In isolated rural village electrification, renewable energy resources are often the only alternat... more In isolated rural village electrification, renewable energy resources are often the only alternative to provide sustainable energy to economically deprived isolated rural communities. In support of current alternative energy system developments, engineers use smart village based computer model design approaches. This includes desktop computer simulation modelling for renewable energy systems and smartgrid energy management systems to plan and scope village energy projects for particular technology configurations. This approach also supports design site component option appraisals before physical installation at targeted pilot sites. Disaggregated demand load data from advanced metering infrastructure is however hardly available to assist with the technical planning and design optimization for planned rural energy systems at remote rural villages. This means that logical demand load profiles for traditional rural villages have to be computer simulated. In this paper we describe the basic principles around discrete time device disaggregated rural village electrical load profile simulations suitable for experimentation with smart microgrid design, economic optimization and critical demand response analysis. The engineering simulation model incorporates physical appliance energy ratings and device-use behaviour patterns as basis for synthesising disaggregated archetypal load profiles. The simulated disaggregated load category archetypes reflect realistic disaggregated energy consumption patterns for devices in typical isolated rural villages. Computer generated rural village load time-series datasets are output in formats suitable for demand load data direct exports and imports into custom or commercial energy modelling software simulation platforms such as TRNSYS, HomerEnergy, EnergyPlan and EnergyPlus. The simulated rural village demand load data can thus be used to validate numerical simulation models for newly planned smart rural village energy systems, or experimentation with economic optimization and demand response for multi-priority load control in rural smart microgrid environments.
Free to download eBook on Practical Solar Tracking Design, following the sun solar tracking syste... more Free to download eBook on Practical Solar Tracking Design, following the sun solar tracking system, sun tracking system, sun tracker system, solar tracker system, sun positioning system, and sun path tracking with follow the sun position calculation (azimuth, elevation, zenith), sun trajectory, sun following system, sunrise tracking, sunset tracking, sunlight-phases, dawn, dusk, moon-phase, twilight, moonrise, moonset calculator. Solar Tracking is a key Technology to unlock the full potential of RE in RES. In harnessing power from the sun through a solar tracker or solar tracking system and following the sun, renewable energy system developers require automatic solar tracking software and solar position algorithms. As a result of the apparent motion of the sun, a sun path on-axis sun tracking system such as the altitude-azimuth dual axis or multi-axis solar tracker systems use a sun tracking algorithm or ray tracing sensors or software to ensure the sun's passage through the sky is traced with high precision in automated solar tracker applications, right through summer solstice, solar equinox and winter solstice using sun positional astronomy.
In general, this book may benefit solar research, sun surveying, sun position applet, solar energy harvesting, solar energy tracker and sun tracking solar panel applications in countries such as Africa, Mediterranean, Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Mexico, South America, Brazilia, Argentina, Chili, India, Malaysia, Middle East, UAE, Russia, Japan and China. This book on practical automatic Solar-Tracking Sun-Tracking is in .PDF format and can easily be converted to the solar tracking system sun tracking system .EPUB .MOBI .AZW .ePub .FB2 .LIT .LRF .MOBI .PDB .PDF .TCR formats for smartphones and Kindle by using the ebook.online-convert.com facility.
From sun tracing software perspective, the sonnet Tracing The Sun has a literal meaning. Within the context of sun track and trace, this book explains that the sun's daily path across the sky is directed by relatively simple principles, and if grasped/understood, then it is relatively easy to trace the sun with sun following software. Sun Surveyor and Sun Position computer software for tracing the sun are available as open source code, sources that is listed in this book. This book also describes the use of satellite tracking software and mechanisms in solar tracking applications using Sun Microsystems and other processor architecture. Using solar equations in an electronic circuit for solar tracking is quite simple, even if you are a novice, but mathematical solar equations are over complicated by academic experts and professors in text-books, journal articles and internet websites. In terms of solar hobbies, scholars, students and Hobbyist's looking at solar tracking electronics or PC programs for solar tracking are usually overcome by the sheer volume of scientific material and internet resources, which leaves many developers in frustration when search for simple experimental solar tracking source-code for their on-axis sun-tracking systems. This booklet will simplify the search for the mystical sun tracking formulas for your sun tracker innovation and help you develop your own autonomous solar tracking controller.
By directing the solar collector directly into the sun, a solar harvesting means or device can harness sunlight or thermal heat. This is achieved with the help of sun angle formulas, solar angle formulas or solar tracking procedures for the calculation of sun's position in the sky. Automatic sun tracking system software includes algorithms for solar altitude azimuth angle calculations required in following the sun across the sky. In using the longitude, latitude GPS coordinates of the solar tracker location, these sun tracking software tools supports precision solar tracking by determining the solar altitude-azimuth coordinates for the sun trajectory in altitude-azimuth tracking at the tracker location, using certain sun angle formulas in sun vector calculations. Instead of follow the sun software, a sun tracking sensor such as a sun sensor or camera with vision based sun following image processing software can also be used to determine the position of the sun optically. Such optical feedback devices are commonly used in solar panel tracking systems and dish tracking systems.
Dynamic sun tracing is also used in solar surveying and sun surveying systems that build solar radiance, irradiance and DNI models for GIS (geographical information system) and database systems. In such solar resource modelling systems, a pyranometer or solarimeter is used in addition to measure direct and indirect, scattered, dispersed, reflective radiation for a particular geographical location. Sunlight analysis is important in flash photography where photographic lighting are important for photographers. GIS systems are used by architects who add sun shadow applets to study architectural shading or sun shadow analysis, solar flux calculations, optical modelling or to perform weather modelling. Such systems often employ a computer operated telescope type mechanism with ray tracing program software as a solar navigator or sun tracer that determines the solar position and intensity.
Many open-source sun following and tracking algorithms and source-code for solar tracking programs and modules are freely available to download on the internet today. The purpose of this booklet is to assist developers to track and trace suitable source-code and solar tracking algorithms for their application, whether a hobbyist, scientist, technician or engineer. The solar library used by solar position calculators, solar simulation software and solar contour calculators include machine program code for the solar hardware controller which are software programmed into Micro-controllers, Programmable Logic Controllers PLC, programmable gate arrays, Arduino processor or PIC processor. PC based solar tracking is also high in demand using C++, Visual Basic VB, as well as Windows and Mac based software for sun path tables on Matlab, Excel. Some books and internet webpages use other terms, such as: sun angle calculator, sun position calculator or solar angle calculator. As said, such software code calculate the solar azimuth angle, solar altitude angle, solar elevation angle or the solar Zenith angle (Zenith solar angle is simply referenced from vertical plane, the mirror of the elevation angle measured from the horizontal or ground plane level). Similar software code is also used in solar calculator apps or the solar power calculator apps for IOS and Android smartphone devices. Most of these smartphone solar mobile apps show the sun path and sun-angles for any location and date over a 24 hour period. Some smartphones include augmented reality features in which you can physically see and look at the solar path through your cell phone camera or mobile phone camera at your phone's specific GPS location.
Software algorithms predicting position of the sun in the sky are commonly available as Java applets, C++ code, Basic, GBasic and QBasic code, Matlab and Simulink procedures, TRNSYS simulations, Scada system apps, Labview module, mobile and iphone apps, tablet apps, and so forth. At the same time, PLC software code for a range of sun tracking automation technology (mechatronic, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic drives and motors) can follow the profile of sun in sky for Siemens, HP, Panasonic, ABB, Allan Bradley, OMRON, SEW, Festo, Beckhoff, Rockwell, Schneider, Yokonawa, or Muthibishi platforms. Sun path projection software are also available for a range of processors, including Siemens S7-1200 or Siemens Logo, OMRON PLC, Ercam PLC, AC500plc ABB, National Instruments, PIC processor, Arduino, and so forth. Analogue or digital interfacing ports on these processors allow for tracking orientation angle feedback through one or a combination of angle sensor or angle encoder, shaft encoder, precision encoder, optical encoder, magnetic encoder, direction encoder, rotational encoder, tilt sensor, inclination sensor, or pitch sensor. Note that the tracker's elevation or zenith axis angle may measured with an altitude angle, declination angle, inclination angle, pitch angle, or vertical angle, zenith axis. Similarly the tracker's azimuth axis angle be measured with a azimuth angle sensor, horizontal angle, roll angle sensor.
Many solar tracker applications cover a wide spectrum of solar energy and concentrated solar devices, including solar power generation, solar desalination, solar water purification, solar steam generation, solar electricity generation, solar industrial process heat, solar thermal heat storage, solar food dryers, hydrogen production from methane or producing hydrogen and oxygen from water (HHO). Many patented or non-patented solar apparatus include tracking in solar apparatus for solar electric generator, solar desalinator, solar steam engine, solar ice maker, solar water purifier, solar cooling, solar refrigeration, USB solar charger, solar phone charging, portable solar charging tracker, solar cooking or solar dying means. Your project may be the next breakthrough or patent, but your invention is held back by frustration in search for the sun tracker you require for your solar powered appliance, solar generator, solar tracker robot, solar freezer, solar cooker, solar drier, solar freezer, or solar dryer project. Whether your solar electronic circuit diagram include a simplified solar controller design in a solar electricity project, solar power kit, solar hobby kit, solar steam generator, solar hot water system, solar ice maker, solar desalinator, hobbyist solar panels, hobby robot, or if you are developing professional or hobby electronics for a solar utility or micro scale solar powerplant for your own solar farm or solar farming, this publication may help accelerate the development of your solar tracking innovation.
This study is concerned with the modelling and synthesis of an off-grid solar thermal trigenerati... more This study is concerned with the modelling and synthesis of an off-grid solar thermal trigeneration and intelligent smartgrid control system for applications in rural Africa, South America, India and China. This off-grid concentrated solar micro-Combined Cooling Heat and Power (mCCHP) system is capable of delivering a wide spectrum of energy (electrical, heat and cooling) in a configuration capable of supplying a group of one to four households in an off-grid rural village or so-called eco-estate setting. This paper presents preliminary results relating to the modelling and synthesis of a custom designed standalone off-grid mCCHP system, a novel design that integrates three layers of supply by way of using heat and waste heat recovery techniques. The presentation will include illustrations of parametric computer models for the key components of the mCCHP thermodynamic subsystem as well as have thermal heat flow and transfer efficiency for the solar thermal collector, thermal heat https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269784751_Model_simulations_for_an_off-grid_concentrating_solar_micro_combined_cooling_heating_and_power_system_for_rural_applications
The solar energy resource can be tapped into for rural social upliftment, should a suitable and r... more The solar energy resource can be tapped into for rural social upliftment, should a suitable and reliable solar power generation system be available. With limited electrical grid infrastructure around rural African villages, a stand-alone parabolic Stirling renewable energy CSP/CPV system has been identified as a potential solution for deep rural power generation. From a technology perspective, this poses some design challenges as power storage and power budget management are mission-critical 10 elements in a stand-alone CSP/CPV system. Power storage levels and power generation require any concentrated solar system is to retain the focus and connection on the sun, despite the absence of national grid infrastructure. To address these mission-critical challenges, this study proposes a novel Programmable Logic Control (PLC) control support strategy to maximize the carbon impact of the renewable CSP/CPV system through a set of power budget parameters. The control strategy is novel in 15 ...
