PCB designs, firmware, simulation and control software, and data models for the LHR Solar Power Generation subteam are stashed here.
When cloning this repo, please use the git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/lhr-solar/Power-Generation.git command. This will pull in
relevant subdependencies. Each project folder has their own README.md describing
usage and any relevant information.
There are several projects contained in the power generation repo. They are outlined below.
- Sunscatter
- PV Curve Tracer
- Blackbody
- Blackbody A
- Blackbody B
- Blackbody C
- Sunspot
- Heliosphere
- Eclipse
- Models
- Data
Sunscatter is the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) board used for power transformation and delivery from the solar array to the vehicle battery management system. It consists of a microcontroller actuating a DC-DC boost converter, armed with sensors to run a closed loop feedback control consisting of both PID controllers and MPPT algorithms to optimize power delivery.
As of July 2023, we have migrated from the old Sunscatter MPPTs
(sunscatter_gen1) to the new Sunscatter MPPTs (sunscatter_gen2). The major
difference between these two are the user specifications and the DC-DC converter
design. The Gen 2 Sunscatter boards have a higher power density and power
transfer efficiency for a fraction of the cost.
The PV Curve Tracer is the measurement board used for characterizing solar cells, modules, and arrays. It has the ability to capture the I-V and P-V curves of the particular PV configuration and visualize it in real time on a user PC with detailed measurements and statistics.
Blackbody is a set of sensor boards for measuring the irradiance and temperature of various parts of the solar array on the car. There are currently three variants: Blackbody A, Blackbody B, and Blackbody C.
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Blackbody A measures both light sensors (TSL2591) and temperature sensors (PT100 RTDs). This board is installed into the solar vehicle for data collection and informing the operation of Sunscatter.
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Blackbody B manages a sole light sensor (TSL2591). It is primarily used for testing and normalization of solar cell/module/array results. It talks to the PV Curve Tracer.
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Blackbody C is breakout board of the light sensor (TSL2591) optimized for placement on the topshell on the solar vehicle. This board talks to Blackbody A during the race.
Sunspot is a proposed laminator PCB used to automate the process of the solar cells. It monitors temperature and vacuum pressure, and provides real-time display of the temperature distribution experienced by the laminated cells.
Heliosphere is a controls PCB for managing light and temperature control of the solar cell and solar module testing setup. It is integrated with the PV Curve Tracer and Blackbody B to provide a feedback loop ensuring a consistent test setup.
Eclipse is the name of the simulation, analysis, and control software written in Python and Qt to optimize the design and assembly of the solar array. It has the ability to model the power generation system, from the photovoltaic configuration to the DC-DC converter and the MPPT algorithms. It also has the ability to capture logs from the PV Curve Tracer and visualize them, presenting detailed analysis of the photovoltaic being characterized.
The former functionality is used for simulating and testing novel MPPT algorithms and the latter is used for binning and evaluating photovoltaic cells and their assembled modules and arrays.
The Models repository contains python/cython models used for simulating and characterizing the power generation system. It consists of the following components:
- Environment (irradiance, temperature)
- Photovoltaics (cells, modules, arrays)
- MPPT (hardware and MPPT algorithms)
- Load (battery loads or elsewise)
Since these models are used in various parts of the system design process (characterizing cell parameters, binning modules, simulating MPPT performance, etc), it gets its own repository separate from Eclipse.
The Data repository contains relevant characterization and modeling data used for Power Generation activities.