Cable-Pulley Solar Tracking for Uneven Terrain Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solar tracking systems are costly and inefficient, particularly for installations on uneven surfaces, as they require extensive grading and often rely on expensive active tracking mechanisms, limiting the adoption of solar energy systems due to high installation and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A cable drive system for solar tracking that allows a single drive device to control multiple solar panel assemblies, using flexible drive members and pulleys to rotate solar panels to track the sun's movement, with a tension device providing return force, enabling efficient tracking on uneven surfaces without the need for extensive grading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rigid structures and drive systems are used to move solar panels for tracking, then solar tracking efficiency is improved, but the ability to conform to uneven surfaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the solar array into multiple independently controllable segments or rows, each capable of being driven by the cable system. This segmentation allows each segment to conform to local surface variations while maintaining tracking functionality, resolving the contradiction between rigid tracking structures and adaptability to uneven terrain.
Solution Approach 2:
The cable drive system replaces rigid mechanical connections with flexible cables that can dynamically adapt to surface variations. The cables allow each solar panel assembly to move independently along its mounting surface while still being driven by the central drive mechanism, providing both tracking efficiency and surface conformability.
2Measurement precision
If active solar tracking systems with motors and sensors are used, then tracking precision is improved, but installation and maintenance costs deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses passive solar tracking mechanisms where the sun's own energy or natural forces (such as thermal expansion, fluid pressure changes, or gravitational effects) drive the tracking motion without requiring external motors or complex sensor systems. This self-service approach maintains tracking precision while dramatically reducing installation and maintenance costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces active mechanical systems (motors, gears, sensors, controllers) with passive mechanical or physical systems that automatically track the sun. Examples include thermal expansion mechanisms, fluid pressure systems heated by sunlight, or cable tension systems that respond to solar position changes, thereby eliminating expensive active components while maintaining tracking functionality.
3Stability of the object's composition
If extensive grading is performed to prepare uneven surfaces for solar installations, then surface flatness is improved, but installation costs deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cable drive system and solar panel assemblies are designed to dynamically adapt to uneven surfaces without requiring them to be flattened. The flexible cable connections and independent mounting mechanisms allow the system to accommodate surface variations, eliminating the need for expensive grading while maintaining stable operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters to accommodate uneven surfaces by allowing variable positions and angles of solar panels based on local surface conditions. The cable tension and panel orientations can be adjusted to optimize performance on each specific surface configuration, removing the requirement for uniform flat surfaces and reducing preparation costs.
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 cable drive system reduces installation and maintenance costs while increasing energy output by efficiently tracking the sun's movement, making solar energy systems more viable on varied surfaces and reducing site preparation expenses.
Implementation Method 1
a first flexible drive member segment at least partially wound around the drive pulley such that rotation of the drive pulley in the first direction causes a portion of the first flexible drive member segment to take up on the drive pulley
Implementation Method 2
The cable drive system employs one or more cables wound around a drive pulley of a drive device and one or more driven pulleys of solar assemblies
Implementation Method 3
a return force for returning the solar array system, including the drive device, to the initial position at the end of the day is provided by a tension device such as a weight or spring
Implementation Method 4
a return force for returning the solar array system, including the drive device, to the initial position at the end of the day is provided by a tension device such as a weight or spring
Data Source
AI summary
A cable drive system for solar tracking for solar array systems. The cable drive system employs one or more cables wound around a drive pulley of a drive device and one or more driven pulleys of respective rotatable solar assemblies of the solar array system. The system may use a tension device such as a spring or weight that returns the solar array system to an initial position at the end of the day. The drive device may be an active or passive solar tracker. The disclosed techniques of rotating solar panels are flexible, inexpensive, and reliable. The techniques can apply to any solar technology that benefit from following the sun.