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. (2016). Modelling and control synthesis ... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. (2016). Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1734, Issue 1. p 130016-1 to 130016-9. doi: 10.1063/1.4949226
Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa. Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280090514_Modelling_and_Control_Synthesis_of_a_Micro-Combined_Cooling_Heat_and_Power_Interface_for_a_Concentrating_Solar_Power_System_in_Off-Grid_Rural_Power_Applications
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Mammoli, A.A. 2016. Model based design of a novel Stirling solar mi... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Mammoli, A.A. 2016. Model based design of a novel Stirling solar micro-cogeneration system with performance and fuel transition analysis for rural African village locations. Solar Energy 133, p 315-330 doi:10.1016/j.solener.2016.04.014
This paper describes the performance of a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) integrated with a combined heat and power cogenerative smart microgrid as remote area power supply (RAPS) in deregulated district energy systems. The research focus on 100% renewables follows on from the ideas of the international energy society (ISES) 100% renewable energy drive, the IEEE smart villages initiative, international renewable energy alliance (IREA), the smart electric power alliance (SEPA) and the alliance for rural electrification (ARE). The proposed hybrid biogas based sun tracker concentrated solar hybrid renewable domestic hot water and power generation system. This alternative energy system design is suitable for space heating, household lighting and cooling refrigeration loads in smart villages, eco-estates, game-farms and remote islands. The study highlights the benefits of embedded generation in integrated and interactive smartgrid configurations for decentralised and district energy systems. International development initiatives such as the Alliance for Rural Electrification and the IEEE Smart Village program have been calling on engineers from developing countries to assist in reducing energy poverty through the design and development of custom designed small-scale sustainable renewable energy solutions. This paper describes the thermodynamic and electrical modeling, simulation and synthesis of a novel kit-based concentrating solar power combined heat and power or hybrid solar cogeneration system. It describes the decentralized solar co-generation system based on a combined cycle Stirling micro-CHP system that includes a low maintenance linear free piston Stirling engine with waste heat recovery, ideal for small business, residential or domestic solar home systems. The concentrating solar combined cycle power and energy system has been designed as a cost-effective community shared solar micro-combined heat and power unit to help enable solar energy utilization within the physical and socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas. This modular plug-and-play unit intends to serve as a stand-alone 100% renewable energy solar powerpack in rural microgrid energy distribution network applications where it will deliver around 3 kW of heat and 1 kW of electricity in distributed generation configurations. The focus of this paper is on the model based design approach in which the main components of the proposed solar micro-combined heat and power system have been systematically modeled on the TRNSYS and Matlab Simulink simulation platforms. This discrete digital modeling approach follows the design guide of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Village Power Program wherein computer models are used to predict system performance. The TRNSYS model application is extended to meet compulsory World Bank and Development Agency funding and humanitarian investment requirements in terms of providing energy reform and fuel transition projections as part of proving the suitability of newly proposed solar technologies for remote area power applications. The proposed computer model applies statistical weather data to explore the performance, feasibility and fuel transition effects for the solar micro-combined heat and power system in terms of electricity and hot-water generation as well as fuel wood replacement at various locations in Southern Africa. The results show the annual power and hot water generation capability of the system for various sites across Southern Africa, and demonstrates a significant potential in reducing fuel wood usage for villages in these areas. This technology and analysis principles would also be valuable in environmental CO2 sequestration analysis, energy sustainability studies, techno-economic analysis as well as cost benefit studies for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation technologies. Africa is a developing countries situated in one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability. Climate change threatens food security and water stress from droughts and floods as well as potential extinction of plant and animal species, calling for nature conservation to reverse wood-land degradation, deforestation and erosion. This universal distributed generation Stirling engine generation system is ideal for decentralized pre-paid energy co-operatives and pay-as-you-go solar home business models towards empowering remote off-grid villages and indigenous communal living in village communities through indigenous local sustainable energy sources. Energy production from thermodynamic micro-CHP system forms the core of a smart energy system infrastructure that makes up the rural energy system able to serve rural village communities-sustainably. It is intended to ensure sustainable rural development by providing sustainable energy that could displace traditional fossil fuels. The system uses indigenous energy resources, and with added photovoltaic PV or wind energy generation to ensure fossil fuel displacement in replacing fuels such as kerosene, paraffin, candles and wood fuel that cause human health issues and illness due to smoke inhalation. Such hybrid biofuel or biogas solar system provide a sustainable green energy solution and household home heating or district heating solution based on zero-net-energy 100% renewables. It is offered as a humanitarian aid technology to help service coalitions in support of entrepreneurial ventures into engineering for change in remote isolated off-grid rural communities at the bottom of the pyramid. Follow on work describes the cyber-physical system aspects with smartgrid energy management and control modeling for coordination and optimization of the overall village power system. The integrated community solar and community microgrid solutions are novel in the context of thermo-electrical cogeneration, virtual power plants and hierarchical control structures for remote rural islanded village applications. Hybrid photovoltaic PV, eolica wind, small hydro and biogas cogeneration (poly-generation, tri-generation or hybrid-generation) in multi-carrier pico-grid, nano-grid or micro-grid dispatch can be used for power n energy delivery to drive appliances such as direct current DC LED lighting, fridges, radio, satellite TV, entertainment systems, and sanitation in islanded network configurations. This includes a flexible smart energy management in smart-grid architecture, data analytics and smart-meter instrumentation that includes machine-learning and artificial intelligence with mathematical and economic optimization in demand management, automated demand response, demand management and flexible controllable load curtailment. The intelligent energy management system aspects include customer engagement in control automation, intelligent self-learning, predictive optimization, energy profile or load forecasting, solar forecasting and battery energy storage integration in managing energy reserves. With smart-meter dashboard analytics, this will ensure renewable energy integration in dispersed generation with energy storage (battery, fuel-cell, tank) to ensure practical energy management that deals with the uncertainty, variability, flexibility and energy security in small-scale heat and power microgrids. Highlights include customer engagement and cooperation in community solar energy utilization in physical & socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas; Localized rural electric power solution to ensure self-sufficient prosumer based energy in community smartgrids; Digital numerical modeling of custom designed kit-based concentrated solar tracker Stirling CSP micro-CHP system; Simulation prediction of CSP system performance in isolated rural African contexts to improve resource coordination and energy preservation; Analysis on fuel transition projections & rural energy generation reform; Need for hot water geyser type energy storage and dispatch; Demonstration of the personalized approach to power supply within sociological relevance and sustainability merit of customized community solar technology. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X16300378 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301659032_Model_based_design_of_a_novel_Stirling_solar_micro-cogeneration_system_with_performance_and_fuel_transition_analysis_for_rural_African_village_locations
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. (2015). Solar Tracking. Stellenbosch: SolarBooks. ISBN 978-0-620-615... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. (2015). Solar Tracking. Stellenbosch: SolarBooks. ISBN 978-0-620-61576-1, p 1-542. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2748.3201
CONTENTS IN BRIEF PART I SUN CONTOUR AND TRACKING MECHANISMS 1 The Sun Path and Sun Trajectory 3 2 Solar Tracking Mechanisms and Platforms 33 PART II DETERMINING SUN ANGLE AND TRACKER ORIENTATION 3 Solar Position Algorithms and Programs 65 4 Solar Position Algorithm Supporting Devices and Software 93 5 Optical Detection and Sun Following 97 6 Position and Angle Feedback Measurements 117 PART III SOLAR TRACKING CONTROL AND AUTOMATION 7 Manoeuvring the Solar collector 129 8 Solar Tracking Automated Control 137 PART IV SOLAR TRACKING HARDWARE INTEGRATION 9 Tracking Automation and Hardware Integration 157 10 Solar Tracking Power Budget 171 11 Intelligent Power Budget Control 185 12 Remote Control and Online Monitoring 193 PART V HARNESSING THE POWER FROM THE SUN 13 Harnessing Power from the Sun 205 14 Parabolic Dish Shaping, Formulas and Curves 233 15 Comparing Renewable Technology Options 249 PART VI SOLAR TRACKING EVALUATION AND VERIFICATION 16 Tracker Performance Evaluation Principles 261 17 Health and Safety Issues in Solar Tracking 273 PART VII SOLAR RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION AND MODELLING 18 The Sun as Energy Resource 281 19 Sun Surveying and Solar Resource Modelling 297 PART VIII OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICE DESIGNS 20 Small Solar Tracking Platforms 309 21 Large Solar Tracking Platforms 319 22 Field Robustness and Practical Lessons 327 PART IX GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING RESOURCES 23 Solar Tracking Online Software Resources 349 24 Solar Tracking Online Hardware Resources 355 25 Solar Tracking Online Design Resources 367 26 Solar Tracking Online Solar Resources 373 27 Solar Tracking Online Monitoring Resources 377 28 Solar Tracking Online Proprietary Resources 381 29 Solar Tracking Online Educational Resources 385 30 Solar Tracking Interesting Practical Applications 391 PART X GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING SEARCH TIPS 31 Solar Tracking Resources Online Search Tips 401
Turbines are critical components of electricity generating low grade WHR&U (waste heat recovery a... more Turbines are critical components of electricity generating low grade WHR&U (waste heat recovery and utilisation) systems, and determining the performance of the turbine is crucial to the successful implementation of these systems. In this paper, an experimental waste heat turbine kit e with the turbine rotor later replaced with an in-house designed and manufactured radial inflow turbine rotor e was sourced, assembled and tested in a designed and built test bench, using air as the working fluid. From the obtained test data, the turbine performance characteristics were determined, and plotted as turbine performance maps. The determined performance characteristics for the turbine working with air were then further used to scale the turbine for a refrigerant-123 application, thus predicting its performance for integration into an organic Rankine cycle low grade WHR&U system.
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. and Schreve, K. 2014. Carbon Footprint Optimization as PLC Control S... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. and Schreve, K. 2014. Carbon Footprint Optimization as PLC Control Strategy in Solar Power System Automation. Energy Procedia 49(1). p 2180–2190. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.231 Control and automation forms an integral part in the design of solar power conversion systems for stand-alone village installations as well as for industrial scale grid-connected installations. Some control designs employ digital implementation platforms such as robust industrial standard Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) with remote control/access capabilities. The Siemens Simatic S7-1214C TIA platform was chosen as PLC platform to automate an easy-to-assemble stand-alone mechatronic solar concentrator platform for power generation in rural Africa. This paper describes issues around a CO2 impact optimization algorithm as control concept for the automation of the solar power generation and tracking system wherein a digital power budget principle forms the basis for artificially intelligent decision architecture to maximize CO2 impact of the solar power system. The proposed control strategy would be of value to both off-grid rural power generation systems and commercial solar farms where CO2 impact optimization eventually impacts directly on the carbon footprint of a solar farm. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a mic... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8. Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Evaluation of a Dynamic Sun Tracking Platform for Autonomous S... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Evaluation of a Dynamic Sun Tracking Platform for Autonomous Solar Heat and Power Generation in Rural Areas. Conference: SuNEC2014 International Solar Conference. Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Consentrated solar systems for micro combined solar heat and electrical power (mCHP) uses concentrated solar radiation as the source of thermal energy. At the same time, rolling out reliable CSP solutions at rural African sites offer new development opportunities, but pose some system design challenges. This paper evaluates the tracking platform for a mCHP solution. The key issues around the mechatronic design for a concentrated solar PV or combined heat and power CSP system is the performance of the tracking platform is presented. Specifications called for a low maintenance, self-assembly kit, plug-and-play design for a self-tracking parabolic solar reflector system and should deliver 12 kW thermal or 3 kW electrical power during Maximum Solar Altitude (MSA). The dish emulates a tensile spoke-wheel rim, fitted with a triple parabolic reflector surface ring-shape comprising of individual mirror facets as optical reflecting surface. During the solar tracking control operation, DC motor movement instructions are fed from a PLC to the motor as a 24 Volt Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. Guided by an astronomical algorithm, webcam and sun-sensor, the controller feeds PWM signals at time intervals based on the trajectory of the sun. Thus, the DC motors draw current only at motion intervals based on the control approach. The self-tracking solar concentrator positioning and control system was optically evaluated on the basis of the on-sun pointing azimuth and elevation off-target errors on the cantilever boom.
