Patent Application
20230396210
The invention relates generally to solar trackers, specifically pony modules that power controllers in solar trackers.
Two types of mounting systems are widely used for mounting solar panels. Fixed tilt mounting structures support solar panels in a fixed position. The efficiency with which panels supported in this manner generate electricity can vary significantly during the course of a day, as the sun moves across the sky and illuminates the fixed panels more or less effectively. However, fixed tilt solar panel mounting structures may be mechanically simple and inexpensive, and in ground-mounted installations may be arranged relatively easily on sloped and/or uneven terrain.
Single axis tracker solar panel mounting structures allow rotation of the panels about an axis to partially track the motion of the sun across the sky. For example, a single axis tracker may be arranged with its rotation axis oriented generally North-South, so that rotation of the panels around the axis can track the East-West component of the sun's daily motion. Alternatively, a single axis tracker may be arranged with its rotation axis oriented generally East-West, so that rotation of the panels around the axis can track the North-South component of the sun's daily (and seasonal) motion. Solar panels supported by single axis trackers can generate significantly more power than comparable panels arranged in a fixed position.
The solar panels themselves may be disposed on solar panel supports such as torque tubes. In order to rotate the panels, a drive device such as a slew drive may be coupled to the torque tubes and drive rotation. The drive device may be connected to a controller that directs the drive device when to rotate, and at what angle. Both the drive device and controller need to be powered.
Embodiments of this invention include a solar tracker or parts of a solar tracker, including a pony module including a solar panel powering a controller and/or a drive device. The pony module may be mounted directly on the drive device or may be mounted directly on torque tube cradles coupled to the drive device. The controller may be mounted on torque tubes supported by the torque tube cradles or mounted directly on the solar panel of the pony module.
Embodiments of the invention may include a solar tracker, including: a pony module, including: a solar panel, and a plurality of brackets attached to the solar panel, and a plurality of support couplers directly attached to the brackets of the pony module; at least one solar panel module support arranged in the support couplers and configured to support a solar panel module, a drive device directly attached to the support couplers and configured to rotate the at least one solar panel module support and the pony module, a controller directly attached to the at least one solar panel module support, and wherein the solar panel of the pony module is configured to power the controller.
The solar tracker may have wherein the solar panel is configured to power the drive device.
The solar tracker may have wherein the drive device is disposed on a base directly attached to a support post.
The solar tracker may further include a plurality of solar panel modules disposed on the at least one solar panel module support, and wherein the solar panel of the pony module is on a parallel plane with planes of the solar panel modules.
The solar tracker may have wherein the support couplers are each a cradle comprising wings angled at a non-perpendicular angle to a surface of the drive device attached to the cradle, the brackets comprise a surface attached to the wings parallel to a plane of the wings.
The solar tracker may have wherein the plurality of support couplers comprise two support couplers on opposing sides of the drive device, and the plurality of brackets comprise two brackets directly attached to the two support couplers, respectively.
The solar tracker may have wherein the pony module is not in direct contact with the drive device.
Embodiments of the invention may include solar tracker, including: a pony module, including: a solar panel, and a plurality of brackets attached to the solar panel, and a drive device directly attached to the brackets of the pony module, a plurality of support couplers coupled to the drive device, at least one solar panel module support arranged in the support couplers and configured to support a solar panel module, a controller directly attached to the at least one solar panel module support, and wherein the solar panel of the pony module is configured to power the controller and the drive device is configured to rotate the at least one solar panel module support and the pony module.
The solar tracker may have wherein the solar panel is configured to power the drive device.
The solar tracker may have wherein the drive device is on a base directly attached to a support post.
The solar tracker may further include a plurality of solar panel modules on the at least one solar panel module support, wherein the solar panel of the pony module is on a parallel plane with planes of the solar panel modules.
The solar tracker may have wherein one of the brackets comprises a plate with first holes, the support coupler comprises second holes aligned with the first holes, the drive device includes third holes aligned with the first holes and the second holes, and a plurality of fasteners being arranged through the first holes, the second holes, and the third holes.
The solar tracker may have wherein the brackets are spaced apart from each other at a distance lesser than a width of the drive device, the width taken in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the drive device attached with one of the brackets.
The solar tracker may further include a plurality of solar panel modules disposed on the at least one solar panel module support, wherein the solar panel of the pony module has a smaller area than each of the solar panel modules.
