Granted Patent B2

US 8,878,112 · App. 13/380,714 · Granted Nov 4, 2014

Abstract

Claims (30)

1. A solar power generation apparatus comprising:

a solar panel that houses a solar cell;

a rotational angle processing unit that processes a rotation angle to rotate the solar panel to maintain a constant angle to the sun depending on the elevation of the sun and its azimuth;

a differential angle processing unit that processes a differential angle between the installation direction of the solar panel and true north;

a control angle processing unit that processes a control angle based on the rotational angle;

a drive unit that rotates the solar panel according to the control angle; and

a control angle processing unit that determines whether the solar panel is creating shade to another solar panel and performs a shade avoiding process when it determines that shade is occurring based on the result of the decision.

2. The solar power generation system of claim 1 wherein the control angle processing unit compares the control angle to a pre-determined tracking limit angle and outputs the control angle to the drive unit or performs a shade avoiding process depending on the comparison result.

3. The solar power generation system in claim 1 wherein the control angle processing unit outputs the control angle to the drive unit when the control angle is larger than the tracking limit angle and less than 180°, and performs a shade avoiding mode when the control angle is less than the tracking limit angle or larger than 180°.

4. The solar power generation system in claim 1 wherein the shade avoiding mode is adapted to rotate the solar panel to a pre-determined control angle for a pre-determined time.

5. The solar power generation system in claim 1 wherein the shade avoiding mode absorbs sunlight by rotating to a control angle less than the tracking limit angle and stops the solar panel when the absorbed sunlight is greater than a certain light amount.

6. The solar power generation system in claim 1 further comprising a communication unit which communicates with an external system through wired and wireless communication and the direction of the sun and its azimuth is determined by received information from an outside weather observation system through the communication unit.

7. The solar power generation system in claim 1 further comprising an additional memory unit which stores the date, time, location and its related weather and it is processed based on the date, time, location and its related weather data which are stored in the memory unit.

8. The solar power generation system in claim 7 wherein the memory unit is pre-set with the elevation of the sun and its azimuth based on the date, time, location, and its related weather data.

9. The solar power generation system in claim 1 wherein an additional input-output unit receives instructions from the outside and sends the current status to the outside.

10. The solar power generation system in claim 9 wherein the input-output unit includes a display unit that receives instructions through the screen and displays current status through the screen.

11. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 1 wherein the constant angle being perpendicular between the solar panel plane and the sun is determined by a combination of one or more components from the time of sunrise, time of sunset, distance between solar panels, location of solar panel, size of sunlight and its related weather data.

12. A solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus that uses a solar cell, the method comprising:

processing a rotational angle to maintain the solar cell in a constant angle to the sun based on the elevation of the sun and its azimuth;

processing a differential angle between the direction of the solar cell and true north;

processing a control angle based on the rotational angle and differential angle;

comparing the control angle and pre-determined tracking limit angle;

driving the solar cell to change the solar cell angle according to the control angle.

13. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the control angle processing unit outputs the control angle to the drive unit when the control angle is larger than the tracking limit angle and less than 180°, and performs a shade avoiding mode when the control angle is less than the tracking limit angle or larger than 180°.

14. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the shade avoiding process is a mode for rotating the solar panel to a pre-determined control angle for a pre-determined time.

15. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the shade avoiding process is a mode that rotates the panel to a lesser angle than the tracking limit angle to absorb sunlight and stops the panel when the absorbed sunlight reaches a certain sunlight amount.

16. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the elevation of the sun and its azimuth are determined based on the received information from an outside weather observation system.

17. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the elevation of the sun and its azimuth are processed based on the pre-stored date, time, location and its related weather data.

18. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the elevation of the sun and its azimuth are characterized by being pre-determined based on date, time, location and related weather data.

19. The solar tracking method of solar power generation apparatus in claim 12 wherein the constant angle is perpendicular between the solar panel plane and the sun being determined by a combination of one or more components from the time of sunrise, time of sunset, distance between solar panels, the location of solar panel, size of sunlight and related weather data.

Assignments (12)