The initial liquid charge of a vertically orientated two-phase closed thermosyphon for adequate t... more The initial liquid charge of a vertically orientated two-phase closed thermosyphon for adequate thermal performance as determined theoretically by assuming that the condensate is in the form of a relatively thin film underestimates the amount determined by using experimental correlations. Knowing the physical details of the two-phase flow within the thermosyphon could explain this discrepancy. Because, however, of the difficulty
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Smartgrid topologies in autonomous CSP power generation with m... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Smartgrid topologies in autonomous CSP power generation with microgrid distribution for rural Africa. Conference: Solar Power International 2014, Las Vegas. Volume: 1. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.4059.0405 This research deals with aspects in the simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid RES renewable energy systems and co-generation in isolated or islanded microgrids where I'll follow the sun with a CSP system to collect sun energy. It focusses on the stepwise development of a RE hybrid CSP solar driven co-generation micro combined cooling heating and power (m-CCHP) compact trigeneration polygeneration quadgeneration and thermal energy storage (TES) system with intelligent weather prediction, load prediction, weak-ahead scheduling (time horizon), and look-ahead dispatch on integrated smart microgrid distribution principles. The solar harvesting and solar thermodynamic system includes an automatic sun tracking platform based on micro-controller or PLC controlled mechatronic sun tracking system that follows the sun progressing across the sky. A 100% renewable energy smart energy system or intelligent energy management EMS and adaptive learning control optimization approach is proposed for autonomous off-grid remote power applications is developed, both for thermodynamic optimization and smart micro-grid optimization for distributed energy resources (DER). The correct resolution of this load-following multi objective optimization MO problem is a complex task because of the high number and multi-dimensional variables, the cross-correlation and interdependency between the energy streams as well as the non-linearity in the performance of some of the system components. Carbon footprint or CO2 impact is used in combination with user-comfort metrics to optimize smart microgrid scheduling using linear optimization MILP. Exergy-based control approaches for smartgrid topologies are considered in terms of the intelligence behind the safe and reliable operation of a microgrid in an automated system that can manage energy flow in electrical as well as thermal energy systems. The standalone micro-grid solution would be suitable for remote area power systems RAPS, distant remote rural village, intelligent building, district energy system, campus power, shopping mall centre, isolated network, eco estate or remote island application settings where self-generation and decentralized energy system concepts play a role. Discrete digital simulation models for the thermodynamic and active demand side management systems with digital smartgrid control unit to optimize the system energy management is currently under development. Parametric simulation models for this trigeneration system (polygeneration, poligeneration, quadgeneration) are developed on the Matlab Simulink and TrnSys platforms. In terms of model predictive coding strategies, the automation controller will perform multi-objective cost optimization for energy management on a microgrid level by managing the generation and storage of electrical, heat and cooling energies in layers. Each layer has its own set of smart microgrid priorities associated with user demand side cycle predictions. Mixed Integer Linear Programming and Neural network algorithms are being modeled to perform Multi Objective Control optimization as potential optimization and adaptive learning techniques.
In isolated rural village electrification, renewable energy resources are often the only alternat... more In isolated rural village electrification, renewable energy resources are often the only alternative to provide sustainable energy to economically deprived isolated rural communities. In support of current alternative energy system developments, engineers use smart village based computer model design approaches. This includes desktop computer simulation modelling for renewable energy systems and smartgrid energy management systems to plan and scope village energy projects for particular technology configurations. This approach also supports design site component option appraisals before physical installation at targeted pilot sites. Disaggregated demand load data from advanced metering infrastructure is however hardly available to assist with the technical planning and design optimization for planned rural energy systems at remote rural villages. This means that logical demand load profiles for traditional rural villages have to be computer simulated. In this paper we describe the basic principles around discrete time device disaggregated rural village electrical load profile simulations suitable for experimentation with smart microgrid design, economic optimization and critical demand response analysis. The engineering simulation model incorporates physical appliance energy ratings and device-use behaviour patterns as basis for synthesising disaggregated archetypal load profiles. The simulated disaggregated load category archetypes reflect realistic disaggregated energy consumption patterns for devices in typical isolated rural villages. Computer generated rural village load time-series datasets are output in formats suitable for demand load data direct exports and imports into custom or commercial energy modelling software simulation platforms such as TRNSYS, HomerEnergy, EnergyPlan and EnergyPlus. The simulated rural village demand load data can thus be used to validate numerical simulation models for newly planned smart rural village energy systems, or experimentation with economic optimization and demand response for multi-priority load control in rural smart microgrid environments.
Free to download eBook on Practical Solar Tracking Design, following the sun solar tracking syste... more Free to download eBook on Practical Solar Tracking Design, following the sun solar tracking system, sun tracking system, sun tracker system, solar tracker system, sun positioning system, and sun path tracking with follow the sun position calculation (azimuth, elevation, zenith), sun trajectory, sun following system, sunrise tracking, sunset tracking, sunlight-phases, dawn, dusk, moon-phase, twilight, moonrise, moonset calculator. Solar Tracking is a key Technology to unlock the full potential of RE in RES. In harnessing power from the sun through a solar tracker or solar tracking system and following the sun, renewable energy system developers require automatic solar tracking software and solar position algorithms. As a result of the apparent motion of the sun, a sun path on-axis sun tracking system such as the altitude-azimuth dual axis or multi-axis solar tracker systems use a sun tracking algorithm or ray tracing sensors or software to ensure the sun's passage through the sky is traced with high precision in automated solar tracker applications, right through summer solstice, solar equinox and winter solstice using sun positional astronomy.
In general, this book may benefit solar research, sun surveying, sun position applet, solar energy harvesting, solar energy tracker and sun tracking solar panel applications in countries such as Africa, Mediterranean, Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Mexico, South America, Brazilia, Argentina, Chili, India, Malaysia, Middle East, UAE, Russia, Japan and China. This book on practical automatic Solar-Tracking Sun-Tracking is in .PDF format and can easily be converted to the solar tracking system sun tracking system .EPUB .MOBI .AZW .ePub .FB2 .LIT .LRF .MOBI .PDB .PDF .TCR formats for smartphones and Kindle by using the ebook.online-convert.com facility.
From sun tracing software perspective, the sonnet Tracing The Sun has a literal meaning. Within the context of sun track and trace, this book explains that the sun's daily path across the sky is directed by relatively simple principles, and if grasped/understood, then it is relatively easy to trace the sun with sun following software. Sun Surveyor and Sun Position computer software for tracing the sun are available as open source code, sources that is listed in this book. This book also describes the use of satellite tracking software and mechanisms in solar tracking applications using Sun Microsystems and other processor architecture. Using solar equations in an electronic circuit for solar tracking is quite simple, even if you are a novice, but mathematical solar equations are over complicated by academic experts and professors in text-books, journal articles and internet websites. In terms of solar hobbies, scholars, students and Hobbyist's looking at solar tracking electronics or PC programs for solar tracking are usually overcome by the sheer volume of scientific material and internet resources, which leaves many developers in frustration when search for simple experimental solar tracking source-code for their on-axis sun-tracking systems. This booklet will simplify the search for the mystical sun tracking formulas for your sun tracker innovation and help you develop your own autonomous solar tracking controller.
By directing the solar collector directly into the sun, a solar harvesting means or device can harness sunlight or thermal heat. This is achieved with the help of sun angle formulas, solar angle formulas or solar tracking procedures for the calculation of sun's position in the sky. Automatic sun tracking system software includes algorithms for solar altitude azimuth angle calculations required in following the sun across the sky. In using the longitude, latitude GPS coordinates of the solar tracker location, these sun tracking software tools supports precision solar tracking by determining the solar altitude-azimuth coordinates for the sun trajectory in altitude-azimuth tracking at the tracker location, using certain sun angle formulas in sun vector calculations. Instead of follow the sun software, a sun tracking sensor such as a sun sensor or camera with vision based sun following image processing software can also be used to determine the position of the sun optically. Such optical feedback devices are commonly used in solar panel tracking systems and dish tracking systems.
Dynamic sun tracing is also used in solar surveying and sun surveying systems that build solar radiance, irradiance and DNI models for GIS (geographical information system) and database systems. In such solar resource modelling systems, a pyranometer or solarimeter is used in addition to measure direct and indirect, scattered, dispersed, reflective radiation for a particular geographical location. Sunlight analysis is important in flash photography where photographic lighting are important for photographers. GIS systems are used by architects who add sun shadow applets to study architectural shading or sun shadow analysis, solar flux calculations, optical modelling or to perform weather modelling. Such systems often employ a computer operated telescope type mechanism with ray tracing program software as a solar navigator or sun tracer that determines the solar position and intensity.
Many open-source sun following and tracking algorithms and source-code for solar tracking programs and modules are freely available to download on the internet today. The purpose of this booklet is to assist developers to track and trace suitable source-code and solar tracking algorithms for their application, whether a hobbyist, scientist, technician or engineer. The solar library used by solar position calculators, solar simulation software and solar contour calculators include machine program code for the solar hardware controller which are software programmed into Micro-controllers, Programmable Logic Controllers PLC, programmable gate arrays, Arduino processor or PIC processor. PC based solar tracking is also high in demand using C++, Visual Basic VB, as well as Windows and Mac based software for sun path tables on Matlab, Excel. Some books and internet webpages use other terms, such as: sun angle calculator, sun position calculator or solar angle calculator. As said, such software code calculate the solar azimuth angle, solar altitude angle, solar elevation angle or the solar Zenith angle (Zenith solar angle is simply referenced from vertical plane, the mirror of the elevation angle measured from the horizontal or ground plane level). Similar software code is also used in solar calculator apps or the solar power calculator apps for IOS and Android smartphone devices. Most of these smartphone solar mobile apps show the sun path and sun-angles for any location and date over a 24 hour period. Some smartphones include augmented reality features in which you can physically see and look at the solar path through your cell phone camera or mobile phone camera at your phone's specific GPS location.
Software algorithms predicting position of the sun in the sky are commonly available as Java applets, C++ code, Basic, GBasic and QBasic code, Matlab and Simulink procedures, TRNSYS simulations, Scada system apps, Labview module, mobile and iphone apps, tablet apps, and so forth. At the same time, PLC software code for a range of sun tracking automation technology (mechatronic, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic drives and motors) can follow the profile of sun in sky for Siemens, HP, Panasonic, ABB, Allan Bradley, OMRON, SEW, Festo, Beckhoff, Rockwell, Schneider, Yokonawa, or Muthibishi platforms. Sun path projection software are also available for a range of processors, including Siemens S7-1200 or Siemens Logo, OMRON PLC, Ercam PLC, AC500plc ABB, National Instruments, PIC processor, Arduino, and so forth. Analogue or digital interfacing ports on these processors allow for tracking orientation angle feedback through one or a combination of angle sensor or angle encoder, shaft encoder, precision encoder, optical encoder, magnetic encoder, direction encoder, rotational encoder, tilt sensor, inclination sensor, or pitch sensor. Note that the tracker's elevation or zenith axis angle may measured with an altitude angle, declination angle, inclination angle, pitch angle, or vertical angle, zenith axis. Similarly the tracker's azimuth axis angle be measured with a azimuth angle sensor, horizontal angle, roll angle sensor.
Many solar tracker applications cover a wide spectrum of solar energy and concentrated solar devices, including solar power generation, solar desalination, solar water purification, solar steam generation, solar electricity generation, solar industrial process heat, solar thermal heat storage, solar food dryers, hydrogen production from methane or producing hydrogen and oxygen from water (HHO). Many patented or non-patented solar apparatus include tracking in solar apparatus for solar electric generator, solar desalinator, solar steam engine, solar ice maker, solar water purifier, solar cooling, solar refrigeration, USB solar charger, solar phone charging, portable solar charging tracker, solar cooking or solar dying means. Your project may be the next breakthrough or patent, but your invention is held back by frustration in search for the sun tracker you require for your solar powered appliance, solar generator, solar tracker robot, solar freezer, solar cooker, solar drier, solar freezer, or solar dryer project. Whether your solar electronic circuit diagram include a simplified solar controller design in a solar electricity project, solar power kit, solar hobby kit, solar steam generator, solar hot water system, solar ice maker, solar desalinator, hobbyist solar panels, hobby robot, or if you are developing professional or hobby electronics for a solar utility or micro scale solar powerplant for your own solar farm or solar farming, this publication may help accelerate the development of your solar tracking innovation.
