 55 60 70 80 90
γn [°C]

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5. The step variation of the PV diurnal angle usable for the whole season; the afferent variations
of the incidence angle, global radiation captured by PV, current capture efficiency and average
daily capture efficiency (on SED, considering the fixed optimum elevation angle identified the
on the global radiation prerequisite);

Tracking algorithm:
 Make fixed the elevation angle to its optimal value for global radiation (obtained in the
previous step); e.g: αn = αnGopt
 Define a tracking program of the diurnal angle considering a time step of 1 hour and the
maximum diurnal stroke, aiming at tracking the diurnal angle of the GRmax direction ΔG
(starting from αG and ΨG = Ψ compute βG / εG according to the relations from Chapter 1)

OBS: the stepwise tracking program can be represented graphically (as below) if the row at each
time Xh30min is doubled and further on the stepwise tracking program is implemented for the
diurnal angle.

Example:

Variation of diurnal angle

ƐG Ɛn
100
90
80
70
60
50
diurnal angles [deg]

40
30
20
10
0
-10 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
-100
solar time [h]

Graphics:
Time variation for the SED and the selected tracking system of the:
1) diurnal angle of the GRmax direction and the tracked PV diurnal angle (e.g. ΨG and Ψn)
2) incidence angle ν;
3) Gn, GRmax;
4) ηG (and notice the value of ηGmed);
5) ηPV (and notice the value of ηPVmed);
6) Pel (and notice the value of Eel).

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6. The solar capture efficiency variation depending on the diurnal angular stroke, in the global
radiation prerequisite, and the identification of the optimum diurnal angular stroke (on SED);

Algorithm:


Starting from the results obtained in the Chapter 5, reduce successively the diurnal stroke
of the stepwise tracking program from its maximum value to its minimum value
(corresponding to one step), by considering a delay of 1h in starting and stopping each
tracking program in relation with the previous one.
 Select the optimal value of the diurnal stroke (lower than 130°)
Example:

Variation of diurnal stroke

ƐG Ɛn (ΔƐn=180°) Ɛn ( ΔƐn=149°) Ɛn (ΔƐn=129°) Ɛn (ΔƐn=108°)

100
90
80
70
60
50
diurnal angles [deg]

40
30
20
10
0
-10 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
-100
solar time [h]

Graphics:
Variation for the SED and the selected tracking system of the:
A. ηGmed in relation with the diurnal angular stroke
B. For the optimal diurnal stroke, the time variation of the:
1) incidence angle ν;
2) Gn, GRmax;
3) ηG (and notice the value of ηGmed);
4) ηPV (and notice the value of ηPVmed);
5) Pel (and notice the value of Eel).

10
7. The geometric synthesis of the tracking linkage with linear actuator and the diagram of the
linkage displacement function s=s(diurnal angle), considering the optimum diurnal angular
stroke (130 degrees);

Algorithm:

 Compute de needed linear actuator stroke

 Select the linear actuator according with the needed stroke
 Establish analytically & graphically the relation s=s(diurnal angle)
Example:

Graphics:
1) CAD representation of the diurnal tracking mechanism with linear actuator (scale 1:1 in a
CAD software or drown at a convenient scale on A3 format)
2) Variation of the function s=s(diurnal angle)

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12
8. The time variations of diurnal angle Ψ / ε / β = f(solar time), Ψn / ε n / β n = f(solar time),
s = f(solar time) and no of pulses q = f(solar time);

nm, km worm
iR

Motor worm wheel

screw

𝑘𝑚 𝑖𝑅
𝑘𝑞 = [𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑠/𝑚𝑚]
𝑝

ps nut

v [mm/s]

Graphics:
Time variation for selected tracking system of the 4 stated parameters

Example:
εn εG s q
100 1000
90 950
80 900
70 850
solar and PV angles [deg]

60 800
50 750
s [mm] q [pulses]

40 700
30 650
20 600
10 550
0 500
-10 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 450
-20 400
-30 350
-40 300
-50 250
-60 200
-70 150
-80 100
-90 50
-100 0
solar time [h]

Course and project holder,

Prof.dr.eng. Mircea Neagoe _______

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