Embodiments of the invention may include a solar panel assembly, including: a pony module, including: a solar panel, a controller directly attached to the solar panel, and a plurality of brackets attached to the solar panel, and a drive device directly attached to the brackets of the pony module, and a plurality of support couplers coupled to the drive device and configured to couple at least one solar panel module support to the drive device, and wherein the solar panel of the pony module is configured to power the controller and the drive device is configured to rotate the at least one solar panel module support and the pony module.
The solar tracker may have wherein the solar panel powers the drive device.
The solar tracker may further include a plurality of solar panel modules on the at least one solar panel module support, and the solar panel of the pony module is on a parallel plane with planes of the solar panel modules.
The solar tracker may have wherein one of the brackets comprises a plate with first holes, the support coupler comprises second holes aligned with the first holes, the drive device includes third holes aligned with the first holes and the second holes, and a plurality of fasteners being arranged through the first holes, the second holes, and the third holes.
The solar tracker may have wherein the brackets are spaced apart from each other at a distance lesser than a width of the drive device, the width taken in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the drive device attached with one of the brackets.
The solar tracker may further include a plurality of solar panel modules disposed on the at least one solar panel module support, wherein the solar panel of the pony module has a smaller area than each of the solar panel modules.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein only illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described. As will be realized, the present disclosure is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the disclosure. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which identical reference numbers refer to like elements throughout the different figures. The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selective embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention. This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, the term “parallel” is intended to mean “substantially parallel” and to encompass minor deviations from parallel geometries. The term “vertical” refers to a direction parallel to the force of the earth's gravity. The term “horizontal” refers to a direction perpendicular to “vertical”.
The variable terrain and single axis solar tracker 100 of
This example variable terrain solar tracker is arranged on uneven terrain and includes two rotation axes: a first rotation axis arranged along a slope, and a second horizontal rotation axis along a flat portion of land above the slope. The angle between the first rotation axis and the second horizontal rotation axis may be, for example, ≥0 degrees, ≥5 degrees, ≥10 degrees, ≥15 degrees, ≥20 degrees, ≥25 degrees, ≥30 degrees, ≥35 degrees, ≥40 degrees, ≥45 degrees, ≥50 degrees, ≥55 degrees, ≥60 degrees, ≥65 degrees, ≥70 degrees, ≥75 degrees, ≥80 degrees, ≥85 degrees, or up to 90 degrees. These examples refer to the magnitude of the angle between the first rotation axis and the second horizontal axis. The angles may be positive or negative.
Various types of assemblies may be disposed on top of support posts, depending on the terrain and the position of the support post with relation to the rest of the trackers: straight-through bearing assemblies 107 for sloping planar surfaces, flat land bearing assembly 115 for flat land, row end bearing assembly 105 for an end of a the tracker, articulating joint bearing assembly 120 for changing terrain angles, and slew drive assembly 125 at an end of the tracker or an intermediate position along the tracker in order to drive rotation of the tracker.
For example, opposite ends of the tracker are rotationally supported by row end bearing assemblies 105 on support posts 110. The portion of the tracker arranged on the slope is supported by straight-through bearing assemblies 107, which include thrust bearings that isolate and transmit portions of the slope load to corresponding support posts 110. The portion of the tracker arranged on flat land, above the slope, is rotationally supported by a flat land bearing assembly 115 which may be a conventional pass-through bearing assembly lacking thrust bearings as described above. The slew drive assembly may drive rotation of the solar panel modules 101 about the first and second rotation axes to track the sun. The solar panel modules 101 may be supported on torque tubes that are parallel with and optionally displaced (e.g., displaced downward) from the rotation axis of the slew drives. The torque tubes may also be aligned with rather than displaced from the rotation axis of the slew drives. Articulating joint bearing assembly 120 links the two non-collinear rotation axes and transmits torque between them. Example configurations for bearing assemblies 105, 107 and 120 are described in more detail below.
Other variations of the variable terrain solar tracker 100 may include other combinations of bearing assemblies 105, 107, 115, and 120 arranged to accommodate one, two, or more linked rotational axes arranged along terrain exhibiting one or more sloped portions and optionally one or more horizontal (flat) portions. Two or more such trackers may be arranged, for example next to each other in rows, to efficiently fill a parcel of sloped and/or uneven terrain with electricity-generating single axis tracking solar panels.