This study is concerned with the modelling and synthesis of an off-grid solar thermal trigenerati... more This study is concerned with the modelling and synthesis of an off-grid solar thermal trigeneration and intelligent smartgrid control system for applications in rural Africa, South America, India and China. This off-grid concentrated solar micro-Combined Cooling Heat and Power (mCCHP) system is capable of delivering a wide spectrum of energy (electrical, heat and cooling) in a configuration capable of supplying a group of one to four households in an off-grid rural village or so-called eco-estate setting. This paper presents preliminary results relating to the modelling and synthesis of a custom designed standalone off-grid mCCHP system, a novel design that integrates three layers of supply by way of using heat and waste heat recovery techniques. The presentation will include illustrations of parametric computer models for the key components of the mCCHP thermodynamic subsystem as well as have thermal heat flow and transfer efficiency for the solar thermal collector, thermal heat https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269784751_Model_simulations_for_an_off-grid_concentrating_solar_micro_combined_cooling_heating_and_power_system_for_rural_applications
The solar energy resource can be tapped into for rural social upliftment, should a suitable and r... more The solar energy resource can be tapped into for rural social upliftment, should a suitable and reliable solar power generation system be available. With limited electrical grid infrastructure around rural African villages, a stand-alone parabolic Stirling renewable energy CSP/CPV system has been identified as a potential solution for deep rural power generation. From a technology perspective, this poses some design challenges as power storage and power budget management are mission-critical 10 elements in a stand-alone CSP/CPV system. Power storage levels and power generation require any concentrated solar system is to retain the focus and connection on the sun, despite the absence of national grid infrastructure. To address these mission-critical challenges, this study proposes a novel Programmable Logic Control (PLC) control support strategy to maximize the carbon impact of the renewable CSP/CPV system through a set of power budget parameters. The control strategy is novel in 15 ...
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. (2016). Modelling and control synthesis ... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. (2016). Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 1734, Issue 1. p 130016-1 to 130016-9. doi: 10.1063/1.4949226
Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa. Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280090514_Modelling_and_Control_Synthesis_of_a_Micro-Combined_Cooling_Heat_and_Power_Interface_for_a_Concentrating_Solar_Power_System_in_Off-Grid_Rural_Power_Applications
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Mammoli, A.A. 2016. Model based design of a novel Stirling solar mi... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Mammoli, A.A. 2016. Model based design of a novel Stirling solar micro-cogeneration system with performance and fuel transition analysis for rural African village locations. Solar Energy 133, p 315-330 doi:10.1016/j.solener.2016.04.014
This paper describes the performance of a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) integrated with a combined heat and power cogenerative smart microgrid as remote area power supply (RAPS) in deregulated district energy systems. The research focus on 100% renewables follows on from the ideas of the international energy society (ISES) 100% renewable energy drive, the IEEE smart villages initiative, international renewable energy alliance (IREA), the smart electric power alliance (SEPA) and the alliance for rural electrification (ARE). The proposed hybrid biogas based sun tracker concentrated solar hybrid renewable domestic hot water and power generation system. This alternative energy system design is suitable for space heating, household lighting and cooling refrigeration loads in smart villages, eco-estates, game-farms and remote islands. The study highlights the benefits of embedded generation in integrated and interactive smartgrid configurations for decentralised and district energy systems. International development initiatives such as the Alliance for Rural Electrification and the IEEE Smart Village program have been calling on engineers from developing countries to assist in reducing energy poverty through the design and development of custom designed small-scale sustainable renewable energy solutions. This paper describes the thermodynamic and electrical modeling, simulation and synthesis of a novel kit-based concentrating solar power combined heat and power or hybrid solar cogeneration system. It describes the decentralized solar co-generation system based on a combined cycle Stirling micro-CHP system that includes a low maintenance linear free piston Stirling engine with waste heat recovery, ideal for small business, residential or domestic solar home systems. The concentrating solar combined cycle power and energy system has been designed as a cost-effective community shared solar micro-combined heat and power unit to help enable solar energy utilization within the physical and socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas. This modular plug-and-play unit intends to serve as a stand-alone 100% renewable energy solar powerpack in rural microgrid energy distribution network applications where it will deliver around 3 kW of heat and 1 kW of electricity in distributed generation configurations. The focus of this paper is on the model based design approach in which the main components of the proposed solar micro-combined heat and power system have been systematically modeled on the TRNSYS and Matlab Simulink simulation platforms. This discrete digital modeling approach follows the design guide of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Village Power Program wherein computer models are used to predict system performance. The TRNSYS model application is extended to meet compulsory World Bank and Development Agency funding and humanitarian investment requirements in terms of providing energy reform and fuel transition projections as part of proving the suitability of newly proposed solar technologies for remote area power applications. The proposed computer model applies statistical weather data to explore the performance, feasibility and fuel transition effects for the solar micro-combined heat and power system in terms of electricity and hot-water generation as well as fuel wood replacement at various locations in Southern Africa. The results show the annual power and hot water generation capability of the system for various sites across Southern Africa, and demonstrates a significant potential in reducing fuel wood usage for villages in these areas. This technology and analysis principles would also be valuable in environmental CO2 sequestration analysis, energy sustainability studies, techno-economic analysis as well as cost benefit studies for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation technologies. Africa is a developing countries situated in one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability. Climate change threatens food security and water stress from droughts and floods as well as potential extinction of plant and animal species, calling for nature conservation to reverse wood-land degradation, deforestation and erosion. This universal distributed generation Stirling engine generation system is ideal for decentralized pre-paid energy co-operatives and pay-as-you-go solar home business models towards empowering remote off-grid villages and indigenous communal living in village communities through indigenous local sustainable energy sources. Energy production from thermodynamic micro-CHP system forms the core of a smart energy system infrastructure that makes up the rural energy system able to serve rural village communities-sustainably. It is intended to ensure sustainable rural development by providing sustainable energy that could displace traditional fossil fuels. The system uses indigenous energy resources, and with added photovoltaic PV or wind energy generation to ensure fossil fuel displacement in replacing fuels such as kerosene, paraffin, candles and wood fuel that cause human health issues and illness due to smoke inhalation. Such hybrid biofuel or biogas solar system provide a sustainable green energy solution and household home heating or district heating solution based on zero-net-energy 100% renewables. It is offered as a humanitarian aid technology to help service coalitions in support of entrepreneurial ventures into engineering for change in remote isolated off-grid rural communities at the bottom of the pyramid. Follow on work describes the cyber-physical system aspects with smartgrid energy management and control modeling for coordination and optimization of the overall village power system. The integrated community solar and community microgrid solutions are novel in the context of thermo-electrical cogeneration, virtual power plants and hierarchical control structures for remote rural islanded village applications. Hybrid photovoltaic PV, eolica wind, small hydro and biogas cogeneration (poly-generation, tri-generation or hybrid-generation) in multi-carrier pico-grid, nano-grid or micro-grid dispatch can be used for power n energy delivery to drive appliances such as direct current DC LED lighting, fridges, radio, satellite TV, entertainment systems, and sanitation in islanded network configurations. This includes a flexible smart energy management in smart-grid architecture, data analytics and smart-meter instrumentation that includes machine-learning and artificial intelligence with mathematical and economic optimization in demand management, automated demand response, demand management and flexible controllable load curtailment. The intelligent energy management system aspects include customer engagement in control automation, intelligent self-learning, predictive optimization, energy profile or load forecasting, solar forecasting and battery energy storage integration in managing energy reserves. With smart-meter dashboard analytics, this will ensure renewable energy integration in dispersed generation with energy storage (battery, fuel-cell, tank) to ensure practical energy management that deals with the uncertainty, variability, flexibility and energy security in small-scale heat and power microgrids. Highlights include customer engagement and cooperation in community solar energy utilization in physical & socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas; Localized rural electric power solution to ensure self-sufficient prosumer based energy in community smartgrids; Digital numerical modeling of custom designed kit-based concentrated solar tracker Stirling CSP micro-CHP system; Simulation prediction of CSP system performance in isolated rural African contexts to improve resource coordination and energy preservation; Analysis on fuel transition projections & rural energy generation reform; Need for hot water geyser type energy storage and dispatch; Demonstration of the personalized approach to power supply within sociological relevance and sustainability merit of customized community solar technology. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X16300378 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301659032_Model_based_design_of_a_novel_Stirling_solar_micro-cogeneration_system_with_performance_and_fuel_transition_analysis_for_rural_African_village_locations
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. (2015). Solar Tracking. Stellenbosch: SolarBooks. ISBN 978-0-620-615... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. (2015). Solar Tracking. Stellenbosch: SolarBooks. ISBN 978-0-620-61576-1, p 1-542. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2748.3201
CONTENTS IN BRIEF PART I SUN CONTOUR AND TRACKING MECHANISMS 1 The Sun Path and Sun Trajectory 3 2 Solar Tracking Mechanisms and Platforms 33 PART II DETERMINING SUN ANGLE AND TRACKER ORIENTATION 3 Solar Position Algorithms and Programs 65 4 Solar Position Algorithm Supporting Devices and Software 93 5 Optical Detection and Sun Following 97 6 Position and Angle Feedback Measurements 117 PART III SOLAR TRACKING CONTROL AND AUTOMATION 7 Manoeuvring the Solar collector 129 8 Solar Tracking Automated Control 137 PART IV SOLAR TRACKING HARDWARE INTEGRATION 9 Tracking Automation and Hardware Integration 157 10 Solar Tracking Power Budget 171 11 Intelligent Power Budget Control 185 12 Remote Control and Online Monitoring 193 PART V HARNESSING THE POWER FROM THE SUN 13 Harnessing Power from the Sun 205 14 Parabolic Dish Shaping, Formulas and Curves 233 15 Comparing Renewable Technology Options 249 PART VI SOLAR TRACKING EVALUATION AND VERIFICATION 16 Tracker Performance Evaluation Principles 261 17 Health and Safety Issues in Solar Tracking 273 PART VII SOLAR RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION AND MODELLING 18 The Sun as Energy Resource 281 19 Sun Surveying and Solar Resource Modelling 297 PART VIII OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICE DESIGNS 20 Small Solar Tracking Platforms 309 21 Large Solar Tracking Platforms 319 22 Field Robustness and Practical Lessons 327 PART IX GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING RESOURCES 23 Solar Tracking Online Software Resources 349 24 Solar Tracking Online Hardware Resources 355 25 Solar Tracking Online Design Resources 367 26 Solar Tracking Online Solar Resources 373 27 Solar Tracking Online Monitoring Resources 377 28 Solar Tracking Online Proprietary Resources 381 29 Solar Tracking Online Educational Resources 385 30 Solar Tracking Interesting Practical Applications 391 PART X GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING SEARCH TIPS 31 Solar Tracking Resources Online Search Tips 401
Turbines are critical components of electricity generating low grade WHR&U (waste heat recovery a... more Turbines are critical components of electricity generating low grade WHR&U (waste heat recovery and utilisation) systems, and determining the performance of the turbine is crucial to the successful implementation of these systems. In this paper, an experimental waste heat turbine kit e with the turbine rotor later replaced with an in-house designed and manufactured radial inflow turbine rotor e was sourced, assembled and tested in a designed and built test bench, using air as the working fluid. From the obtained test data, the turbine performance characteristics were determined, and plotted as turbine performance maps. The determined performance characteristics for the turbine working with air were then further used to scale the turbine for a refrigerant-123 application, thus predicting its performance for integration into an organic Rankine cycle low grade WHR&U system.
