Single-axis Tracking Research Articles

Prioritization of solar electricity and hydrogen co-production stations considering PV losses and different types of solar trackers: A TOPSIS approach

Renewable hydrogen production plays a key role in transitioning to a hydrogen economy. For this, developing countries are encouraged to keep up with industrialized nations. As such, this study seeks to evaluate the potential of all capital cities of Iran in terms of solar-based hydrogen production and prioritize the nominated alternatives. This step is highly valued because finding the most suitable place for this purpose can lead to substantial outcomes and consequently avoid failure. Therefore, here a 20-kW solar power plant is simulated by PVsyst 6.7 software and meteorological data of 31 capital cities is extracted using Meteonorm 7.1 software. Considering all losses associated with solar power plants, electricity and hydrogen generation are studied under the scenarios of using fixed optimal angle for solar cells, seasonally adjustable slope, single axis tacker and dual-axis tracker. Analyzing the impact of each technology on hydrogen production, MCDM approaches are applied to rank the stations considering 13 conflicting criteria. The numerical results demonstrate the minimum and maximum of hydrogen production for annual optimal angle scenario are related to Sari and Zahedan respectively with amounts of 457.4 kg/year and 671.5 kg/year. Also, under the optimal seasonal slope scenario hydrogen production efficiency increases by up to 3.8%. This figure for two other cases of single-axis tracker and dual-axis tracker is expected to be 30.6%, and 34.3%, respectively. Using the TOPSIS method, Yasuj is selected as the most suitable city for the purpose of this study. This recommendation is supported by the results of ranking analysis using WS, MAPPACC, and ELECTRE III methods.

Design of solar concentrator to compensate the end loss of fixed linear-focus Fresnel lens solar system

ABSTRACT End loss accounts for a large part of optical loss in single-axis solar concentrators. The present work demonstrates the design and optical performance analysis of a fixed linear-focus Fresnel lens solar system (FLFS) with three different tracking methods to reduce the end loss. The simulation results show that the FLFS coupling curved slip rail has significant advantages over the existing single-axis tracking structures at almost sunlight incident angles. The yearly average relatively optical efficiency factor (η ave) of the FLFS coupling curved, straight and without slip rail is 0.968, 0.923, and, 0.816 respectively. Compared to a single polar tracking system, the average η ave of the FLFS coupling curved and straight slip rail has increased by 18.6% and 13.1%, respectively.

Solar Transposition Modeling via Deep Neural Networks With Sky Images

This article presents a notable advance toward the development of a new method of increasing the single-axis tracking photovoltaic (PV) system power output by improving the determination and near-term prediction of the optimum module tilt angle. The tilt angle of the plane receiving the greatest total irradiance changes with Sun position and atmospheric conditions including cloud formation and movement, aerosols, and particulate loading, as well as varying albedo within a module's field of view. In this article, we present a multi-input convolutional neural network that can create a profile of plane-of-array irradiance versus surface tilt angle over a full 180 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula> arc from horizon to horizon. As input, the neural network uses the calculated solar position and clear-sky irradiance values, along with sky images. The target irradiance values are provided by the multiplanar irradiance sensor (MPIS). In order to account for varying irradiance conditions, the MPIS signal is normalized by the theoretical clear-sky global horizontal irradiance. Using this information, the neural network outputs an <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">N</i> -dimensional vector, where <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">N</i> is the number of points to approximate the MPIS curve via Fourier resampling. The output vector of the model is smoothed with a Gaussian kernel to account for error in the downsamping and subsequent upsampling steps, as well as to smooth the unconstrained output of the model. These profiles may be used to perform near-term prediction of angular irradiance, which can then inform the movement of a PV tracker.

