This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application Serial No. 2016-256777 (filed on Dec. 28, 2016) and Japanese Patent Application Serial No. 2017-011589 (filed on Jan. 25, 2017), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a heliostat provided with a panel and a driving device for driving the panel. The present invention also relates to a driving device for driving a panel of a heliostat.
There is known a system utilizing sunlight, such as a solar thermal power generation system or a solar photovoltaic power generation system. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-105791 (“the '791 Publication”) discloses a solar thermal power generation system provided with a plurality of heliostats and a power generation device. Each of the plurality of heliostats reflects sunlight toward a portion for transmitting heat to a heat medium, such as a receiver of the power generation device. The power generation device heats the heat medium using the sunlight reflected by the plurality of heliostats to generate steam and utilizes power of the steam to generate power.
A heliostat is provided with, for example, a panel including a reflection member for reflecting sunlight, such as a mirror, and a driving device for driving the panel. The driving device controls an attitude of the panel so that sunlight reflected by the panel travels toward a receiver. For example, in the '791 Publication, a driving device has a turning unit for turning a panel in a horizontal direction and a raising/lowering unit for raising and lowering the panel in an up-down direction.
In the solar thermal power generation system described in the '791 Publication, the raising/lowering unit controls a tilt angle of the panel with respect to a horizontal plane by rotating the panel around a raising/lowering shaft member extending in the horizontal direction along the panel. When the panel in a state of being orthogonal to the horizontal plane is shifted to a state of being parallel to the horizontal plane, the raising/lowering unit temporarily drives the panel in a direction diametrically opposite to gravity acting on the panel. Because of this, an allowable torque (maximum torque) of the raising/lowering unit becomes large, resulting in a size increase of constituent elements of the raising/lowering unit such as a speed reducer and a motor.
The present invention has as its object to provide a heliostat and a driving device capable of effectively solving such a problem.
The present invention provides a driving device for driving a panel of a heliostat, which includes a second axis driving portion for rotating the panel around a second axis non-parallel to a first axis around which the panel is turned with respect to a horizontal plane. In the driving device, the second axis of the second axis driving portion is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a panel surface of the panel.
In the driving device according to the present invention, preferably, the panel can be moved to reach a horizontal position at which the panel surface is substantially parallel to the horizontal plane.
In the driving device according to the present invention, preferably, the panel can be moved to reach a vertical position at which the panel surface is substantially orthogonal to the horizontal plane.
In the driving device according to the present invention, preferably, the second axis driving portion rotates the panel in a first direction around the second axis so that the panel can be moved from the horizontal position to reach the vertical position and so that the panel can be moved from the vertical position to reach the horizontal position.
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that the second axis of the second axis driving portion is inclined at an angle of 35° to 55° with respect to the panel surface of the panel
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that the second axis forms an angle of 125° to 145° with the horizontal plane.
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that an extension of the second axis intersects with a center-of-gravity region of the panel
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that the second axis driving portion is provided with a second axis motor having an output shaft and a second axis speed reducer joined to the output shaft of the second axis motor. In this case, it may also be possible that the second axis speed reducer of the second axis driving portion has an allowable torque smaller than an allowable torque of a first axis speed reducer of a first axis driving portion for rotating the panel around the first axis. Furthermore, it may also be possible that the second axis speed reducer of the second axis driving portion has a diameter smaller than a diameter of a first axis speed reducer of a first axis driving portion for rotating the panel around the first axis. Furthermore, it may also be possible that the second axis motor is positioned on an opposite side to the panel with respect to an intersection between the first axis and the second axis. Furthermore, it may also be possible that a center of gravity of the second axis speed reducer is positioned on an opposite side to the panel with respect to an intersection between the first axis and the second axis. Furthermore, it may also be possible that a mounting surface of the second axis speed reducer on an output side thereof is positioned on an opposite side to the panel with respect to an intersection between the first axis and the second axis.
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible to further include a support portion joined on one end to the second axis driving portion and on the other end to the panel. In this case, it may also be possible that the support portion has a first support member joined to the second axis driving portion and parallel to the second axis and a second support member joined to the first support member and inclined with respect to the second axis.
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that the panel includes a reflection member for reflecting sunlight.