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. and Schreve, K. 2014. Carbon Footprint Optimization as PLC Control S... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. and Schreve, K. 2014. Carbon Footprint Optimization as PLC Control Strategy in Solar Power System Automation. Energy Procedia 49(1). p 2180–2190. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2014.03.231 Control and automation forms an integral part in the design of solar power conversion systems for stand-alone village installations as well as for industrial scale grid-connected installations. Some control designs employ digital implementation platforms such as robust industrial standard Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) with remote control/access capabilities. The Siemens Simatic S7-1214C TIA platform was chosen as PLC platform to automate an easy-to-assemble stand-alone mechatronic solar concentrator platform for power generation in rural Africa. This paper describes issues around a CO2 impact optimization algorithm as control concept for the automation of the solar power generation and tracking system wherein a digital power budget principle forms the basis for artificially intelligent decision architecture to maximize CO2 impact of the solar power system. The proposed control strategy would be of value to both off-grid rural power generation systems and commercial solar farms where CO2 impact optimization eventually impacts directly on the carbon footprint of a solar farm. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a mic... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8. Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Evaluation of a Dynamic Sun Tracking Platform for Autonomous S... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Evaluation of a Dynamic Sun Tracking Platform for Autonomous Solar Heat and Power Generation in Rural Areas. Conference: SuNEC2014 International Solar Conference. Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Consentrated solar systems for micro combined solar heat and electrical power (mCHP) uses concentrated solar radiation as the source of thermal energy. At the same time, rolling out reliable CSP solutions at rural African sites offer new development opportunities, but pose some system design challenges. This paper evaluates the tracking platform for a mCHP solution. The key issues around the mechatronic design for a concentrated solar PV or combined heat and power CSP system is the performance of the tracking platform is presented. Specifications called for a low maintenance, self-assembly kit, plug-and-play design for a self-tracking parabolic solar reflector system and should deliver 12 kW thermal or 3 kW electrical power during Maximum Solar Altitude (MSA). The dish emulates a tensile spoke-wheel rim, fitted with a triple parabolic reflector surface ring-shape comprising of individual mirror facets as optical reflecting surface. During the solar tracking control operation, DC motor movement instructions are fed from a PLC to the motor as a 24 Volt Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. Guided by an astronomical algorithm, webcam and sun-sensor, the controller feeds PWM signals at time intervals based on the trajectory of the sun. Thus, the DC motors draw current only at motion intervals based on the control approach. The self-tracking solar concentrator positioning and control system was optically evaluated on the basis of the on-sun pointing azimuth and elevation off-target errors on the cantilever boom.
The initial liquid charge of a vertically orientated two-phase closed thermosyphon for adequate t... more The initial liquid charge of a vertically orientated two-phase closed thermosyphon for adequate thermal performance as determined theoretically by assuming that the condensate is in the form of a relatively thin film underestimates the amount determined by using experimental correlations. Knowing the physical details of the two-phase flow within the thermosyphon could explain this discrepancy. Because, however, of the difficulty
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Smartgrid topologies in autonomous CSP power generation with m... more Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T. 2014. Smartgrid topologies in autonomous CSP power generation with microgrid distribution for rural Africa. Conference: Solar Power International 2014, Las Vegas. Volume: 1. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.4059.0405 This research deals with aspects in the simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid RES renewable energy systems and co-generation in isolated or islanded microgrids where I'll follow the sun with a CSP system to collect sun energy. It focusses on the stepwise development of a RE hybrid CSP solar driven co-generation micro combined cooling heating and power (m-CCHP) compact trigeneration polygeneration quadgeneration and thermal energy storage (TES) system with intelligent weather prediction, load prediction, weak-ahead scheduling (time horizon), and look-ahead dispatch on integrated smart microgrid distribution principles. The solar harvesting and solar thermodynamic system includes an automatic sun tracking platform based on micro-controller or PLC controlled mechatronic sun tracking system that follows the sun progressing across the sky. A 100% renewable energy smart energy system or intelligent energy management EMS and adaptive learning control optimization approach is proposed for autonomous off-grid remote power applications is developed, both for thermodynamic optimization and smart micro-grid optimization for distributed energy resources (DER). The correct resolution of this load-following multi objective optimization MO problem is a complex task because of the high number and multi-dimensional variables, the cross-correlation and interdependency between the energy streams as well as the non-linearity in the performance of some of the system components. Carbon footprint or CO2 impact is used in combination with user-comfort metrics to optimize smart microgrid scheduling using linear optimization MILP. Exergy-based control approaches for smartgrid topologies are considered in terms of the intelligence behind the safe and reliable operation of a microgrid in an automated system that can manage energy flow in electrical as well as thermal energy systems. The standalone micro-grid solution would be suitable for remote area power systems RAPS, distant remote rural village, intelligent building, district energy system, campus power, shopping mall centre, isolated network, eco estate or remote island application settings where self-generation and decentralized energy system concepts play a role. Discrete digital simulation models for the thermodynamic and active demand side management systems with digital smartgrid control unit to optimize the system energy management is currently under development. Parametric simulation models for this trigeneration system (polygeneration, poligeneration, quadgeneration) are developed on the Matlab Simulink and TrnSys platforms. In terms of model predictive coding strategies, the automation controller will perform multi-objective cost optimization for energy management on a microgrid level by managing the generation and storage of electrical, heat and cooling energies in layers. Each layer has its own set of smart microgrid priorities associated with user demand side cycle predictions. Mixed Integer Linear Programming and Neural network algorithms are being modeled to perform Multi Objective Control optimization as potential optimization and adaptive learning techniques.
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Papers by Robert Dobson
In harnessing power from the sun through a solar tracker or solar tracking system and following the sun, renewable energy system developers require automatic solar tracking software and solar position algorithms. As a result of the apparent motion of the sun, a sun path on-axis sun tracking system such as the altitude-azimuth dual axis or multi-axis solar tracker systems use a sun tracking algorithm or ray tracing sensors or software to ensure the sun's passage through the sky is traced with high precision in automated solar tracker applications, right through summer solstice, solar equinox and winter solstice using sun positional astronomy.
In general, this book may benefit solar research, sun surveying, sun position applet, solar energy harvesting, solar energy tracker and sun tracking solar panel applications in countries such as Africa, Mediterranean, Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Mexico, South America, Brazilia, Argentina, Chili, India, Malaysia, Middle East, UAE, Russia, Japan and China. This book on practical automatic Solar-Tracking Sun-Tracking is in .PDF format and can easily be converted to the solar tracking system sun tracking system .EPUB .MOBI .AZW .ePub .FB2 .LIT .LRF .MOBI .PDB .PDF .TCR formats for smartphones and Kindle by using the ebook.online-convert.com facility.
From sun tracing software perspective, the sonnet Tracing The Sun has a literal meaning. Within the context of sun track and trace, this book explains that the sun's daily path across the sky is directed by relatively simple principles, and if grasped/understood, then it is relatively easy to trace the sun with sun following software. Sun Surveyor and Sun Position computer software for tracing the sun are available as open source code, sources that is listed in this book. This book also describes the use of satellite tracking software and mechanisms in solar tracking applications using Sun Microsystems and other processor architecture.
Using solar equations in an electronic circuit for solar tracking is quite simple, even if you are a novice, but mathematical solar equations are over complicated by academic experts and professors in text-books, journal articles and internet websites. In terms of solar hobbies, scholars, students and Hobbyist's looking at solar tracking electronics or PC programs for solar tracking are usually overcome by the sheer volume of scientific material and internet resources, which leaves many developers in frustration when search for simple experimental solar tracking source-code for their on-axis sun-tracking systems. This booklet will simplify the search for the mystical sun tracking formulas for your sun tracker innovation and help you develop your own autonomous solar tracking controller.
By directing the solar collector directly into the sun, a solar harvesting means or device can harness sunlight or thermal heat. This is achieved with the help of sun angle formulas, solar angle formulas or solar tracking procedures for the calculation of sun's position in the sky. Automatic sun tracking system software includes algorithms for solar altitude azimuth angle calculations required in following the sun across the sky. In using the longitude, latitude GPS coordinates of the solar tracker location, these sun tracking software tools supports precision solar tracking by determining the solar altitude-azimuth coordinates for the sun trajectory in altitude-azimuth tracking at the tracker location, using certain sun angle formulas in sun vector calculations. Instead of follow the sun software, a sun tracking sensor such as a sun sensor or camera with vision based sun following image processing software can also be used to determine the position of the sun optically. Such optical feedback devices are commonly used in solar panel tracking systems and dish tracking systems.
Dynamic sun tracing is also used in solar surveying and sun surveying systems that build solar radiance, irradiance and DNI models for GIS (geographical information system) and database systems. In such solar resource modelling systems, a pyranometer or solarimeter is used in addition to measure direct and indirect, scattered, dispersed, reflective radiation for a particular geographical location. Sunlight analysis is important in flash photography where photographic lighting are important for photographers. GIS systems are used by architects who add sun shadow applets to study architectural shading or sun shadow analysis, solar flux calculations, optical modelling or to perform weather modelling. Such systems often employ a computer operated telescope type mechanism with ray tracing program software as a solar navigator or sun tracer that determines the solar position and intensity.
Many open-source sun following and tracking algorithms and source-code for solar tracking programs and modules are freely available to download on the internet today. The purpose of this booklet is to assist developers to track and trace suitable source-code and solar tracking algorithms for their application, whether a hobbyist, scientist, technician or engineer. The solar library used by solar position calculators, solar simulation software and solar contour calculators include machine program code for the solar hardware controller which are software programmed into Micro-controllers, Programmable Logic Controllers PLC, programmable gate arrays, Arduino processor or PIC processor. PC based solar tracking is also high in demand using C++, Visual Basic VB, as well as Windows and Mac based software for sun path tables on Matlab, Excel. Some books and internet webpages use other terms, such as: sun angle calculator, sun position calculator or solar angle calculator. As said, such software code calculate the solar azimuth angle, solar altitude angle, solar elevation angle or the solar Zenith angle (Zenith solar angle is simply referenced from vertical plane, the mirror of the elevation angle measured from the horizontal or ground plane level). Similar software code is also used in solar calculator apps or the solar power calculator apps for IOS and Android smartphone devices. Most of these smartphone solar mobile apps show the sun path and sun-angles for any location and date over a 24 hour period. Some smartphones include augmented reality features in which you can physically see and look at the solar path through your cell phone camera or mobile phone camera at your phone's specific GPS location.
Software algorithms predicting position of the sun in the sky are commonly available as Java applets, C++ code, Basic, GBasic and QBasic code, Matlab and Simulink procedures, TRNSYS simulations, Scada system apps, Labview module, mobile and iphone apps, tablet apps, and so forth. At the same time, PLC software code for a range of sun tracking automation technology (mechatronic, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic drives and motors) can follow the profile of sun in sky for Siemens, HP, Panasonic, ABB, Allan Bradley, OMRON, SEW, Festo, Beckhoff, Rockwell, Schneider, Yokonawa, or Muthibishi platforms. Sun path projection software are also available for a range of processors, including Siemens S7-1200 or Siemens Logo, OMRON PLC, Ercam PLC, AC500plc ABB, National Instruments, PIC processor, Arduino, and so forth. Analogue or digital interfacing ports on these processors allow for tracking orientation angle feedback through one or a combination of angle sensor or angle encoder, shaft encoder, precision encoder, optical encoder, magnetic encoder, direction encoder, rotational encoder, tilt sensor, inclination sensor, or pitch sensor. Note that the tracker's elevation or zenith axis angle may measured with an altitude angle, declination angle, inclination angle, pitch angle, or vertical angle, zenith axis. Similarly the tracker's azimuth axis angle be measured with a azimuth angle sensor, horizontal angle, roll angle sensor.