As noted above articulating joint bearing assembly 120 accommodates a change in direction of the rotational axis along the tracker. As used herein, “articulating joint” refers to a joint that can receive torque on one axis of rotation and transmit the torque to a second axis of rotation that has a coincident point with the first axis of rotation. This joint can be inserted between two spinning rods that are transmitting torque to allow the second spinning rod to bend away from the first spinning rod without requiring the first or second spinning rod to flex along its length. One joint of this type, which may be used in articulating joint bearing assemblies as described herein, is called a Hooke Joint and is characterized by having a forked yoke that attaches to the first spinning rod, a forked yoke attached to the second spinning rod, and a four-pointed cross between them that allows torque to be transmitted from the yoke ears from the first shaft into the yoke ears of the second shaft.
A solar panel array control system may be provided, which may control operation of one or more solar panels in the solar array. Operation of the one or more solar panels may include positioning of the one or more solar panels. For example, the solar panel array control system may control an orientation of one or more solar panels. The control system may send signals to a solar panel supporting structure, which may affect the position of the one or more solar panels. The articulating joint may be capable of allowing a position of a solar panel to be controlled from the control system.
The solar panel support structure affecting position of the one or more solar panels may include a slew drive and a controller directing the slew drive. The slew drive and/or the controller need to be powered.
The solar panel 210 may be a bifacial solar panel 210. A bifacial solar panel is able to absorb light from a front surface as well as a back surface opposite the front surface, and convert light from both sides into energy. Because of this capability, the bifacial solar panel 210 may simultaneously collect direct sunlight and/or any light coming from above the tracker, while absorbing light reflected from the ground under or around the tracker. This increases the solar generation capacity, allowing the battery to be charged during diffuse sunlight events such as overcast. Additionally, the battery in the controller 410 may also be charged at a faster rate under challenging weather conditions. With the battery more available to be readily charged by the bifacial solar panel 210, the tracker can operate longer.
The pony module 200 may include two brackets 220 each attached to one of the cradles 250. The brackets 220 may have a panel attachment surface 223 in direct contact with the solar panel 210, a connecting surface 222 perpendicular to the attachment surface 223, and a cradle attachment surface 221 in direct contact to one of the cradles 250 when fastened. The cradle attachment surface 221 may be angled with respect to the connecting surface 222 at a non-perpendicular angle, e.g. an obtuse angle. When the bracket 220 is fastened, the wings 252 of the cradle 250 may be at a same angle with relation to the connecting surface 222 of the bracket 220 as the cradle attachment surface 221. In other words, the cradle attachment surface 221 may be angled against the connecting surface 222 to extend parallel to the wings 252.
The brackets 220 may be attached to the different parts of the cradle 250 other than the wings 252. For example, the brackets 220 may be attached to a non-angled part of the cradle. In this case, the brackets 220 may have an attachment surface that is perpendicular to the connecting surface 222 or parallel to panel attachment surface 223. For example, the brackets 220 may be attached to a flat bottom surface of the cradle, or may be attached to a top region of the cradle, among other like regions and surfaces.
The cradles 250 are used to support solar panel module supports, e.g. torque tubes. An end of the torque tube sits in the cradle 250 and a cradle clamp 295 may be secured over the cradle 250 and the torque tube and secured with fasteners to further secure the torque tube in the cradle 250.
In operation, the slew drive 230 may drive rotation of the torque tubes. The slew drive 230 may drive rotation of the torque tubes via the cradles 250. Since the cradles 250 are rotated by the slew drive 230, the pony module 200 attached to the cradles may rotate along with the slew drive 230. Whenever the slew drive 230 rotates the solar panel modules 101 supported by the torque tube, the pony module 200 (and the solar panel 210) may be rotated the same angle. In this way, shading of the solar panel 210 by the solar panel modules 101 on the torque tubes is avoided.
The slew drive base 235 is mounted and/or coupled to a support post 110, so that the pony module 200 is also supported by the support post 110 via coupling to the slew drive base 235. That is, the slew drive base 235 may be mounted on post mounts that are then directly attached to the support post 110.
In the non-exploded view,
In embodiments of the invention, the controller 410 may be attached to the torque tube 400 and spaced apart from the pony module 200, the slew drive 230, and the slew drive base 235 without directly contacting any of those components. Nevertheless, the controller 410 may be electrically wired to the slew drive 230 and/or the solar panel 210 of the pony module 200, and may be powered by the solar panel 210. The controller 410 may be strapped to the torque tube 400 via straps 420. When the torque tube 400 has not been angled by the slew drive 230 and it is in a neutral position, it may have a top side facing the cradle clamp 295 and a bottom side opposite to the top side. The controller 410 may be strapped to this bottom side. This allows solar panel modules 101 to be disposed on the opposing top side of the torque tube where the controller 410 is located.