Dynamic simulation and thermal investigation of a PTC for building integration under the climatic conditions of South eastern MOROCCO

This paper aims to report a detailed study of a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) prototype’s thermal system that requires a sizing and dimensioning investigation of its main parts. This PTC system possesses a field-type evacuated tube solar collector with U-shaped. Furthermore, a simulation study developed with TRNSYS is carried out to evaluate the validity and the feasibility of this system, in particular, for the low-temperature range. The solar collector is oriented to the south and follows the sun from east to west through a single-axis tracking system under real weather conditions. From the simulation results we noticed that for the operating configuration considered in this study, the solar fraction is significantly large throughout the year. During the summer, needs are covered almost 100 %. Whereas, it is necessary to integrate an auxiliary system for the winter period. The tank temperature reached a maximum of around 90 °C during the summer period. The system constantly ensures a heated floor temperature of around 28 °C. This reported simulation and analysis may enable to design and estimate of the region potential and the system productivity over the year, for different applications such as heating domestic water and underfloor systems.

Analysis of tilt angle variation in solar photovoltaic water pumping system

The paper considers the optimum tilt angle and orientation for the maximum utilization of the solar energy to collect more solar radiation for water pumping application in remote area. The module of tilt angle should be varied from 0° to 45° due to the single-axis tracking system. This paper deals with the effect of tilt angle variation in solar-water pumping system technologies. For this purpose four different tilt angles 8°, 15°, 30°, and 45° have been considered. The total amount of water to be extracted to the fixed tilt angle depends upon the latitude of the site and compared to different tilt angles which are suitable for the better performance of solar PV water pumping system. The performance analyzing models are designed using PVsyst simulation software. A comparative analysis is performed for different tilt angles with respect to solar yield, performance ratio, and energy losses to fulfill the irrigation system and domestic water demand. The software simulation indicated that the 30° orientation of PV panel provided maximum solar radiation and gives better performance.

POTENTIAL STUDY OF PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER STATIONS TO MEET ENERGY NEEDS OF FUEL CELL UNITS IN BARU PANDANSIMO BARU BEACH OF BANTUL, YOGYAKARTA

Energy needs are increasing rapidly along with population growth, increasing population activity, and massive development in technology. However, a current energy source is mainly from fossil energy. This condition is inversely proportional to fossil energy stock, decreasing year by year as a natural condition of non-renewable energy. On the other hand, fossil energy damages the environment by its pollution, such as deforestation and air and atmospheric pollution in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, the world needs another source of energy that could replace fossil energy as a source and is also environmentally friendly. New and renewable energy could be the solution.Indonesia has plenty amount of new and renewable energy potential. However, renewable energy is weather-dependent, thus requiring storage technology to store the energy. The current common storage technology is battery technology. This technology has some weaknesses: limited capacity, high cost, less flexibility, expensive, and short lifetime. Another storage technology with high flexibility, easy transport, high amount capacity, long lifetime, and wide usage is needed. Hydrogen storage appears to meet all these requirements.This study aimed to calculate the optimum potential of photovoltaic power stations at Baru Pandansimo Beach of Bantul, Yogyakarta, as an energy source to produce hydrogen as a storage energy system. The simulations are done using HOMER software were carried out in three photovoltaic power station scenarios: fixed-tilt, single-axis tracker, and dual-axis tracker, and showed that the fixed-tilt photovoltaic power station scenario is the most optimal design and architecture. With total capacity reaching 7.8 MWp potential to be built at Baru Pandansimo, it could generate 11,657,704 KWh/year electrical energy with an NPC value of USD 8.29 M, and a COE of 0.0420 USD/KWh. This electrical energy could produce 213,288.06 kilograms of H2 at a 2.3 USD/kg production cost.

Accelerating the simulation of annual bifacial illumination of real photovoltaic systems with ray tracing

SummaryAccurate modeling of bifacial illumination is critical to improve the prediction of the energy yield of bifacial solar systems. Monte Carlo ray tracing is the most powerful tool to accomplish this task. In this work, we accelerate Monte Carlo ray tracing of large solar systems by nearly 90%. Our model achieves root-mean-square error values of 7.9% and 37.2% for the front and rear irradiance compared against single-axis tracking field reference data, respectively. The rear irradiance modeling error decreases to 18.9% if suspected snow periods are excluded. Crucially, our full system simulations show that surrounding ground surfaces affect the rear irradiance deep into the system. Therefore, unit system simulations cannot necessarily ignore the influence of the perimeter of large installations to accurately estimate annual yield. Large-scale simulations involving high-performance supercomputing were necessary to investigate these effects accurately, calibrate our simplified models, and validate our results against experimental measurements.