Many solar tracker applications cover a wide spectrum of solar energy and concentrated solar devices, including solar power generation, solar desalination, solar water purification, solar steam generation, solar electricity generation, solar industrial process heat, solar thermal heat storage, solar food dryers, hydrogen production from methane or producing hydrogen and oxygen from water (HHO). Many patented or non-patented solar apparatus include tracking in solar apparatus for solar electric generator, solar desalinator, solar steam engine, solar ice maker, solar water purifier, solar cooling, solar refrigeration, USB solar charger, solar phone charging, portable solar charging tracker, solar cooking or solar dying means. Your project may be the next breakthrough or patent, but your invention is held back by frustration in search for the sun tracker you require for your solar powered appliance, solar generator, solar tracker robot, solar freezer, solar cooker, solar drier, solar freezer, or solar dryer project. Whether your solar electronic circuit diagram include a simplified solar controller design in a solar electricity project, solar power kit, solar hobby kit, solar steam generator, solar hot water system, solar ice maker, solar desalinator, hobbyist solar panels, hobby robot, or if you are developing professional or hobby electronics for a solar utility or micro scale solar powerplant for your own solar farm or solar farming, this publication may help accelerate the development of your solar tracking innovation.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269784751_Model_simulations_for_an_off-grid_concentrating_solar_micro_combined_cooling_heating_and_power_system_for_rural_applications
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Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa.
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280090514_Modelling_and_Control_Synthesis_of_a_Micro-Combined_Cooling_Heat_and_Power_Interface_for_a_Concentrating_Solar_Power_System_in_Off-Grid_Rural_Power_Applications
This paper describes the performance of a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) integrated with a combined heat and power cogenerative smart microgrid as remote area power supply (RAPS) in deregulated district energy systems. The research focus on 100% renewables follows on from the ideas of the international energy society (ISES) 100% renewable energy drive, the IEEE smart villages initiative, international renewable energy alliance (IREA), the smart electric power alliance (SEPA) and the alliance for rural electrification (ARE). The proposed hybrid biogas based sun tracker concentrated solar hybrid renewable domestic hot water and power generation system. This alternative energy system design is suitable for space heating, household lighting and cooling refrigeration loads in smart villages, eco-estates, game-farms and remote islands. The study highlights the benefits of embedded generation in integrated and interactive smartgrid configurations for decentralised and district energy systems. International development initiatives such as the Alliance for Rural Electrification and the IEEE Smart Village program have been calling on engineers from developing countries to assist in reducing energy poverty through the design and development of custom designed small-scale sustainable renewable energy solutions. This paper describes the thermodynamic and electrical modeling, simulation and synthesis of a novel kit-based concentrating solar power combined heat and power or hybrid solar cogeneration system. It describes the decentralized solar co-generation system based on a combined cycle Stirling micro-CHP system that includes a low maintenance linear free piston Stirling engine with waste heat recovery, ideal for small business, residential or domestic solar home systems. The concentrating solar combined cycle power and energy system has been designed as a cost-effective community shared solar micro-combined heat and power unit to help enable solar energy utilization within the physical and socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas. This modular plug-and-play unit intends to serve as a stand-alone 100% renewable energy solar powerpack in rural microgrid energy distribution network applications where it will deliver around 3 kW of heat and 1 kW of electricity in distributed generation configurations. The focus of this paper is on the model based design approach in which the main components of the proposed solar micro-combined heat and power system have been systematically modeled on the TRNSYS and Matlab Simulink simulation platforms. This discrete digital modeling approach follows the design guide of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Village Power Program wherein computer models are used to predict system performance. The TRNSYS model application is extended to meet compulsory World Bank and Development Agency funding and humanitarian investment requirements in terms of providing energy reform and fuel transition projections as part of proving the suitability of newly proposed solar technologies for remote area power applications. The proposed computer model applies statistical weather data to explore the performance, feasibility and fuel transition effects for the solar micro-combined heat and power system in terms of electricity and hot-water generation as well as fuel wood replacement at various locations in Southern Africa. The results show the annual power and hot water generation capability of the system for various sites across Southern Africa, and demonstrates a significant potential in reducing fuel wood usage for villages in these areas. This technology and analysis principles would also be valuable in environmental CO2 sequestration analysis, energy sustainability studies, techno-economic analysis as well as cost benefit studies for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation technologies. Africa is a developing countries situated in one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability. Climate change threatens food security and water stress from droughts and floods as well as potential extinction of plant and animal species, calling for nature conservation to reverse wood-land degradation, deforestation and erosion.
This universal distributed generation Stirling engine generation system is ideal for decentralized pre-paid energy co-operatives and pay-as-you-go solar home business models towards empowering remote off-grid villages and indigenous communal living in village communities through indigenous local sustainable energy sources. Energy production from thermodynamic micro-CHP system forms the core of a smart energy system infrastructure that makes up the rural energy system able to serve rural village communities-sustainably. It is intended to ensure sustainable rural development by providing sustainable energy that could displace traditional fossil fuels. The system uses indigenous energy resources, and with added photovoltaic PV or wind energy generation to ensure fossil fuel displacement in replacing fuels such as kerosene, paraffin, candles and wood fuel that cause human health issues and illness due to smoke inhalation. Such hybrid biofuel or biogas solar system provide a sustainable green energy solution and household home heating or district heating solution based on zero-net-energy 100% renewables. It is offered as a humanitarian aid technology to help service coalitions in support of entrepreneurial ventures into engineering for change in remote isolated off-grid rural communities at the bottom of the pyramid.
Follow on work describes the cyber-physical system aspects with smartgrid energy management and control modeling for coordination and optimization of the overall village power system. The integrated community solar and community microgrid solutions are novel in the context of thermo-electrical cogeneration, virtual power plants and hierarchical control structures for remote rural islanded village applications. Hybrid photovoltaic PV, eolica wind, small hydro and biogas cogeneration (poly-generation, tri-generation or hybrid-generation) in multi-carrier pico-grid, nano-grid or micro-grid dispatch can be used for power n energy delivery to drive appliances such as direct current DC LED lighting, fridges, radio, satellite TV, entertainment systems, and sanitation in islanded network configurations. This includes a flexible smart energy management in smart-grid architecture, data analytics and smart-meter instrumentation that includes machine-learning and artificial intelligence with mathematical and economic optimization in demand management, automated demand response, demand management and flexible controllable load curtailment. The intelligent energy management system aspects include customer engagement in control automation, intelligent self-learning, predictive optimization, energy profile or load forecasting, solar forecasting and battery energy storage integration in managing energy reserves. With smart-meter dashboard analytics, this will ensure renewable energy integration in dispersed generation with energy storage (battery, fuel-cell, tank) to ensure practical energy management that deals with the uncertainty, variability, flexibility and energy security in small-scale heat and power microgrids.
Highlights include customer engagement and cooperation in community solar energy utilization in physical & socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas; Localized rural electric power solution to ensure self-sufficient prosumer based energy in community smartgrids; Digital numerical modeling of custom designed kit-based concentrated solar tracker Stirling CSP micro-CHP system; Simulation prediction of CSP system performance in isolated rural African contexts to improve resource coordination and energy preservation; Analysis on fuel transition projections & rural energy generation reform; Need for hot water geyser type energy storage and dispatch; Demonstration of the personalized approach to power supply within sociological relevance and sustainability merit of customized community solar technology.
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CONTENTS IN BRIEF
PART I SUN CONTOUR AND TRACKING MECHANISMS
1 The Sun Path and Sun Trajectory 3
2 Solar Tracking Mechanisms and Platforms 33
PART II DETERMINING SUN ANGLE AND TRACKER ORIENTATION
3 Solar Position Algorithms and Programs 65
4 Solar Position Algorithm
Supporting Devices and Software 93
5 Optical Detection and Sun Following 97
6 Position and Angle Feedback Measurements 117
PART III SOLAR TRACKING CONTROL AND AUTOMATION
7 Manoeuvring the Solar collector 129
8 Solar Tracking Automated Control 137
PART IV SOLAR TRACKING HARDWARE INTEGRATION
9 Tracking Automation and Hardware Integration 157
10 Solar Tracking Power Budget 171
11 Intelligent Power Budget Control 185
12 Remote Control and Online Monitoring 193
PART V HARNESSING THE POWER FROM THE SUN
13 Harnessing Power from the Sun 205
14 Parabolic Dish Shaping, Formulas and Curves 233
15 Comparing Renewable Technology Options 249
PART VI SOLAR TRACKING EVALUATION AND VERIFICATION
16 Tracker Performance Evaluation Principles 261
17 Health and Safety Issues in Solar Tracking 273
PART VII SOLAR RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION AND MODELLING
18 The Sun as Energy Resource 281
19 Sun Surveying and Solar Resource Modelling 297
PART VIII OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICE DESIGNS
20 Small Solar Tracking Platforms 309
21 Large Solar Tracking Platforms 319
22 Field Robustness and Practical Lessons 327
PART IX GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING RESOURCES
23 Solar Tracking Online Software Resources 349
24 Solar Tracking Online Hardware Resources 355
25 Solar Tracking Online Design Resources 367
26 Solar Tracking Online Solar Resources 373
27 Solar Tracking Online Monitoring Resources 377
28 Solar Tracking Online Proprietary Resources 381
29 Solar Tracking Online Educational Resources 385
30 Solar Tracking Interesting Practical Applications 391
PART X GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING SEARCH TIPS
31 Solar Tracking Resources Online Search Tips 401
Control and automation forms an integral part in the design of solar power conversion systems for stand-alone village installations as well as for industrial scale grid-connected installations. Some control designs employ digital implementation platforms such as robust industrial standard Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) with remote control/access capabilities. The Siemens Simatic S7-1214C TIA platform was chosen as PLC platform to automate an easy-to-assemble stand-alone mechatronic solar concentrator platform for power generation in rural Africa. This paper describes issues around a CO2 impact optimization algorithm as control concept for the automation of the solar power generation and tracking system wherein a digital power budget principle forms the basis for artificially intelligent decision architecture to maximize CO2 impact of the solar power system. The proposed control strategy would be of value to both off-grid rural power generation systems and commercial solar farms where CO2 impact optimization eventually impacts directly on the carbon footprint of a solar farm. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa
Consentrated solar systems for micro combined solar heat and electrical power (mCHP) uses concentrated solar radiation as the source of thermal energy. At the same time, rolling out reliable CSP solutions at rural African sites offer new development opportunities, but pose some system design challenges. This paper evaluates the tracking platform for a mCHP solution.
The key issues around the mechatronic design for a concentrated solar PV or combined heat and power CSP system is the performance of the tracking platform is presented. Specifications called for a low maintenance, self-assembly kit, plug-and-play design for a self-tracking parabolic solar reflector system and should deliver 12 kW thermal or 3 kW electrical power during Maximum Solar Altitude (MSA). The dish emulates a tensile spoke-wheel rim, fitted with a triple parabolic reflector surface ring-shape comprising of individual mirror facets as optical reflecting surface.
During the solar tracking control operation, DC motor movement instructions are fed from a PLC to the motor as a 24 Volt Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. Guided by an astronomical algorithm, webcam and sun-sensor, the controller feeds PWM signals at time intervals based on the trajectory of the sun. Thus, the DC motors draw current only at motion intervals based on the control approach.
The self-tracking solar concentrator positioning and control system was optically evaluated on the basis of the on-sun pointing azimuth and elevation off-target errors on the cantilever boom.