In the driving device according to the present invention, it may also be possible that the panel includes a solar battery.
The present invention provides a heliostat including a panel, a first axis driving portion for rotating the panel around a first axis so that the panel is turned with respect to a horizontal plane, and a second axis driving portion for rotating the panel around a second axis non-parallel to the first axis, the second axis driving portion being joined to the first axis driving portion. In the heliostat, the second axis of the second axis driving portion is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a panel surface of the panel.
According to the present invention, there can be reduced an allowable torque (maximum torque) of a second axis driving portion capable of controlling a tilt angle of a panel with respect to a horizontal plane.
With reference to the appended drawings, the following describes in detail a heliostat and a driving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments described below are each one example of an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not intended to be construed as being limited thereto. Furthermore, in the drawings referred to in the embodiment, the same parts or parts having similar functions are denoted by the same or like reference characters, and duplicate descriptions thereof are possibly omitted. Furthermore, for the sake of convenience of description, a dimensional ratio of the drawings is possibly different from an actual dimensional ratio, and some elements of a configuration are possibly omitted from the drawings.
Heliostat
The heliostat 30 is provided with a support column 31, a driving device 32, a panel 37. The support 31 is a member fixed to a ground G and extending in a vertical direction. The driving device 32 is joined to an upper end of the support column 31. The support column 31 may include a hollow member having a cavity inside. In this case, in the cavity inside the support column 31, wiring may be disposed to be connected to the driving device 32. With this configuration, the wiring can be inhibited from being affected by an external environment, and thus reliability thereof can be improved.
The driving device 32 drives the panel 37. The driving device 32 is provided with a first axis driving portion 33, a second axis driving portion 34, a fixing portion 35, and a support portion 36. The panel 37 includes a reflection member 371 for reflecting sunlight. The reflection member 371 is, for example, a mirror. The driving device 32 is required to control an attitude of the panel 37 with high accuracy so that reflected sunlight travels toward an object.
The following describes constituent elements of the driving device 32.
The first axis driving portion 33 rotates the panel 37 around a first axis A1. The first axis A1 is, for example, an axis orthogonal to a horizontal direction. In this case, the panel 37 is rotated around the first axis A1 so that the panel 37 can be turned with respect to a horizontal plane. In the embodiment, the first axis A1 is parallel to the support column 31.
The first axis driving portion 33 has, for example, a first axis motor 331 and a first axis speed reducer 332 joined to an output shaft of the first axis motor 331. The first axis speed reducer 332 can have any structure. For example, as the first axis speed reducer 332, a planetary gear speed reducer, an eccentric oscillation speed reducer, or a worm speed reducer can be used.
The second axis driving portion 34 rotates the panel 37 around a second axis A2 non-parallel to the first axis A1 of the first axis driving portion 33. The term “non-parallel” refers to an angle θ1 (see
As shown in
The second axis driving portion 34 is provided with, for example, a second axis motor 341 having an output shaft and a second axis speed reducer 342 joined to the output shaft of the second axis motor 341. Similarly to the first axis speed reducer 332, the second axis speed reducer 342 can have any structure. For example, as the second axis speed reducer 342, a planetary gear speed reducer, an eccentric oscillation speed reducer, or a worm speed reducer can be used.
The fixing portion 35 is a member for fixing the second axis driving portion 34 to the first axis driving portion 33. There is no particular limitation on a specific configuration of the fixing portion 35 as long as the angle θ1 formed between the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 can be maintained at a predetermined value.
The support portion 36 is a member joined on one end to the second axis driving portion 34 and on the other end to the panel 37. For example, the support portion 36 has a first support member 361 joined to the second axis driving portion 34 and parallel to the second axis A2 and a second support member 362 joined to the first support member 361 and inclined with respect to the second axis A2. In the embodiment, the second support member 362 extends in the horizontal direction.
In an example shown in
Next, a description is given of a positional relationship between the constituent elements of the driving device 32.