The effect of spectral albedo in bifacial photovoltaic performance

This paper analyzes 15-months of spectral albedo measurements collected at the Technical University of Denmark (55.6°N, 12.1°E). High-resolution spectroradiometers are used to monitor four albedo scenarios, which include green vegetation, dry vegetation, gravel, and snow. Spectral mismatch and spectral impact are calculated for the front and backside of three different bifacial cell concepts mounted on horizontal single axis trackers and fixed-tilt substructures. The spectral nature of albedo is shown to have significant influence on bifacial photovoltaic performance wherein backside spectral impact as high as 1.20 is observed for fixed-tilt systems above green vegetation and as low as 0.98 for systems above snow. The results reveal that spectral impact is always lower on tracked than fixed-tilt systems because a greater fraction of sky diffuse light reaches the backside of tracked systems. Given the variety of albedos tested here, we find that the normalized difference vegetation index is a good predictor of backside spectral effects. When the high-resolution measurements are truncated to 4 to 8 carefully selected wavelengths, we find that this limited measurement resolution sufficiently captures the seasonal spectral albedo fluctuations that influence bifacial photovoltaic energy production. Finally, to alleviate the dearth of spectral datasets presently available to the PV community, the spectral irradiance and albedo measurements are made freely available in open access format (https://doi.org/10.11583/DTU.14695437.v1).

Multi-criteria prioritization of the renewable power plants in Australia using the fuzzy logic in decision-making method (FMCDM)

Abstract The presented study focused on developing an innovative decision-making framework to select the best renewable-power-plant technologies, considering comprehensive techno-economic and environmental variables. Due to the favourable conditions, Australia was selected as the case study. A fuzzy-logic method and analytical hierarchy process were applied to prioritize different renewable-energy power plants. The techno-economic factors included levelized cost of energy, initial cost, simple payback time, and operation and maintenance costs along with environmental factors including carbon payback time, energy payback time and greenhouse-gas emissions were used to rank the power plants. The results showed that the capital cost and simple payback time had the highest priority from an economic point of view. In comparison, greenhouse-gas emissions and carbon payback time were the dominant environmental factors. The analysis results provided economic and environmental priority tables for developing different power plants in the current state and a future scenario by 2030. The fuzzy results and pairwise composite matrix of alternatives indicated that the onshore wind, offshore wind, single-axis tracker polycrystalline photovoltaic, single-axis tracker monocrystalline photovoltaic, fix-tilted polycrystalline photovoltaic and fix-tilted monocrystalline photovoltaic scored the highest in the current state. In contrast, by 2030, the single-axis tracker photovoltaic power plants will be the best choice in the future scenario in Australia. Finally, the results were used and analysed to recommend and suggest several policy implementations and future research studies.

Solar module orientation and tracking type performance and optimization

The efficiency and performance of solar cells and modules are typically evaluated and reported at normal incidence under peak solar radiation. We present a simple clear-sky model for solar irradiance that can be used to study the angular and annual performance of new photovoltaic materials. Using this model, we study the effect of solar module orientation for fixed-tilt module installations and different types of tracking (seasonal, 1D, and 2D) as a function of latitude. For fixed-tilt modules, the optimum tilt as a fraction of latitude varies from 0.83 at 1 deg to 0.73 at 60 deg. The effect of tilt misorientation for panels at the optimum azimuth is not very strong as the solar irradiance is about 94.5% of its optimum at ±20 deg mistilt. Both azimuth misorientation and tilt misorientation are studied. Optimized tilts and times of year for tilting are also obtained for modules that are seasonally adjusted twice and three times a year. The annual solar insolation of fixed modules is compared with modules that are seasonally adjusted twice and three times a year, continuously tracked in the north/south direction, continuously tracked in the east/west direction, and continuously tracked in two directions. The use of single-axis tracking in the east/west direction is preferable to north/south tracking and potentially improves overall energy collection by 16.2% to 31.0%. Continuous dual-axis tracking enhances overall annual energy collection by 36.0% to 45.5%. The model and provision of open source code provides for a way to assess the performance of new materials.

