Virtual On line
June 22, 2020
June 22, 2020
June 26, 2021
Energy Conversion and Conservation
13
10.18260/1-2--35370
https://peer.asee.org/35370
515
Dr. Sean Monemi is a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Director of Smart Grid Laboratory at Cal Poly Pomona. He has many years of industrial experience and practiced engineering profession as an electrical engineer for Litton Industries. His professional experience includes working as a senior engineer and supervisor in one of the largest power company, Tennessee Valley Authority, in the areas of Substation Deign and Smart Metering.
The goal of this project was to understand, design and implement an omni-directional solar tracking system with the integrated capacity to charge multi-cell batteries with a balanced charging rate to allow for stable power delivery to a smart grid model. The intent of the tracking system is to maintain a perpendicular angle from the surface of the panel cells to the sun’s emitting light rays in-order to maintain optimal power storage throughout the course of the day. The project team was tasked with optimizing the entirety of the solar tracking system by better enhancing the system’s input capacity with added cells (expansion of the surface area), efficiency in elements of design for the power/voltage regulation, optimizing the microcontroller’s system control and tracking capability with an efficient power distribution network to allow for a more stable power retainage and distribution rate. The new solar panel has solar cells sealed to a sheet of protective plexiglass, where the forty-two solar cells are connected in the series formation to accumulate voltage and keep current a steady flow. The system is self-powered by a balanced battery network and input from the sun’s solar rays. In summary, the project team was able to deliver the state-of-the-art design of a solar system with a future potential of expanding into large industrial use for power generation.
Monemi, S. S. (2020, June), The Scaled Omni-directional Solar Tracking Unit Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35370
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