Beam, Diffuse, and Global Irradiance Sensor for Solar Panels

Abstract

Team 4253 was tasked to provide an instrument that can measure the beam, diffuse, global, and plane-of-array components of solar irradiance with high accuracy, which can be employed in multiple test locations for long-term data collection. To solve this problem, the team proposed several design concepts that combined the use of thermopile pyranometers, custom-built sun tracking systems, photovoltaic cells, silicon light detectors, and commercially purchased dual-axis sun tracking system. Based on cost and ease of reproducibility, the final design was chosen to be a combination of silicon photodiodes and small photovoltaic cells as sensors with a commercially available dual-axis tracking system originally intended for use in astronomy. The constructed system is calibrated against a high accuracy commercial system. The data from the sensors is uploaded onto a University of Arizona server using PHP. The final design has been verified and validated. The final system will be replicated and placed implemented in Tucson locations. The following report describes the background, design analysis, built system specifications, testing, and results.