Tilting Solar Panel Suspension for High-Altitude Balloon Sun Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
In areas where data connectivity is limited or unreliable, existing network infrastructure fails to provide reliable and cost-effective internet access, necessitating innovative solutions for network expansion.
Innovation Solution
A high-altitude balloon system with a payload that includes an upper and lower structure connected by tension lines, featuring a pulley and orientation control members to deploy and tilt solar panels for optimal solar power collection, enabling multi-axis tilting to track the sun's movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If solar panels are deployed in a fixed horizontal orientation, then the device complexity is reduced, but the energy collection efficiency decreases due to inability to track sun movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic orientation control by deploying solar panels at an angled orientation rather than a fixed horizontal position. The panels are suspended between upper and lower structures with tension lines that allow rotational movement, enabling the panels to dynamically adjust their orientation to track the sun's movement across the sky, thereby improving energy collection efficiency without requiring complex active control systems
Solution Approach 2:
The tension lines serving the solar panels are also used to control the rotational orientation of the panels. This multi-functional design allows the same structural elements to both support the panels and enable their tilting motion, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining the capability for orientation adjustment to track sunlight
2Productivity
If solar panels are deployed vertically or at an angle, then the energy collection efficiency improves by tracking sun movement, but the stability of the solar panel deployment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs tension lines that are routed through pulleys in the upper structure and anchored to the lower structure, creating a counterbalancing system. The tension in these lines provides a restoring force that stabilizes the solar panels in their deployed angled position while still allowing controlled rotational movement to track the sun, effectively using tension-based counterbalancing to maintain deployment stability
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed so that the solar panels can rotate to different orientations along their deployment arc while maintaining stable equilibrium positions. The tension line configuration and pulley system create conditions where the panels can achieve stable deployment at various angles, including angled positions optimized for sun tracking, by balancing gravitational forces with tension forces in the lines
3Ease of operation
If multiple orientation control members are used to control solar panel rotation, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into the tension lines: they provide structural support for the solar panels, enable rotational movement through pulley interaction, and serve as the control mechanism for orientation adjustment. By merging these functions into a single integrated system rather than using separate control members, the patent reduces device complexity while maintaining ease of operation through the natural mechanical advantage of the pulley-tension line system
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides reliable and efficient solar power generation, enabling the deployment of network infrastructure in remote areas by optimizing solar panel orientation for maximum energy collection, thus supporting data connectivity solutions.
Implementation Method 1
at least one solar panel suspended between the upper structure and the lower structure
Data Source
AI summary
A stratospheric balloon may include an upper structure having a pulley, a lower structure, at least one solar panel suspended between the upper structure and the lower structure, and a first orientation control member connected, at a first end thereof, to a first transverse edge of the at least one solar panel and, at a second end thereof, to a second transverse edge of the at least one solar panel. The first orientation control member is wound about the pulley such that rotating the pulley changes the orientation of the at least one solar panel relative to the upper structure and the lower structure. In another example, the pulley may be replaced by first and second support mechanisms and the system may include a second orientation control member. The first and second orientation control members are connected to the first and second support mechanisms, respectively, and to the solar panel.