The Team Formerly Known as NREL 2 Ryan Manning Eric Simley Arvind Talukdar

Presentation Outline Solar Tracker/DE2 Development Project Objectives Approach Implementation of Subsystems Logistics Risks Extensions NREL 2 Overview  Objectives  Status

Objectives Problem: relative movement of the sun limits the amount of normally incident light the solar panels receive, thus restricting absorbed energy Solution: implement a low-cost peak power tracker that maintains normal incidence with the light for optimum energy conversion

Objectives (cont.) Develop and document the Altera DE2 board for potential use in ECE courses

Outline of Approach Altera DE2 Board Stepper Motors/ Mechanical Apparatus Monitor/Interface Photodetectors Keyboard Solar Panel/ Battery Apparatus Mouse USB VGA I/O

Implementation of Subsystems: Photosensors Light absorbed by arrays of photo-sensors mounted on circuit boards Localized angle where intensity is strongest will be detected by the processor. Once the angle of strongest intensity is detected, system will adjust position of solar panel so light is normal to panel. Photo-detector Arrays Solar Panel

Photosensors (cont.) Photodiodes: Less expensive More Linear Bias Phototransistors: Built in Gain, no pre-amp required

Stepper Motors SureStep Bipolar Stepper Motor lb-in 1.8degree step size

Photovoltaic Cell/Battery PowerUp BSP 1012 PV Cell Max Voltage 17.3V Max Current.58A (10W) 1.2 Square Feet/4.2 lbs B B Battery 12V 7AHr lead-acid battery

I/O Header Pins 72 Cyclone II I/O pins connected to two 40 pin headers along with 5v, 3.3v, and GND Used for Photosensors, Motors, and Power Meter

VGA Used to display power information to the user 10 bit Video DAC included on board

USB Used to control keyboard input Onboard USB controller chip Drivers included in DE2 documentation

Division of Tasks Hardware Stepper motor mounting apparatus – Ryan Manning Photosensor array – Eric Simley Solar Panel & Battery – Arvind Talukdar Stepper Motor Driver – Everyone Software USB – Arvind Talukdar VGA – Eric Simley I/O – Ryan Manning Application/Integration – Everyone

Schedule

Risks and Contingencies Risk: VGA output is inoperable Solution: Use onboard LCD to display critical information Risk: USB input fails to work properly Solution: No user input available

Extensions SD card support Data storage USB mouse drivers More advanced user interface Second stationary solar panel Used as a comparison to the tracking panel

Bill of Materials

NREL 2 Objective: Create bearing test stand to help diagnose bearing failures in wind turbine gear boxes Status: NREL budget on hold in congress, currently implementing proof of concept test stands, developing LabView acquisition software