Solar competition cars are a very interesting research laboratory for the development of new technologies heading to their further implementation in either commercial passenger vehicles or related applications. Besides, worldwide competitions allow the spreading of such ideas where the best and experienced teams bet on innovation and leading edge technologies, in order to develop more efficient vehicles. In these vehicles, some aspects generally make the difference such as aerodynamics, shape, weight, wheels and the main solar panels. Therefore, seeking to innovate in a competitive advantage, the first Colombian solar vehicle "Primavera", competitor at the World Solar Challenge (WSC)-2013, has implemented the usage of a Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) system as a complementary solar energy module to the common silicon photovoltaic panel. By harvesting sunlight with concentrating optical devices, CPVs are capable of maximizing the allowable photovoltaic area. However, the entire CPV system weight must be less harmful than the benefit of the extra electric energy generated, which in adjunct with added manufacture and design complexity, has intervened in the fact that CPVs had never been implemented in a solar car in such a scale as the one described in this work. Design considerations, the system development process and implementation are presented in this document considering both the restrictions of the context and the interaction of the CPV system with the solar car setup. The measured data evidences the advantage of using this complementary system during the competition and the potential this technology has for further developments.
Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspxAbstract. Photovoltaic (PV) applications such as in the architectural, automotive, and aerospace industries face design contradictions because they are expected to produce a lot of energy but are constrained by available area, surface shape, incident irradiance, shadows, and other aspects that have a negative influence on the energy produced by the solar panel. Solar competition vehicles are some of these challenging PV applications. The design of such solar arrays needs to consider efficiency evaluation in order to optimize space; it is difficult not to install solar modules in areas impacted by shadows. A design procedure for a solar array configuration based on shadow analysis for competition vehicles is presented. The principle is that shadows in moving objects can be simulated, since the vehicle, the earth and the sun are are moving in semipredictable patterns, thus net energy collection can be forecast. The case study presented is the solar array design of a vehicle that participated in the World Solar Challenge 2013. The obtained results illustrate how the employment of the procedure gives insights on important aspects to consider and also delivers qualitative and quantitative information for decision making. In addition, the experience in competition highlights some issues to be considered, modified, or improved in further vehicle designs. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/06/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedigitallibrary.org/ss/TermsOfUse.aspx Osorio-Gómez et al.: Solar array design based on shadow analysis for increasing net energy collection. Downloaded From: http://photonicsforenergy.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 08/...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.