Quadruped-solarcells Solar Trackers Based On The Image Sensor

Solar energy is a kind of renewable energy. It is very widespread and its amount is huge. Effective utility of solar energy is very significant. In order to improve the utilization ratio of solar energy, many methods have been proposed. Currently, monocrystalline silicon solar panels are commonly used. But because most of their brackets are fixed, they can not track the motion of the sun. Therefore, their solar energy utilization ratios are relatively low. Although there are some monocrystalline silicon solar panels which can achieve tracking the sun by rotating around an axis of a single bracket, the single bracket can not always ensure required intension and stability. It may sometimes suffer from being distorted and thus degrades the solar utilization ratio.According to the above-mentioned problems, in this paper, a solar tracking system based on image sensor and quadruped solar panel is proposed. In this system, solar tracking methods based on image sensor and apparent motion of the sun are applied. Moreover, quadruped solar bracket which can achieve solar tracking is also embedded. Compared to current fixed brackets, the solar utilization ratio has been improved by our quadruped solar bracket which can track the motion of the sun. Besides, compared to single bracket, our quadruped solar bracket has better stability and intension, and thus longer service life.The main work is listed as follows:(1) Researches on two kinds of measurement and tracking methods, namely "apparent motion of the sun" based and "image sensor" based, which have both been applied in our solar tracker system. For solar tracking based on apparent motion of the sun, the law of apparent motion of the sun has been researched. And then the tracking model has been established. For solar tracking based on image sensor, algorithms in all of its modules have been researched. Thereafter, the algorithms have been programmed and applied into the researches on the collected sun images.(2) Quadruped bracket for solar panels has been designed. First, its advantage has been analyzed. Second, the operation strategy of this quadruped bracket structure for solar tracking has been analyzed and deduced. Third, the solar tracking effect of the quadruped bracket structure in a day has been simulated. The adjustment strategy of screw length of the quadruped bracket structure has been proposed by considering the motion of transmission mechanism screw and turbo-worm.(3) Solar tracking system has been designed. By considering the requirement of the system and the characteristic of each apparatus, appropriate controllers have been selected for the system. And then the way of usage and connection of the main apparatuses has been introduced. In all, the system design ranging from software design to hardware design has been achieved.