This research deals with aspects in the simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid RES renewable energy systems and co-generation in isolated or islanded microgrids where I'll follow the sun with a CSP system to collect sun energy. It focusses on the stepwise development of a RE hybrid CSP solar driven co-generation micro combined cooling heating and power (m-CCHP) compact trigeneration polygeneration quadgeneration and thermal energy storage (TES) system with intelligent weather prediction, load prediction, weak-ahead scheduling (time horizon), and look-ahead dispatch on integrated smart microgrid distribution principles. The solar harvesting and solar thermodynamic system includes an automatic sun tracking platform based on micro-controller or PLC controlled mechatronic sun tracking system that follows the sun progressing across the sky. A 100% renewable energy smart energy system or intelligent energy management EMS and adaptive learning control optimization approach is proposed for autonomous off-grid remote power applications is developed, both for thermodynamic optimization and smart micro-grid optimization for distributed energy resources (DER). The correct resolution of this load-following multi objective optimization MO problem is a complex task because of the high number and multi-dimensional variables, the cross-correlation and interdependency between the energy streams as well as the non-linearity in the performance of some of the system components. Carbon footprint or CO2 impact is used in combination with user-comfort metrics to optimize smart microgrid scheduling using linear optimization MILP. Exergy-based control approaches for smartgrid topologies are considered in terms of the intelligence behind the safe and reliable operation of a microgrid in an automated system that can manage energy flow in electrical as well as thermal energy systems. The standalone micro-grid solution would be suitable for remote area power systems RAPS, distant remote rural village, intelligent building, district energy system, campus power, shopping mall centre, isolated network, eco estate or remote island application settings where self-generation and decentralized energy system concepts play a role. Discrete digital simulation models for the thermodynamic and active demand side management systems with digital smartgrid control unit to optimize the system energy management is currently under development. Parametric simulation models for this trigeneration system (polygeneration, poligeneration, quadgeneration) are developed on the Matlab Simulink and TrnSys platforms. In terms of model predictive coding strategies, the automation controller will perform multi-objective cost optimization for energy management on a microgrid level by managing the generation and storage of electrical, heat and cooling energies in layers. Each layer has its own set of smart microgrid priorities associated with user demand side cycle predictions. Mixed Integer Linear Programming and Neural network algorithms are being modeled to perform Multi Objective Control optimization as potential optimization and adaptive learning techniques.
In harnessing power from the sun through a solar tracker or solar tracking system and following the sun, renewable energy system developers require automatic solar tracking software and solar position algorithms. As a result of the apparent motion of the sun, a sun path on-axis sun tracking system such as the altitude-azimuth dual axis or multi-axis solar tracker systems use a sun tracking algorithm or ray tracing sensors or software to ensure the sun's passage through the sky is traced with high precision in automated solar tracker applications, right through summer solstice, solar equinox and winter solstice using sun positional astronomy.
In general, this book may benefit solar research, sun surveying, sun position applet, solar energy harvesting, solar energy tracker and sun tracking solar panel applications in countries such as Africa, Mediterranean, Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Mexico, South America, Brazilia, Argentina, Chili, India, Malaysia, Middle East, UAE, Russia, Japan and China. This book on practical automatic Solar-Tracking Sun-Tracking is in .PDF format and can easily be converted to the solar tracking system sun tracking system .EPUB .MOBI .AZW .ePub .FB2 .LIT .LRF .MOBI .PDB .PDF .TCR formats for smartphones and Kindle by using the ebook.online-convert.com facility.
From sun tracing software perspective, the sonnet Tracing The Sun has a literal meaning. Within the context of sun track and trace, this book explains that the sun's daily path across the sky is directed by relatively simple principles, and if grasped/understood, then it is relatively easy to trace the sun with sun following software. Sun Surveyor and Sun Position computer software for tracing the sun are available as open source code, sources that is listed in this book. This book also describes the use of satellite tracking software and mechanisms in solar tracking applications using Sun Microsystems and other processor architecture.
Using solar equations in an electronic circuit for solar tracking is quite simple, even if you are a novice, but mathematical solar equations are over complicated by academic experts and professors in text-books, journal articles and internet websites. In terms of solar hobbies, scholars, students and Hobbyist's looking at solar tracking electronics or PC programs for solar tracking are usually overcome by the sheer volume of scientific material and internet resources, which leaves many developers in frustration when search for simple experimental solar tracking source-code for their on-axis sun-tracking systems. This booklet will simplify the search for the mystical sun tracking formulas for your sun tracker innovation and help you develop your own autonomous solar tracking controller.
By directing the solar collector directly into the sun, a solar harvesting means or device can harness sunlight or thermal heat. This is achieved with the help of sun angle formulas, solar angle formulas or solar tracking procedures for the calculation of sun's position in the sky. Automatic sun tracking system software includes algorithms for solar altitude azimuth angle calculations required in following the sun across the sky. In using the longitude, latitude GPS coordinates of the solar tracker location, these sun tracking software tools supports precision solar tracking by determining the solar altitude-azimuth coordinates for the sun trajectory in altitude-azimuth tracking at the tracker location, using certain sun angle formulas in sun vector calculations. Instead of follow the sun software, a sun tracking sensor such as a sun sensor or camera with vision based sun following image processing software can also be used to determine the position of the sun optically. Such optical feedback devices are commonly used in solar panel tracking systems and dish tracking systems.
Dynamic sun tracing is also used in solar surveying and sun surveying systems that build solar radiance, irradiance and DNI models for GIS (geographical information system) and database systems. In such solar resource modelling systems, a pyranometer or solarimeter is used in addition to measure direct and indirect, scattered, dispersed, reflective radiation for a particular geographical location. Sunlight analysis is important in flash photography where photographic lighting are important for photographers. GIS systems are used by architects who add sun shadow applets to study architectural shading or sun shadow analysis, solar flux calculations, optical modelling or to perform weather modelling. Such systems often employ a computer operated telescope type mechanism with ray tracing program software as a solar navigator or sun tracer that determines the solar position and intensity.
Many open-source sun following and tracking algorithms and source-code for solar tracking programs and modules are freely available to download on the internet today. The purpose of this booklet is to assist developers to track and trace suitable source-code and solar tracking algorithms for their application, whether a hobbyist, scientist, technician or engineer. The solar library used by solar position calculators, solar simulation software and solar contour calculators include machine program code for the solar hardware controller which are software programmed into Micro-controllers, Programmable Logic Controllers PLC, programmable gate arrays, Arduino processor or PIC processor. PC based solar tracking is also high in demand using C++, Visual Basic VB, as well as Windows and Mac based software for sun path tables on Matlab, Excel. Some books and internet webpages use other terms, such as: sun angle calculator, sun position calculator or solar angle calculator. As said, such software code calculate the solar azimuth angle, solar altitude angle, solar elevation angle or the solar Zenith angle (Zenith solar angle is simply referenced from vertical plane, the mirror of the elevation angle measured from the horizontal or ground plane level). Similar software code is also used in solar calculator apps or the solar power calculator apps for IOS and Android smartphone devices. Most of these smartphone solar mobile apps show the sun path and sun-angles for any location and date over a 24 hour period. Some smartphones include augmented reality features in which you can physically see and look at the solar path through your cell phone camera or mobile phone camera at your phone's specific GPS location.
Software algorithms predicting position of the sun in the sky are commonly available as Java applets, C++ code, Basic, GBasic and QBasic code, Matlab and Simulink procedures, TRNSYS simulations, Scada system apps, Labview module, mobile and iphone apps, tablet apps, and so forth. At the same time, PLC software code for a range of sun tracking automation technology (mechatronic, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic drives and motors) can follow the profile of sun in sky for Siemens, HP, Panasonic, ABB, Allan Bradley, OMRON, SEW, Festo, Beckhoff, Rockwell, Schneider, Yokonawa, or Muthibishi platforms. Sun path projection software are also available for a range of processors, including Siemens S7-1200 or Siemens Logo, OMRON PLC, Ercam PLC, AC500plc ABB, National Instruments, PIC processor, Arduino, and so forth. Analogue or digital interfacing ports on these processors allow for tracking orientation angle feedback through one or a combination of angle sensor or angle encoder, shaft encoder, precision encoder, optical encoder, magnetic encoder, direction encoder, rotational encoder, tilt sensor, inclination sensor, or pitch sensor. Note that the tracker's elevation or zenith axis angle may measured with an altitude angle, declination angle, inclination angle, pitch angle, or vertical angle, zenith axis. Similarly the tracker's azimuth axis angle be measured with a azimuth angle sensor, horizontal angle, roll angle sensor.
Many solar tracker applications cover a wide spectrum of solar energy and concentrated solar devices, including solar power generation, solar desalination, solar water purification, solar steam generation, solar electricity generation, solar industrial process heat, solar thermal heat storage, solar food dryers, hydrogen production from methane or producing hydrogen and oxygen from water (HHO). Many patented or non-patented solar apparatus include tracking in solar apparatus for solar electric generator, solar desalinator, solar steam engine, solar ice maker, solar water purifier, solar cooling, solar refrigeration, USB solar charger, solar phone charging, portable solar charging tracker, solar cooking or solar dying means. Your project may be the next breakthrough or patent, but your invention is held back by frustration in search for the sun tracker you require for your solar powered appliance, solar generator, solar tracker robot, solar freezer, solar cooker, solar drier, solar freezer, or solar dryer project. Whether your solar electronic circuit diagram include a simplified solar controller design in a solar electricity project, solar power kit, solar hobby kit, solar steam generator, solar hot water system, solar ice maker, solar desalinator, hobbyist solar panels, hobby robot, or if you are developing professional or hobby electronics for a solar utility or micro scale solar powerplant for your own solar farm or solar farming, this publication may help accelerate the development of your solar tracking innovation.
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Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa.
Prinsloo, G.J., Dobson, R.T., Brent, A.C., Mammoli, A.A. Modelling and control synthesis of a micro-combined heat and power interface for a concentrating solar power system in off-grid rural power applications. International 2015 SolarPACES Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 2015. p1-8.
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This paper describes the performance of a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) integrated with a combined heat and power cogenerative smart microgrid as remote area power supply (RAPS) in deregulated district energy systems. The research focus on 100% renewables follows on from the ideas of the international energy society (ISES) 100% renewable energy drive, the IEEE smart villages initiative, international renewable energy alliance (IREA), the smart electric power alliance (SEPA) and the alliance for rural electrification (ARE). The proposed hybrid biogas based sun tracker concentrated solar hybrid renewable domestic hot water and power generation system. This alternative energy system design is suitable for space heating, household lighting and cooling refrigeration loads in smart villages, eco-estates, game-farms and remote islands. The study highlights the benefits of embedded generation in integrated and interactive smartgrid configurations for decentralised and district energy systems. International development initiatives such as the Alliance for Rural Electrification and the IEEE Smart Village program have been calling on engineers from developing countries to assist in reducing energy poverty through the design and development of custom designed small-scale sustainable renewable energy solutions. This paper describes the thermodynamic and electrical modeling, simulation and synthesis of a novel kit-based concentrating solar power combined heat and power or hybrid solar cogeneration system. It describes the decentralized solar co-generation system based on a combined cycle Stirling micro-CHP system that includes a low maintenance linear free piston Stirling engine with waste heat recovery, ideal for small business, residential or domestic solar home systems. The concentrating solar combined cycle power and energy system has been designed as a cost-effective community shared solar micro-combined heat and power unit to help enable solar energy utilization within the physical and socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas. This modular plug-and-play unit intends to serve as a stand-alone 100% renewable energy solar powerpack in rural microgrid energy distribution network applications where it will deliver around 3 kW of heat and 1 kW of electricity in distributed generation configurations. The focus of this paper is on the model based design approach in which the main components of the proposed solar micro-combined heat and power system have been systematically modeled on the TRNSYS and Matlab Simulink simulation platforms. This discrete digital modeling approach follows the design guide of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Village Power Program wherein computer models are used to predict system performance. The TRNSYS model application is extended to meet compulsory World Bank and Development Agency funding and humanitarian investment requirements in terms of providing energy reform and fuel transition projections as part of proving the suitability of newly proposed solar technologies for remote area power applications. The proposed computer model applies statistical weather data to explore the performance, feasibility and fuel transition effects for the solar micro-combined heat and power system in terms of electricity and hot-water generation as well as fuel wood replacement at various locations in Southern Africa. The results show the annual power and hot water generation capability of the system for various sites across Southern Africa, and demonstrates a significant potential in reducing fuel wood usage for villages in these areas. This technology and analysis principles would also be valuable in environmental CO2 sequestration analysis, energy sustainability studies, techno-economic analysis as well as cost benefit studies for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation technologies. Africa is a developing countries situated in one of the most vulnerable continents to climate variability. Climate change threatens food security and water stress from droughts and floods as well as potential extinction of plant and animal species, calling for nature conservation to reverse wood-land degradation, deforestation and erosion.
