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Three-degree-of-freedom Parallel Manipulator to Track the Sun for Concentrated Solar Power Systems

Shyam, Ashith RB and Ghosal, A (2015) Three-degree-of-freedom Parallel Manipulator to Track the Sun for Concentrated Solar Power Systems. In: CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, 28 (4). pp. 793-800.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2015.0210.055

Abstract

In concentrated solar power(CSP) generating stations, incident solar energy is reflected from a large number of mirrors or heliostats to a faraway receiver. In typical CSP installations, the mirror needs to be moved about two axes independently using two actuators in series with the mirror effectively mounted at a single point. A three degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator, namely the 3-RPS parallel manipulator, is proposed to track the sun. The proposed 3-RPS parallel manipulator supports the load of the mirror, structure and wind loading at three points resulting in less deflection, and thus a much larger mirror can be moved with the required tracking accuracy and without increasing the weight of the support structure. The kinematics equations to determine motion of the actuated prismatic joints in the 3-RPS parallel manipulator such that the sun's rays are reflected on to a stationary receiver are developed. Using finite element analysis, it is shown that for same sized mirror, wind loading and maximum deflection requirement, the weight of the support structure is between 15% and 60% less with the 3-RPS parallel manipulator when compared to azimuth-elevation or the target-aligned configurations.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Publisher: EDITORIAL OFFICE CHINESE JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Additional Information: Copy right for this article belongs to the EDITORIAL OFFICE CHINESE JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, 22 BAIWANZHUANG DAJIE, BEIJING, 100037, PEOPLES R CHINA
Keywords: 3-RPS; Parallel manipulator; Heliostat; Solar tracking
Department/Centre: Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering
Date Deposited: 19 Aug 2015 05:59
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2018 10:37
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/52149

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