A REVIEW PAPER ON THE SCHEFFLER SOLAR CONCENTRATOR TRACKING SYSTEM

The Scheffler cheval glass is a new solar concentrator design that maintains a rooted focus while only having a singleaxis tracking mechanism.This plan makes the development and activity of high-temperature sun-powered concentrators open to agricultural countries. For the present paper,the survey is performed to see better the elements and the impact of twisting or deviations from ideal conditions to describe fundamental collecting and reasonable protections.These instruments and information herd the model of new absorber mirror ideas to double hub following to least power.

Floating photovoltaic system for Indian artificial reservoirs—an effective approach to reduce evaporation and carbon emission

Floating photovoltaic system for reservoirs is a recent innovative technology that is highly advantageous in reducing evaporation while generating solar power. In addition, the integration of floating photovoltaic systems with the existing hydroelectric power plants will increase renewable power production. The present study aims to assess the electrical performance of floating photovoltaic systems in major reservoirs with existing hydroelectric power plants in India. The reservoirs with large water surface area were selected for the study, and a model floating photovoltaic system with a 5-MW capacity was designed for the selected reservoirs. The numerical analysis showed that installing floating photovoltaic systems will result in an annual energy yield of 160 GWh. Further, the systems also save 1.40 million cubic meters of water per day and also help in generating additional energy of 514.80 MWh/day from the saved water through its integration with hydroelectric power plants. A single-axis tracking mechanism to the floating photovoltaic systems will increase the annual energy generation by 11%. The detailed cost analysis and carbon emission analysis were also carried out. The results indicate that the tracking mechanisms increase the total installation cost of the systems. The annual carbon emission reduction from the floating photovoltaic systems accounts for about 3.30 million tons of CO2. The obtained results highlight the suitability of this innovative technology for installation in Indian reservoirs and its effectiveness in reducing evaporation and carbon emission.Graphic abstract

Effect of PV material, texturing, orientation and tracking on glare impact: A simulation study from an Indian airport

There is a growing interest in airport-based solar PV systems. At the same time, there is the possibility of glare from the solar PV array, which is a potential aviation safety issue. This paper's main objective is to estimate the technical solar power potential of an airport and assess glare impact for six different scenarios of PV array. These configurations are smooth glass, smooth glass with Anti-Reflective Coating (ARC), light-textured glass with ARC, a variation of tilt & orientation angle, single-axis tracking, and dual-axis tracking. The potential for a land-based solar PV system is assessed based on vacant area and glare impact. The details of the airport site, solar PV array, and the position of observers are provided for software simulation. The occurrence and duration of glare for each scenario are simulated using ForgeSolar software. The impact of glare is assessed based on a standard set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The technical potential of solar PV in the selected airport is estimated at 9.8 MW. Among the studied scenarios, the safe value of glare is obtained in Scenario 4 (variation of tilt & orientation angle) and Scenario 5 (single-axis tracking). In Scenario 4120 configurations of tilt and orientation angle adhered to FAA's solar glare policy. It is observed that the variation of tilt and orientation angle resulted in zero minutes of glare in several configurations. However, the energy output of the solar PV array was affected. The single-axis tracking solar PV system is expected to generate 35% higher electricity than the fixed-tilt system. Hence, it is concluded that Scenario 5 is the desired arrangement in terms of glare mitigation and energy output. This work will benefit aviation stakeholders for assessing the solar power potential and deciding suitable glare mitigation measures.