Preferably, the constituent elements of the driving device 32 are configured so that, as shown in
The vertical position is, for example, a position assumed by the panel 37 when the sun is at a low elevation. Furthermore, the panel 37 may be positioned at the vertical position for a cleaning purpose. The horizontal position is, for example, a position assumed by the panel 37 when the sun is at a high elevation. Furthermore, the panel 37 may be positioned at the horizontal position so that a load applied to the panel 37 due to a strong wind or the like is reduced.
One example of a method for achieving the above-mentioned vertical position and horizontal position is to appropriately set the inclination angle θ2 formed by the second axis A2 with the panel surface of the panel 37 and an angle θ3 (see
Method for Controlling Heliostat
Next, with reference to
In
Effects of Heliostat According to the Embodiment
According to the embodiment, the second axis A2 of the second axis driving portion 34 for controlling a tilt angle of the panel 37 with respect to the horizontal plane H is inclined at the predetermined inclination angle θ2 with respect to the panel 37. Consequently, a torque required to rotate the panel 37 about the second axis A2 comes to include both of a component directed against gravity and a component in the same direction as the gravity. For this reason, compared with a case where, as in the '791 Publication mentioned above, a panel is rotated around a shaft extending in a horizontal direction along the panel, an allowable torque (maximum torque) of the second axis driving portion 34 required to rotate the panel 37 can be reduced. For example, an allowable torque of the second axis speed reducer 342 of the second axis driving portion 34 can be made smaller than an allowable torque of the first axis speed reducer 332 of the first axis driving portion 33. This enables a size reduction of the constituent elements of the second axis driving portion 34 such as the second axis speed reducer 342 and the second axis motor 341. For example, a diameter of the second axis speed reducer 342 of the second axis driving portion 34 can be made smaller than a diameter of the first axis speed reducer 332 of the first axis driving portion 33.
The following describes an effect of the heliostat 30 according to the embodiment based on a comparison with a heliostat 130 according to a comparative embodiment. As in the '791 Publication mentioned above, the heliostat 130 shown in
In contrast, according to the embodiment, at least part of a torque required to rotate the panel 37 being at the vertical position about the second axis A2 is in the same direction as a component of the gravity g, and thus an allowable torque (maximum torque) of the second axis driving portion 34 can be reduced.
Furthermore, preferably, as shown in
Furthermore, preferably, the second axis driving portion 34 is configured to rotate the panel 37 in the first direction R1 around the second axis A2 so that the panel 37 can be moved from the horizontal position to reach the vertical position and so that the panel 37 can be moved from the vertical position to reach the horizontal position. In other words, the second axis driving portion 34 is configured so that the panel 37 can be rotated 360° around the second axis A2.
Various modifications can be made to the foregoing embodiment.
The foregoing embodiment has described an example in which the support portion 36 positioned between the second axis driving portion 34 and the panel 37 has, in addition to the first support member 361 extending parallel to the second axis A2, the second support member 362 inclined with respect to the second axis A2. It may also be possible, however, that, as shown in
Furthermore, the foregoing embodiment has described an example in which the second axis driving portion 34 is positioned on the same side as the panel 37 with respect to an intersection P1 between the first axis A1 and the second axis A2. Though not shown, it may also be possible, however, that the second axis driving portion 34 is at least partly positioned on an opposite side to the panel 37 with respect to the intersection P1 between the first axis A1 and the second axis A2. For example, it may also be possible that, as shown in
Furthermore, the foregoing embodiment has described an example in which the reflection member 371 of the panel 37 reflects sunlight toward the power generation device. That is, the example has explained that a sunlight utilization system provided with a plurality of heliostats 30 is a solar thermal power generation system. The use of such a sunlight utilization system provided with a plurality of heliostats 30, however, is not limited to a solar thermal power generation system. For example, it may also be possible that the sunlight utilization system is a system that utilizes heat of sunlight reflected by the plurality of heliostats 30 to purify distilled water. Furthermore, the sunlight utilization system may be a solar photovoltaic power generation system. In this case, a panel 37 of each of the heliostats 30 includes a solar battery for converting sunlight into electric power by a photoelectric effect.
While several modification examples with respect to the foregoing embodiment have been described thus far, needless to say, plural ones of the modification examples can be combined as appropriate, and such combinations are also applicable to the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2016-256777 | Dec 2016 | JP | national |
2017-011589 | Jan 2017 | JP | national |