Ruelas Adolfo, Velázquez Nicolás, Villa-Angulo Carlos, Acuña Alexis, Rosales Pedro, Suastegui José
Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Blvd. Benito Juárez S/N, Mexicali 21280, Mexico.
Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Calle de la Normal S/N, Mexicali 21280, Mexico.
Sensors (Basel). 2017 Jul 29;17(8):1742. doi: 10.3390/s17081742.
Solar collector technologies operate with better performance when the Sun beam direction is normal to the capturing surface, and for that to happen despite the relative movement of the Sun, solar tracking systems are used, therefore, there are rules and standards that need minimum accuracy for these tracking systems to be used in solar collectors' evaluation. Obtaining accuracy is not an easy job, hence in this document the design, construction and characterization of a sensor based on a visual system that finds the relative azimuth error and height of the solar surface of interest, is presented. With these characteristics, the sensor can be used as a reference in control systems and their evaluation. The proposed sensor is based on a microcontroller with a real-time clock, inertial measurement sensors, geolocation and a vision sensor, that obtains the angle of incidence from the sunrays' direction as well as the tilt and sensor position. The sensor's characterization proved how a measurement of a focus error or a Sun position can be made, with an accuracy of 0.0426° and an uncertainty of 0.986%, which can be modified to reach an accuracy under 0.01°. The validation of this sensor was determined showing the focus error on one of the best commercial solar tracking systems, a Kipp & Zonen SOLYS 2. To conclude, the solar tracking sensor based on a vision system meets the Sun detection requirements and components that meet the accuracy conditions to be used in solar tracking systems and their evaluation or, as a tracking and orientation tool, on photovoltaic installations and solar collectors.
当太阳光线方向垂直于捕获表面时，太阳能集热器技术的运行性能更佳。为了在太阳相对移动的情况下仍能实现这一点，需使用太阳能跟踪系统。因此，存在一些规则和标准，要求这些跟踪系统在用于太阳能集热器评估时具备最低精度。实现高精度并非易事，因此本文档介绍了一种基于视觉系统的传感器的设计、构建和特性表征，该传感器可找到感兴趣的太阳表面的相对方位误差和高度。基于这些特性，该传感器可作为控制系统及其评估的参考。所提出的传感器基于带有实时时钟的微控制器、惯性测量传感器、地理位置传感器和视觉传感器，可从太阳光线方向获取入射角以及传感器的倾斜度和位置。传感器的特性表征证明了如何进行聚焦误差或太阳位置的测量，精度为0.0426°，不确定度为0.986%，可对其进行调整以达到低于0.01°的精度。通过在最佳商用太阳能跟踪系统之一——基普索恩公司的SOLYS 2上显示聚焦误差，确定了该传感器的有效性。总之，基于视觉系统的太阳能跟踪传感器满足太阳探测要求，其组件满足用于太阳能跟踪系统及其评估的精度条件，或者可作为光伏装置和太阳能集热器上的跟踪和定向工具。