Experimental study of the impact of dust on azimuth tracking solar PV in Sharjah

&lt;span&gt;Dust is one of the significant constraints in utilizing solar photovoltaic systems under harsh weather conditions in the desert regions due to creating a shadow that blocks solar irradiance from reaching solar cells and consequently, significantly reducing their efficiency. In this research, experimental study was performed to comprehend the nature of dust particles and their impact on the electrical power output that is generated from azimuth tracking solar PV modules under Sharjah environmental conditions in winter season. According to laboratory experiments, the power losses are linearly related to the dust accumulated density on the surface of the solar panel with a slope of 1.27% per g/m2. The conducted Outdoor studies revealed that the absolute reduction in output power increased by 8.46% after 41 continuous days with one low-intensity rainy day. The linear relationship obtained from indoor experiments was applied later to estimate the dust deposited density on the outdoor setup. The results showed that a regular cleaning process every two weeks is recommended to maintain the performance and to avoid the soiling loss. This work will help engineers in the solar PV plants to forecast the dust impact and figure out the regularity of the cleaning process in case of single axis tracking systems.&lt;/span&gt;

The cost of production and storage of renewable hydrogen in South Africa and transport to Japan and EU up to 2050 under different scenarios

The decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors globally will require significant volumes of carbon-free hydrogen. An investigation has been performed to determine the cost at which hydrogen can be generated by electrolysis using renewable electricity in South Africa between 2020 and 2050; stored in suitable carriers: liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC), cryogenic liquid hydrogen, and ammonia; then shipped to Japan and EU. Renewable electrolysis hydrogen is produced at lowest cost in South Africa using electricity generated by a hybrid fleet of wind and single-axis tracking PV power plants, using large-scale alkaline electrolyser plants. Hydrogen is converted and stored at lowest cost as LOHC, but delivered to Japan at lowest cost as ammonia. It may be delivered to Japan at or below the Japanese target cost of US $3/kg or €2.50/kg by 2030 (when bulk imports are planned to begin) in one of two ways: firstly by reconverting the ammonia carrier to gaseous hydrogen, provided that concessionary finance allows a maximum weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 3% the for renewable power and electrolyser infrastructure, or secondly as ammonia for direct use (without reconversion to gaseous hydrogen), provided concessionary finance allows a maximum WACC of 6%. In any event, the landed target price may be met for gaseous hydrogen by 2040 (when hydrogen imports must be carbon-free) at a WACC of up to 6%.

Suitability Analysis of Solar Tracking PV System in the Airport Based on Glare Assessment

Due to the concerns with harmful emissions, airports have a great interest in solar photovoltaic technology. On the one hand, the vacant land areas in the airport can house solar PV arrays. On the other hand, there is an aviation safety issue due to the reflections from the solar PV arrays. This paper aims to perform a glare analysis of a conceptual solar PV array for three different solar tracking techniques. This suitability analysis is carried out for fixed-tilt, single-axis and dual-axis tracking techniques using ForgeSolar software. It is observed that a single-axis tracking solar PV system is a suitable tracking technique for the selected site. This can be attributed to zero minutes of glare duration and the highest value of energy generation. In addition to compliance with the FAA’s solar glare policy, the single-axis tracking solar PV system will generate 40 % more electricity than a fixed-tilt solar PV system. Unlike previously reported studies, the results of this study strengthen the theoretical support for tracking solar PV systems in airport locations. The findings provided in this study will be beneficial to energy professionals and serve as reference material for tracking solar PV in airports.

Design and Development of a Single-Axis Solar Tracking System

With solar tracking, it will become possible to generate more energy since the solar panel can maintain a perpendicular profile to the rays of the sun. Even though the initial cost of setting up the tracking system is considerably high, there are cheaper options that have been proposed over time. This research discuss the design and construction of a prototype for a solar tracking system that has a single axis of freedom. Light Dependent Resistors (LDRs) are used for sunlight detection. The control circuit is based on an ATMega328P microcontroller. It was programmed to detect sunlight via the LDRs before actuating the servo to position the solar panel. The solar panel is positioned where it is able to receive maximum light. As compared to other motors, the servo motors are able to maintain their torque at high speed. They are also more efficient with efficiencies in the range of 80-90%. Servos can supply roughly twice their rated torque for short periods. Through tracking, there will be increased exposure of the panel to the sun, making it have increased power output. The trackers can either be dual or single axis trackers. As a single tracking system is cheaper, less complex, and still achieves the required efficiency, so it was used.

