Solar tracking system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Solar tracking systems in utility-scale photovoltaic power generation face high mechanical system reliability and installation costs due to complex bearing designs, requiring skilled labor and causing safety concerns and bottlenecks in remote locations.
Innovation Solution
A solar tracking system featuring a torque tube holder with a cylindrical bearing, cover, flange, half journal, and post, along with adjustable mounting slots and low-friction outer bearing races, allows for easy deployment and reduced part counts, simplifying assembly and reducing material costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional bearing designs are used in solar trackers, then mechanical system reliability is maintained, but part counts and manufacturing complexity increase, leading to higher costs and installation difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing is divided into separate modular components: bearing cap, bearing insert, and support structure. These segments can be manufactured independently using different optimal processes (casting for cap, machining for insert) and assembled together, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing design integrates multiple functions into unified components. The bearing cap simultaneously serves as both a structural support element and a bearing housing. The bearing insert combines the journal surface and mounting features into a single integrated piece, reducing part counts and assembly steps.
2Ease of operation
If traditional bearing assembly methods are used, then mechanical reliability is achieved, but skilled labor and field welding are required, causing safety concerns and installation bottlenecks
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing insert is pre-assembled into the bearing cap during manufacturing with precise alignment and fit-up. This preliminary action ensures proper mechanical relationships are established before field installation, eliminating the need for skilled workers to perform complex alignment or welding operations on-site while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The design replaces field welding and complex mechanical assembly operations with simple bolted connections. The bearing cap and insert are designed with integrated mounting features that accept standard fasteners, substituting dangerous welding operations with safer, simpler mechanical fastening that can be performed by less skilled labor.
3Ease of manufacture
If complex bearing designs with multiple parts are used, then mechanical reliability is maintained, but material usage and part counts increase, leading to higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing cap is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously serves as structural support, bearing housing, and mounting bracket. This universality eliminates the need for separate support structures and mounting hardware, reducing material usage while maintaining mechanical reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing system uses composite construction with the bearing cap made from cast material optimized for structural strength and the bearing insert made from machined material optimized for bearing surface properties. This composite approach allows each component to use only the necessary amount of material with appropriate properties, reducing overall material consumption while maintaining reliability.
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 enables cost-effective and reliable deployment of solar tracking systems with reduced complexity, minimizing the need for skilled labor and enhancing safety by distributing twisting stress uniformly and allowing for easy adjustment and installation.
Implementation Method 1
low-friction outer bearing races
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
A solar tracking system comprising: at least one solar tracking bearing atop a support post, the solar tracking bearing comprising a pair of stationary outer bearing races attached on either side of a bearing support element, and a rotatable inner bearing race held by the pair of outer bearing races, the rotatable inner bearing race having an beam slot for seating a torque tube beam therein; a torque tube beam seated in the beam slot; a frame on which one or more photovoltaic modules can be mounted, the frame being secured to the torque tube beam; and an electromechanical actuator operable to control the inclination angle of the frame by causing the torque tube beam to rotate in the at least one solar tracking bearing. A solar tracker bearing comprises: a bearing support element; a stationary outer bearing race on a bearing securing element mounted to the bearing support element and providing a bearing surface for seating a torque tube beam therein.