Automatic control system of photovoltaic tracking bracket based on Jrepus LoRa terminal

As an emerging industry that uses solar energy to generate electricity, the photovoltaic industry has the characteristics of safety, reliability, no noise, low pollution, no fuel consumption and short construction period compared with traditional power generation methods, so it has been valued by countries all over the world. my country has become the world's largest producer of photovoltaic power generation components and accessories, and the industrial scale of all aspects of photovoltaic power generation has maintained a momentum of rapid growth.

Although photovoltaic power generation has many advantages, there are still some problems that need to be solved in specific application scenarios. Maximize the use of solar energy; traditional photovoltaic panels need to rely on maintenance personnel to inspect and manage, which is costly and has missed inspections. The Internet of Things technology can help the photovoltaic industry to further improve efficiency.

In order to effectively solve the above problems, Jrepus skillfully combined the Internet of Things technology with the photovoltaic industry, and launched an automatic control system for photovoltaic tracking brackets based on LoRa®. The whole system architecture is composed of industrial computer, wind speed sensor, LoRa terminal, angle sensor, motor driver, motor and other parts.

The photovoltaic tracking bracket automatic control system is a set of negative feedback control system. The angle sensor information is collected by the Jrepus industrial computer. According to the difference between the current angle and the target angle, a control command is issued to drive the motor to drive the push-pull rod to rotate the solar panel until it is collected. The current angle of the solar panel coincides with the target angle, thereby increasing the light-receiving area of ​​the solar panel, capturing the incident solar energy to the maximum extent, and increasing the power generation of the power plant.

As a key part of the system, LoRa-based terminals are responsible for wireless transmission of business data. It is precisely because Semtech's LoRa technology has the characteristics of long transmission distance, low power consumption, and strong anti-interference, which makes it very suitable for harsh installation environments. In addition, the system can be upgraded through remote upgrade (OTA) tools without manual On-site operation improves system intelligence and automatic management.Due to the very harsh environment of the photovoltaic application site, the antistatic requirements, high and low temperature requirements, and antenna requirements of the products are very strict. Jrepus LoRa-based products have passed field verification tests and can be used in harsh environments; at the same time, we have developed on the basis of the basic characteristics of LoRa A number of innovations have been introduced, such as batch remote OTA upgrade and remote wireless configuration of node parameters.

Although the installation of the tracking support automatic control system will incur additional costs, it can be offset by the increased power generation revenue and bring better economic returns. According to calculations, in sunny areas, the one-time cost of installing this system is only 5 cents per watt, but it can increase the power generation of photovoltaic projects by 10-20%, and reduce the cost of electricity of the project by 12%.

Advantages of LoRa-based photovoltaic tracking bracket automatic control system

Wiring-free, easy to deploy, saving wiring construction costs and time  

Work in the unlicensed ISM 470MHz frequency band, no need to pay traffic fees to operators  

Adopting star network, the protocol structure is simple, stable and reliable, suitable for the application scenario of broadcast polling acquisition control

Using LoRa patented modulation and demodulation technology, the sensitivity can reach -140dBm, which has stronger anti-interference ability than other wireless technologies  

Compared with 2.4G ZigBee technology, LoRa operating in the 470MHz frequency band has a longer wavelength, better diffraction ability and ability to penetrate solar panel shielding  

Jrepus LoRa-based products add ESD electrostatic protection circuit, which can withstand more than 8KV contact static electricity and meet the national standard VI standard, especially suitable for the dry and harsh outdoor environment in the north