This universal distributed generation Stirling engine generation system is ideal for decentralized pre-paid energy co-operatives and pay-as-you-go solar home business models towards empowering remote off-grid villages and indigenous communal living in village communities through indigenous local sustainable energy sources. Energy production from thermodynamic micro-CHP system forms the core of a smart energy system infrastructure that makes up the rural energy system able to serve rural village communities-sustainably. It is intended to ensure sustainable rural development by providing sustainable energy that could displace traditional fossil fuels. The system uses indigenous energy resources, and with added photovoltaic PV or wind energy generation to ensure fossil fuel displacement in replacing fuels such as kerosene, paraffin, candles and wood fuel that cause human health issues and illness due to smoke inhalation. Such hybrid biofuel or biogas solar system provide a sustainable green energy solution and household home heating or district heating solution based on zero-net-energy 100% renewables. It is offered as a humanitarian aid technology to help service coalitions in support of entrepreneurial ventures into engineering for change in remote isolated off-grid rural communities at the bottom of the pyramid.
Follow on work describes the cyber-physical system aspects with smartgrid energy management and control modeling for coordination and optimization of the overall village power system. The integrated community solar and community microgrid solutions are novel in the context of thermo-electrical cogeneration, virtual power plants and hierarchical control structures for remote rural islanded village applications. Hybrid photovoltaic PV, eolica wind, small hydro and biogas cogeneration (poly-generation, tri-generation or hybrid-generation) in multi-carrier pico-grid, nano-grid or micro-grid dispatch can be used for power n energy delivery to drive appliances such as direct current DC LED lighting, fridges, radio, satellite TV, entertainment systems, and sanitation in islanded network configurations. This includes a flexible smart energy management in smart-grid architecture, data analytics and smart-meter instrumentation that includes machine-learning and artificial intelligence with mathematical and economic optimization in demand management, automated demand response, demand management and flexible controllable load curtailment. The intelligent energy management system aspects include customer engagement in control automation, intelligent self-learning, predictive optimization, energy profile or load forecasting, solar forecasting and battery energy storage integration in managing energy reserves. With smart-meter dashboard analytics, this will ensure renewable energy integration in dispersed generation with energy storage (battery, fuel-cell, tank) to ensure practical energy management that deals with the uncertainty, variability, flexibility and energy security in small-scale heat and power microgrids.
Highlights include customer engagement and cooperation in community solar energy utilization in physical & socio-economic reality of isolated rural areas; Localized rural electric power solution to ensure self-sufficient prosumer based energy in community smartgrids; Digital numerical modeling of custom designed kit-based concentrated solar tracker Stirling CSP micro-CHP system; Simulation prediction of CSP system performance in isolated rural African contexts to improve resource coordination and energy preservation; Analysis on fuel transition projections & rural energy generation reform; Need for hot water geyser type energy storage and dispatch; Demonstration of the personalized approach to power supply within sociological relevance and sustainability merit of customized community solar technology.
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CONTENTS IN BRIEF
PART I SUN CONTOUR AND TRACKING MECHANISMS
1 The Sun Path and Sun Trajectory 3
2 Solar Tracking Mechanisms and Platforms 33
PART II DETERMINING SUN ANGLE AND TRACKER ORIENTATION
3 Solar Position Algorithms and Programs 65
4 Solar Position Algorithm
Supporting Devices and Software 93
5 Optical Detection and Sun Following 97
6 Position and Angle Feedback Measurements 117
PART III SOLAR TRACKING CONTROL AND AUTOMATION
7 Manoeuvring the Solar collector 129
8 Solar Tracking Automated Control 137
PART IV SOLAR TRACKING HARDWARE INTEGRATION
9 Tracking Automation and Hardware Integration 157
10 Solar Tracking Power Budget 171
11 Intelligent Power Budget Control 185
12 Remote Control and Online Monitoring 193
PART V HARNESSING THE POWER FROM THE SUN
13 Harnessing Power from the Sun 205
14 Parabolic Dish Shaping, Formulas and Curves 233
15 Comparing Renewable Technology Options 249
PART VI SOLAR TRACKING EVALUATION AND VERIFICATION
16 Tracker Performance Evaluation Principles 261
17 Health and Safety Issues in Solar Tracking 273
PART VII SOLAR RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION AND MODELLING
18 The Sun as Energy Resource 281
19 Sun Surveying and Solar Resource Modelling 297
PART VIII OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICE DESIGNS
20 Small Solar Tracking Platforms 309
21 Large Solar Tracking Platforms 319
22 Field Robustness and Practical Lessons 327
PART IX GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING RESOURCES
23 Solar Tracking Online Software Resources 349
24 Solar Tracking Online Hardware Resources 355
25 Solar Tracking Online Design Resources 367
26 Solar Tracking Online Solar Resources 373
27 Solar Tracking Online Monitoring Resources 377
28 Solar Tracking Online Proprietary Resources 381
29 Solar Tracking Online Educational Resources 385
30 Solar Tracking Interesting Practical Applications 391
PART X GENERAL SOLAR TRACKING SEARCH TIPS
31 Solar Tracking Resources Online Search Tips 401
Control and automation forms an integral part in the design of solar power conversion systems for stand-alone village installations as well as for industrial scale grid-connected installations. Some control designs employ digital implementation platforms such as robust industrial standard Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) with remote control/access capabilities. The Siemens Simatic S7-1214C TIA platform was chosen as PLC platform to automate an easy-to-assemble stand-alone mechatronic solar concentrator platform for power generation in rural Africa. This paper describes issues around a CO2 impact optimization algorithm as control concept for the automation of the solar power generation and tracking system wherein a digital power budget principle forms the basis for artificially intelligent decision architecture to maximize CO2 impact of the solar power system. The proposed control strategy would be of value to both off-grid rural power generation systems and commercial solar farms where CO2 impact optimization eventually impacts directly on the carbon footprint of a solar farm. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Concentrating solar power co-generation systems have been identified as potential stand-alone solar energy supply solutions in remote rural energy applications. This study describes the modelling and synthesis of a combined heat and power Stirling CSP system in order to evaluate its potential performance in small off-grid rural village applications in Africa. This Stirling micro-Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) system has a 1~kW electric capacity, with 3~kW of thermal generation capacity which is produced as waste heat recovered from the solar power generation process. As part of the development of an intelligent microgrid control and distribution solution, the Trinum micro-CHP system and other co-generation systems are systematically being modelled on the TRNSYS simulation platform. This paper describes the modelling and simulation of the Trinum micro-CHP configuration on TRNSYS as part of the process to develop the control automation solution for the smart rural microgrid in which the Trinum will serve as a solar powerpack. The results present simulated performance outputs for the Trinum micro-CHP system for a number of remote rural locations in Africa computed from real-time TRNSYS solar irradiation and weather data (yearly, monthly, daily) for the relevant locations. The focus of this paper is on the parametric modelling of the Trinum Stirling micro-CHP system, with specific reference to this system as a TRNSYS functional block in the microgrid simulation. The model is used to forecast the solar energy harvesting potential of the Trinum micro-CHP unit at a number of remote rural sites in Africa
Consentrated solar systems for micro combined solar heat and electrical power (mCHP) uses concentrated solar radiation as the source of thermal energy. At the same time, rolling out reliable CSP solutions at rural African sites offer new development opportunities, but pose some system design challenges. This paper evaluates the tracking platform for a mCHP solution.
The key issues around the mechatronic design for a concentrated solar PV or combined heat and power CSP system is the performance of the tracking platform is presented. Specifications called for a low maintenance, self-assembly kit, plug-and-play design for a self-tracking parabolic solar reflector system and should deliver 12 kW thermal or 3 kW electrical power during Maximum Solar Altitude (MSA). The dish emulates a tensile spoke-wheel rim, fitted with a triple parabolic reflector surface ring-shape comprising of individual mirror facets as optical reflecting surface.
During the solar tracking control operation, DC motor movement instructions are fed from a PLC to the motor as a 24 Volt Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal. Guided by an astronomical algorithm, webcam and sun-sensor, the controller feeds PWM signals at time intervals based on the trajectory of the sun. Thus, the DC motors draw current only at motion intervals based on the control approach.
The self-tracking solar concentrator positioning and control system was optically evaluated on the basis of the on-sun pointing azimuth and elevation off-target errors on the cantilever boom.
This research deals with aspects in the simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid RES renewable energy systems and co-generation in isolated or islanded microgrids where I'll follow the sun with a CSP system to collect sun energy. It focusses on the stepwise development of a RE hybrid CSP solar driven co-generation micro combined cooling heating and power (m-CCHP) compact trigeneration polygeneration quadgeneration and thermal energy storage (TES) system with intelligent weather prediction, load prediction, weak-ahead scheduling (time horizon), and look-ahead dispatch on integrated smart microgrid distribution principles. The solar harvesting and solar thermodynamic system includes an automatic sun tracking platform based on micro-controller or PLC controlled mechatronic sun tracking system that follows the sun progressing across the sky. A 100% renewable energy smart energy system or intelligent energy management EMS and adaptive learning control optimization approach is proposed for autonomous off-grid remote power applications is developed, both for thermodynamic optimization and smart micro-grid optimization for distributed energy resources (DER). The correct resolution of this load-following multi objective optimization MO problem is a complex task because of the high number and multi-dimensional variables, the cross-correlation and interdependency between the energy streams as well as the non-linearity in the performance of some of the system components. Carbon footprint or CO2 impact is used in combination with user-comfort metrics to optimize smart microgrid scheduling using linear optimization MILP. Exergy-based control approaches for smartgrid topologies are considered in terms of the intelligence behind the safe and reliable operation of a microgrid in an automated system that can manage energy flow in electrical as well as thermal energy systems. The standalone micro-grid solution would be suitable for remote area power systems RAPS, distant remote rural village, intelligent building, district energy system, campus power, shopping mall centre, isolated network, eco estate or remote island application settings where self-generation and decentralized energy system concepts play a role. Discrete digital simulation models for the thermodynamic and active demand side management systems with digital smartgrid control unit to optimize the system energy management is currently under development. Parametric simulation models for this trigeneration system (polygeneration, poligeneration, quadgeneration) are developed on the Matlab Simulink and TrnSys platforms. In terms of model predictive coding strategies, the automation controller will perform multi-objective cost optimization for energy management on a microgrid level by managing the generation and storage of electrical, heat and cooling energies in layers. Each layer has its own set of smart microgrid priorities associated with user demand side cycle predictions. Mixed Integer Linear Programming and Neural network algorithms are being modeled to perform Multi Objective Control optimization as potential optimization and adaptive learning techniques.