The controller 410 may be a computer system. A computer system may include at least one of a processor, memory, non-volatile storage, and an interface. A typical computer system may include at least one or more of the following: a processor, memory, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), such as a microprocessor, or a special-purpose processor, such as a microcontroller.
The memory can include, by way of example but not limitation, random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM). The memory can be local, remote, or distributed. The bus can also couple the processor to non-volatile storage. The non-volatile storage is often a magnetic floppy or hard disk, a magnetic-optical disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), such as a CD-ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM, a magnetic or optical card, or another form of storage for large amounts of data. Some of this data is often written, by a direct memory access process, into memory during execution of software on the computer system. The non-volatile storage can be local, remote, or distributed. The non-volatile storage is optional because systems can be created with all applicable data available in memory.
Software may be stored in the non-volatile storage. Indeed, for large programs, it may not even be possible to store the entire program in the memory. Nevertheless, it should be understood that for software to run, if necessary, it is moved to a computer-readable location appropriate for processing, and for illustrative purposes, that location is referred to as the memory in this paper. Even when software is moved to the memory for execution, the processor may make use of hardware registers to store values associated with the software, and local cache that, ideally, serves to speed up execution. A software program may be assumed to be stored at an applicable known or convenient location (from non-volatile storage to hardware registers) when the software program is referred to as “implemented in a computer-readable storage medium.” A processor is considered to be “configured to execute a program” when at least one value associated with the program is stored in a register readable by the processor.
The computer systems can be compatible with or implemented as part of or through a cloud-based computing system. As used in this paper, a cloud-based computing system is a system that provides virtualized computing resources, software and/or information to client devices. The computing resources, software and/or information can be virtualized by maintaining centralized services and resources that the edge devices can access over a communication interface, such as a network. “Cloud” may be a marketing term and for the purposes of this paper can include any of the networks described herein. The cloud-based computing system can involve a subscription for services or use a utility pricing model. Users can access the protocols of the cloud-based computing system through a web browser or other container application located on their client device.
A computer system can be implemented as an engine, as part of an engine or through multiple engines. As used in this paper, an engine includes at least two components: 1) a dedicated or shared processor and 2) hardware, firmware, and/or software modules that are executed by the processor. Depending upon implementation-specific or other considerations, an engine can be centralized or its functionality distributed. An engine can include special purpose hardware, firmware, or software embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by the processor. The processor may transform data into new data using implemented data structures and methods, such as is described with reference to the FIGS. in this paper.
The engines described herein, or the engines through which the systems and devices described herein can be implemented, can be cloud-based engines. A cloud-based engine may be an engine that can run applications and/or functionalities using a cloud-based computing system. All or portions of the applications and/or functionalities can be distributed across multiple computing devices, and need not be restricted to only one computing device. In some embodiments, the cloud-based engines can execute functionalities and/or modules that end users access through a web browser or container application without having the functionalities and/or modules installed locally on the end-users' computing devices.
Datastores may include repositories having any applicable organization of data, including tables, comma-separated values (CSV) files, traditional databases (e.g., SQL), or other applicable known or convenient organizational formats. Datastores can be implemented, for example, as software embodied in a physical computer-readable medium on a specific-purpose machine, in firmware, in hardware, in a combination thereof, or in an applicable known or convenient device or system. Datastore-associated components, such as database interfaces, can be considered “part of” a datastore, part of some other system component, or a combination thereof, though the physical location and other characteristics of datastore-associated components is not critical for an understanding of the techniques described herein.
Datastores can include data structures. A data structure may be associated with a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently within a given context. Data structures may be based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory, specified by an address, a bit string that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program. Thus, some data structures are based on computing the addresses of data items with arithmetic operations; while other data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself. Many data structures use both principles, sometimes combined in non-trivial ways. The implementation of a data structure may entail writing a set of procedures that create and manipulate instances of that structure. The datastores can optionally be cloud-based datastores. A cloud-based datastore may be a datastore that is compatible with cloud-based computing systems and engines.
