Photovoltaic system equipped with a solar concentrator and two-axis tracking system

Abstract

The paper presents a novel approach to the autonomous photovoltaic system with the low concentrator ratio. The system is equipped with a solar concentrator and a two-axis tracking system which tracks the apparent position of the Sun on the celestial sphere. The concentrator directs the reflected radiation on the photovoltaic surface which increases the value of incident luminous stream. The two-axis tracking system is controlled by the device developed by the author. The device is based on the data from the GPS module and calculates the current value of the azimuth and declination angle of the Sun. Then it changes the position of the photovoltaic panels to provide optimal incidence angle of solar radiation and eliminates the phenomenon of masking and shading. The next section of the article presents the modeling of the distribution of the luminous stream and technical light properties of the surface materials used to construct the solar concentrator in photovoltaic systems. In the modeling the authorial developed algorythm was used, which utilizes a combination of selected elements of bidirectional reflectance distribution function models. The analysis of the steel polished electrochemically, the mechanically poli-shed steel and the silver-plated steel allows for the selection of the material with the best technical light properties. The application of the presented solution increases the power output of the photovoltaic panels by 17.2%.