Agrivoltaic Solar Tracker with Two-Axis Movement for Reduced Shading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solar tracker systems are complex and heavy, which increases construction costs and can shade farmland, making it difficult to achieve optimal solar energy production while allowing for adequate light and shade for crops.
Innovation Solution
A solar energy production plant with a support structure of elevated, two-dimensionally arranged poles and tie rods, allowing movement of photovoltaic panels on both axes X and Y, utilizing a rotating main tube system with secondary tubes and a worm screw mechanism for precise solar orientation, and a lightweight design to minimize shading and facilitate farming machinery passage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If traditional solar tracker systems are used to maximize solar energy production, then solar energy conversion efficiency is improved, but structural weight and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The solar panel array is divided into multiple independent modules, each capable of autonomous tracking movement. This segmentation allows each module to be lightweight while collectively achieving high solar energy capture, resolving the contradiction between power output and structural weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic tracking mechanisms that allow panels to move and adjust their orientation in real-time to follow the sun's path. This dynamic capability maximizes solar energy capture without requiring heavy fixed structures, as the lightweight movable modules adapt to changing solar positions.
2Power
If sophisticated two-axis solar trackers are deployed to achieve perfect solar alignment, then energy conversion efficiency increases by up to 35%, but device complexity and construction costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The complex two-axis tracking function is segmented across multiple independent modules rather than requiring a single complex mechanism. Each module performs simpler tracking movements, collectively achieving the same effect as a sophisticated single system but with reduced individual complexity and lower construction costs.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple simplified tracking modules are merged together to form a comprehensive solar tracking system. By combining several independent but simpler mechanisms, the system achieves high energy conversion efficiency without the complexity and cost of a single sophisticated tracker.
3Strength
If heavy solar panel structures are installed to ensure stability and tracking capability, then structural strength is improved, but shading of farmland increases, affecting crop growth
Solution Approach 1:
The solar panels are designed as lightweight dynamic structures that can move and adjust their position. This dynamic capability allows the panels to minimize their shading footprint on the farmland while maintaining structural integrity and tracking functionality, thereby preserving adequate light for crop growth.
Solution Approach 2:
The solar panel structures utilize thin, lightweight materials and flexible designs rather than heavy rigid constructions. This approach maintains sufficient structural strength for tracking operations while minimizing the mass and shading area, allowing adequate sunlight to reach the crops below.
4Stability of the object's composition
If dense support structures are used to hold solar panels, then structural stability is improved, but the distance between support poles decreases, preventing passage of large farming machinery
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into discrete, spaced-apart modules rather than a continuous dense framework. This segmentation provides sufficient structural stability for each module while creating adequate spacing between them to allow large farming machinery to pass through and access the farmland underneath.
Solution Approach 2:
The modular support structure incorporates dynamic elements that allow adjustment and adaptation. The spaced modules can independently stabilize solar panels while maintaining open spaces for machinery passage, achieving both structural stability and farming accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Plant for producing solar energy including a support structure formed from support poles aligned fixed to the ground, a movement system for receiving devices of solar energy positioned on poles arranged in a row, adapted for allowing the movement of the devices about a first axis and a second axis substantially perpendicular to one another, a rotating main tube about the first axis, to which a plurality of secondary tubes is connected, associated with said main tube, the secondary tubes having the receiver devices fixed to them and a movement mechanism for the primary tubes, and a sustaining and movement support arranged on each pole of said row, which has a housing that receives the main tube of the movement system and that allows the rotation thereof about the axis.