The slew drive 230 may have a width in a first direction (e.g., the North-South direction) perpendicular to a second direction in which a length of the brackets 220 extend (e.g., the East-West direction). The brackets 520 may be spaced apart from each other at a distance equal to or lesser than a width of the slew drive 230. The brackets 520 may each be fastened to be spaced apart farther from longitudinal edges of the solar panel 210 and closer to a center line of the solar panel 210, as shown in
When the slew drive 230 rotates the cradles 250 and the solar panel modules 101 disposed on the torque tubes 400 secured in the cradles 250, the slew drive 230 also rotates the bracket 520 directly attached to the cradle 230. In this way the solar panel 210 rotates at a same or similar angle to the solar panel modules 101 as the slew drive 230 is driven. In embodiments of the invention, the solar panel 210 is on a plane parallel with the solar panel modules 101, or on a same plane as the solar panel modules 101.
In the non-exploded view,
When the solar panel 210 is bifacial, it may be preferable to use the configuration illustrated in
As shown in
Alternatively, as shown in
The solar panel array may include one or more solar panel groups 510 each including one or more solar panel modules 101. The groups 510 may include one or more solar panels connected in series, in parallel, or any combination thereof. The solar panel groups may include rows of solar panels, and may be trackers 100 as described above. Any description herein of rows of solar panels may apply to any other type of arrangement or grouping of solar panels.
Optionally, each group of solar panels may each have (e.g., be coupled to and in communication with) a group control system 504. Each group control system 504 may control operation their respective solar panel group 510. The group control systems 504 may be referred to as row controllers when controlling rows of solar panels. Any number of solar panel groups and/or group control systems may be provided. Each group may comprise any number of solar panels. Each group may have the same number of solar panels or differing numbers of solar panels. A central controller 502 may optionally be provided that may control the group control systems.
The solar panel array control system 500 may comprise the central controller 502 and, optionally, one or more group control systems 504. In some instances, one-way communication may be provided from the central controller to the one or more group control systems. The central controller may send instructions to the one or more group control systems, which may in turn control operation of the corresponding solar panel groups. In some instances, two-way communication may be provided between the central controller and the one or more group control systems. For instance, the group control systems may be group controllers that may send data to the central controller. The central controller may send instructions to the group controllers, for example in response to, or based on, the data received from the group controllers. The data from the one or more group controllers may optionally include data from one or more solar panels, or various types of sensors physically included as part of the solar panel group (e.g., on a torque tube, foundation, bearing assembly, or other part of the tracker), physically remote from the solar panel group, and/or otherwise physically or electrically coupled to the solar panel group.
The solar panel array control system may affect operation of the solar panels, which may include positioning of the solar panels. The control system may affect an orientation of the solar panel. The control system may control amount of rotation, rate of rotation, and/or acceleration of rotation of one or more solar panels. The control system may affect a spatial disposition of the solar panel. The control system may control an amount of translation, speed of translation, and/or acceleration of translation of one or more solar panels. The control system may affect operation of one or more driving mechanisms for a solar panel array, for example the slew drive coupled to one or each of the solar panel groups. The solar panels may be positioned in response to one or more factors, as previously described herein. The solar panel array control system may affect other operations of the solar panels, such as turning the solar panels on or off, operational parameters of converting the solar energy to electrical energy, diagnostics, error detection, calibration, or any other type of operations of the solar panels.
The process and methods described in this specification may be implemented by a hardware computer system. A computer system may include at least one of a processor, memory, non-volatile storage, and an interface. A typical computer system may include at least one or more of the following: a processor, memory, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), such as a microprocessor, and/or a special-purpose processor, such as a microcontroller.
The memory can include, by way of example but not limitation, random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM). The memory can be local, remote, or distributed. The bus can also couple the processor to non-volatile storage. The non-volatile storage is often a magnetic floppy or hard disk, a magnetic-optical disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), such as a CD-ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM, a magnetic or optical card, or another form of storage for large amounts of data. Some of this data is often written, by a direct memory access process, into memory during execution of software on the computer system. The non-volatile storage can be local, remote, or distributed. The non-volatile storage is optional because systems can be created with all applicable data available in memory.
Software may be stored in the non-volatile storage. Indeed, for large programs, it may not even be possible to store the entire program in the memory. Nevertheless, it should be understood that for software to run, if necessary, it is moved to a computer-readable location appropriate for processing, and for illustrative purposes, that location is referred to as the memory in this description. Even when software is moved to the memory for execution, the processor may make use of hardware registers to store values associated with the software, and local cache that, ideally, serves to speed up execution. A software program may be assumed to be stored at an applicable known or convenient location (from non-volatile storage to hardware registers) when the software program is referred to as “implemented in a computer-readable storage medium.” A processor is considered to be “configured to execute a program” when at least one value associated with the program is stored in a register readable by the processor.
