Foldable Dual-Axis Solar Tracker with Load-Distributed Wheel Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional solar trackers are bulky, heavy, and non-portable, making them unsuitable for inflatable non-imaging solar concentrators, which require a super-lightweight, foldable, and portable solution to achieve ultra-high efficiency and extremely low-cost solar energy conversion.
Innovation Solution
A dual-axis solar tracker composed of a foldable platform, sprocket gear assemblies, and a motor-driven chain system that distributes load to wheels, allowing for thin and lightweight components and enabling the tracker to be folded and transported easily, with solar panels rotating around both vertical and horizontal axes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional solar tracker structures are used, then solar panels can track the sun, but the tracker becomes bulky and heavy, losing portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by using thin film solar panels instead of conventional rigid panels, and by designing a foldable tracker structure with thin-walled tubes and flexible components. The solar panels are mounted on a foldable platform that can be collapsed for transport, dramatically reducing weight and improving portability while maintaining tracking functionality through the thin-film flexible design.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracker is divided into modular segments including foldable platforms, separate axle components, and distributed wheel assemblies. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables the entire structure to be folded and transported in compact form, resolving the contradiction between maintaining tracking reliability and reducing overall weight.
2Device complexity
If load is concentrated at the top of the pole, then the structure can be simpler, but the supporting structure becomes bulky and heavy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent distributes the load along the length of the pole rather than concentrating it at the top, by positioning wheel assemblies at multiple locations (top, middle, and bottom sections). This dimensional redistribution of load support allows for a lighter pole structure while maintaining structural integrity and tracking functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate wheel assemblies and supporting components distributed along the pole structure. These intermediary elements share the load-bearing function, allowing the main pole to be thinner and lighter while still supporting the solar panels and maintaining structural stability throughout the tracking motion.
3Weight of moving object
If the tracker is made lightweight with thin components, then portability improves, but the structure may lack strength and reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs counterbalancing mechanisms where weights are positioned to offset the moment forces created by the solar panels and moving components. This allows the use of thinner, lighter structural members while maintaining adequate strength and stability during tracking operations, as the counterweights compensate for the reduced structural mass.
Solution Approach 2:
The tracker utilizes composite material construction, particularly in the thin-walled tubes and structural components, combining materials with high strength-to-weight ratios. This enables the structure to be both lightweight for portability and sufficiently strong for reliable operation, resolving the contradiction between weight reduction and strength maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable portable load distributed lightweight dual-axis tracker with solar panels consists of a foldable pedestal with spokes and tracks, a foldable rotating spoke-platform with spokes equipped with sprocket gears on top of the pedestal, a motor with a sprocket gear, a front supporting structure with a hinge, a rear supporting structure with sprocket gears connected with chains, solar panels with cables. The motor is connected to the hub-platform through a chain. The motor drives the spoke-platform to rotate around a vertical axis at the center of the pedestal. The sprocket gears and the chains lift the solar panels to rotate them around the hinge mounted on the front supporting structure. The foldable hub-platform is expanded by the foldable lattice girders. The load of the tracker is distributed among the wheels sitting on the tracks of the pedestal.