Solar Irradiance Measuring Device Joey Cavaretta Allison Venezia - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Solar Irradiance Measuring Device Joey Cavaretta Allison Venezia John Hills Tim Tormey Peter Journell Nick Jurik Team 20 11/9/2012 1

Overview • Introduction • Problem Statement • Tripod Acquisition • Sensor Mount • Data Transfer • Data Analysis • Timeline • Resources Joey Cavaretta 11/9/2012 2

Problem Restatement Problems with current site o Covers to much surface area o Data collection errors o High cost Goal: Design a relatively small, portable solar irradiance measuring system that can accurately quantify variance in solar irradiance over a larger area. Joey Cavaretta 11/9/2012 3

Tripod Options • Acculine Pro Tripod o Lightweight, durable o Feet have sharp metal points • Manfrotto Aluminum Tripod o Leg angles: 25°, 46°, 66°, 88° • Vanguard MT-23 Metal Tripod o Supports 8.8 lb o Spiked feet • Slik Sprint Pro Tripod o 18.5 inches when folded Acculine Pro Manfrotto Vanguard MT-23 Slik Sprint Pro Cost $ 99.95 112.73 44.95 89.95 Allison Venezia 11/9/2012 4

Auto Leveling Mount • Auto levels as soon as tripod is placed • Stays level with changing ground conditions John Hills 11/9/2012 5

Li-Cor 2003S Fixture • Off-the-shelf product • Don’t know price of fixture John Hills 11/9/2012 6

Data Transfer • Wireless: o Electrical engineering component difficult o High cost o Low reliability • Wired: o Simple setup o Sensors come with 50 foot cable o Negligible voltage drop Tim Tormey 11/9/2012 7

Data Transfer • Wires will be housed in flexible conduit • Protects wires from o Cows o Rodents (ie. Field mice) o Ultra violet rays o Water Tim Tormey 11/9/2012 8

Current Data Analysis • Statistical analysis to guide future data processing • Compare this smaller grid to the larger site Station 12 Peter Journell 11/9/2012 9

Irradiance Vs. Time Irradiance (W/m 2 ) Station 12 Peter Journell Time starting at 10am (seconds) 11/9/2012 10

Average Irradiance Vs. Time Irradiance (W/m 2 ) Time starting at 10am (seconds) Peter Journell 11/9/2012 11

Natural Variance of Irradiance Nick Jurik 11/9/2012 12

Daily NVI Station NVI Notes 8 0.02369 12 0.03642 • Most stations exhibit 13 0.02054 similar NVI values 14 0.02093 • Station 12 still an outlier 18 0.02174 42 0.02213 Average 0.02424 Nick Jurik 11/9/2012 13

Hourly NVI Station 12 NVI Time (hours after 10am) Nick Jurik 11/9/2012 14

10 Minute NVI Station 12 NVI Time (tens of minutes after 10am) Nick Jurik 11/9/2012 15

Where to go from Here? • Determine irradiance as a function of time and separation distance • Try to model cloud movement • Investigate data from station 12 Station 12 Nick Jurik 11/9/2012 16

Timeline John Hills 11/9/2012 17

References "Prevailing Wind Direction." Http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/ . N.p., • n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/htmlfiles/westwinddir.html> Flood, Ronald K., Dr. Tom Acker, and David Willy. Prescott • Airport Solar Facility Solar Variability Study . Tech. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Team 20 11/9/2012 18

Questions? Team 20 11/9/2012 19