The computer systems can be compatible with or implemented as part of or through a cloud-based computing system. As used in this description, a cloud-based computing system is a system that provides virtualized computing resources, software and/or information to client devices. The computing resources, software and/or information can be virtualized by maintaining centralized services and resources that the edge devices can access over a communication interface, such as a network. “Cloud” may be a marketing term and for the purposes of this description can include any of the networks described herein. The cloud-based computing system can involve a subscription for services or use a utility pricing model. Users can access the protocols of the cloud-based computing system through a web browser or other container application located on their client device.
A computer system can be implemented as an engine, as part of an engine or through multiple engines. As used in this description, an engine includes at least two components: 1) a dedicated or shared processor and 2) hardware, firmware, and/or software modules that are executed by the processor. Depending upon implementation-specific or other considerations, an engine can be centralized or its functionality distributed. An engine can include special purpose hardware, firmware, or software embodied in a computer-readable medium for execution by the processor. The processor may transform data into new data using implemented data structures and methods, such as is described with reference to the FIGS. in this description.
The engines described herein, or the engines through which the systems and devices described herein can be implemented, can be cloud-based engines. A cloud-based engine may be an engine that can run applications and/or functionalities using a cloud-based computing system. All or portions of the applications and/or functionalities can be distributed across multiple computing devices, and need not be restricted to only one computing device. In some embodiments, the cloud-based engines can execute functionalities and/or modules that end users access through a web browser or container application without having the functionalities and/or modules installed locally on the end-users' computing devices.
Datastores may include repositories having any applicable organization of data, including tables, comma-separated values (CSV) files, traditional databases (e.g., SQL), or other applicable known or convenient organizational formats. Datastores can be implemented, for example, as software embodied in a physical computer-readable medium on a specific-purpose machine, in firmware, in hardware, in a combination thereof, or in an applicable known or convenient device or system. Datastore-associated components, such as database interfaces, can be considered “part of” a datastore, part of some other system component, or a combination thereof, though the physical location and other characteristics of datastore-associated components is not critical for an understanding of the techniques described herein.
Datastores can include data structures. A data structure may be associated with a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently within a given context. Data structures may be based on the ability of a computer to fetch and store data at any place in its memory, specified by an address, a bit string that can be itself stored in memory and manipulated by the program. Thus, some data structures are based on computing the addresses of data items with arithmetic operations; while other data structures are based on storing addresses of data items within the structure itself. Many data structures use both principles, sometimes combined in non-trivial ways. The implementation of a data structure may entail writing a set of procedures that create and manipulate instances of that structure. The datastores can optionally be cloud-based datastores. A cloud-based datastore may be a datastore that is compatible with cloud-based computing systems and engines.
The example computer system 620 may include a processor 626 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory 629 and a static memory 632, which communicate with each other via a bus 623. The computer system 620 may further include a video display unit 640 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 220 also includes an alphanumeric input device 646 (e.g., a keyboard), a user interface (UI) navigation (or cursor control) device 643 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 649, a signal generation device 652 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interface device 635 connected to a network 638.
The disk drive unit 649 (e.g., a hard disk) may include a computer-readable medium on which is stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions (e.g., software and/or algorithms) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 629 and/or within the processor 626 during execution thereof by the computer system 620, the main memory 629 and the processor 626 also may constitute machine-readable media. The instructions may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the static memory 632.
The term “machine-readable medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present embodiments, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable media include non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices); magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and compact disc-read-only memory (CD-ROM) and digital versatile disc (or digital video disc) read-only memory (DVD-ROM) disks. Machine-readable media may also include random access memory (RAM) (such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM)).
The instructions may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 638 using a transmission medium. The instructions may be transmitted using the network interface device 635 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, mobile telephone networks, POTS networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., WiFi and WiMax networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium capable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitate communication of such software. The network interface device 635 may include one or more modems, network interface cards, wireless network interfaces or other interface devices, such as those used for coupling to Ethernet, token ring, or other types of networks.
Embodiments of the computer system may not require every element illustrated in
Some portions of the detailed description herein are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the below discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
This disclosure is illustrative and not limiting. Further modifications will be apparent to one skilled in the art in light of this disclosure and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/349,447 titled “PONY MODULE FOR SOLAR TRACKER” filed on Jun. 6, 2022 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/423,921 titled “PONY MODULE FOR SOLAR TRACKER” filed on Nov. 9, 2022. All of the above-mentioned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63349447 | Jun 2022 | US | |
| 63423921 | Nov 2022 | US |