Empirical Evaluation of Fixed and Single-Axis Tracking Photovoltaic System: Case of ASHRAE Solar Radiation Modelling for Medina, Saudi Arabia

The main problem in studying the feasibility of solar systems is the enormous gap between theory and experimental radiation intensity, so to get accurate results there is a need for studying energy production in the site of the system empirically. In this study, the energy production of both fixed PV panel system and the system with single-axis tracking were empirically evaluated in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The two systems had the same 270 Wp PV panel. The fixed system was tilted by 23.5 degrees, and the single-axis tracker was tilted by 26 degrees. Both systems had an azimuth angle of zero degrees. A closedloop three-points controller was used to control the tracker with 120 degrees rotation range. The two systems operated simultaneously in July, and the data were collected for 14 days. The empirical results showed that the tracker increased the generated energy by 48.5% during the testing period. As a comparing method, a modified ASHRAE model was used to estimate the increase in the panel's energy output with and without the single-axis tracker, and RMSE and MBE were calculated. It's been found that the experimental energy generation is 10%, 5% less than the estimation of the modified model for the fixed system and the tracking system, respectively. Finally, based on the analysis, it's been estimated that the singleaxis tracker will increase the generated energy by 22.5% yearly in Medina.

Aluminum smelters in the energy transition: Optimal configuration and operation for renewable energy integration in high insolation regions

The aluminum industry consumes about 4% of global electricity but requires stable power supply as long power outages are catastrophic. We investigate how the aluminum industry can maximally integrate variable renewable energy resources while remaining competitive. This can be achieved by (i) modulating production and (ii) utilizing storage. We develop an hourly linear optimization system for integrating variable energy sources and apply it for identifying the optimal configuration and operational profile for UAE-located smelter. Operating with the optimal renewable energy and fossil mix and a novel power modulation scheme, consistently reduces costs between 2.2% and 5.3% for fuel prices ranging between $2.4-$8 per MMBtu and integrating more than 40% of power by solar PV without storage. This reduces process emissions intensity from 5.13 to 2.87 tCO2/tAl. In all cases of RE integration, modulation confers a significant cost advantage with savings ranging from 7.5% to 10% for the fuel price range. Operating the smelter with 100% renewable energy portfolio could be achieved by installing 5.4 GWp single-axis tracking PV, 0.2 GWp wind, 18 GWh of battery storage and 47 GWh of hydrogen storage but with a 26% premium for 2020 high gas-price system costs.

Solar Tracking Control of a Parabolic Trough Collector by Traditional PID, Fuzzy Sets and Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

Solar energy has been highly researched in the last years due to the great possibilities of exploitation of solar radiation. One relevant factor to ensure that radiation is captured is a solar tracking system, which locates any time a caption structure normal to solar angles. Aligning, the results of the design, modeling, and simulation of a Solar Tracking Control of a Parabolic Trough Collector by Traditional PID, Fuzzy Sets, and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm are presented in this paper. Classical controller strategies as PID and Fuzzy have been implemented to control an angular movement of a single-axis tracker applied to a parabolic concentrator. In addition, an optimization algorithm as PSO has been developed to calculate an optimized parameter for proportional, integral, and derivative constants for a PID. Software as SolidWorks® and MATLAB have been used to model and simulate system operation. In order to simulate solar radiation, a model of light incidence in the function of photo-resistance has been generated. As a result, each controller meets the demand and the requirements of a reference continuously variable. The Fuzzy logic controller has achieved a higher error, the controller with the bigger overshoot has been a PID designed by an equalized polynomial, and the controller with the bigger establishment time has been a PID optimized by PSO algorithm.