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Autonomous Systems Lab

Prof. Roland Siegwart

Bachelor-Thesis

Design of a Power Supply for


an Autonomous Sailboat
Spring Term 2009

Supervised by: Author:


Dr. Cedric Pradalier Jurg Weber
Stefan Leutenegger
Abstract
This thesis deals with the power supply system of the autonomous sail boat AVALON
which should cross the Atlantic Ocean all by itself in September 2009. It will be
explained how the di erent components like solar panels or battery types were chosen
and on what grounds. Di erent possibilities of power collection and storage were
analyzed and evaluated for the power supply system of the AVALON. Based on a
extensive simulation about two square meters of solar cells were chosen for the primary
power supply and a direct-methanol fuel cell as back-up system in case of continuous
bad weather. For the energy storage the boat has four lithium manganese battery
packs on board with 600 watt hours of capacity each. The solar cells are consisting of
four monocrystalline solar modules each with its own maximum power point tracker
to ensure a optimal energy conversion. All modules together have 360 watt peak of
power. Finally the chosen components were tested for the use on an autonomous
vessel and in the end they were mounted with regard to functionality and weight
distribution.

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Abbreviations
AVALON Autonomous Sailboat named "AVALON"
MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracker
SOC State of Charge
SSA Students Sail Autonomously (Building Team of the AVALON)

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Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 About the Microtransat Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 About the Team SSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Energy Collection 3
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Photovoltaic Power Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2.1 Types of Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2.2 Maximum Power Point Tracker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 Wind Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Burning of Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.1 Engine-Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.2 Fuel Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Energy Storage 11
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Electrochemical Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2.1 Types of Electrochemical Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Chemical Energy Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.4 Other Energy Storage Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.5 Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4 Simulation 17
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2 Description of the Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2.1 Counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2.2 Energy Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.3 Energy Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2.4 Energy Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.3 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3.1 Simulation of Ireland Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3.2 Simulation of Passat Sailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

5 Component Based Testing 27


5.1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.2 Solar Modules and MPPTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2.1 Maximum Power of the Solar System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2.2 Salt on the Solar Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2.3 Partially Shaded Solar Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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5.3 Fuel Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

6 Connecting the System 35


7 Conclusion 37
7.1 Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.2 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

A Data Sheets 39
A.1 Sunpower SPR-90 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
A.2 EFOY pro 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
A.3 A123 ANR26650M1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A.4 BMZ BM26650ZTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

B Plots and Graphs 47


B.1 Charge- and Discharge Characteristics of a Lithium-Ion Cell [18] . . . 47
B.2 Complete Charging with Solar Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
B.3 Simulated Power produced at the Test Site in Zurich . . . . . . . . . 48
B.4 Discharge of Battery with y-axis voltage and current . . . . . . . . . 49

C Rules Microtransat 51
D Irradiance MATLABr Function of Moix Pierre-Olivier 55
E MATLABr Simulinkr Simulation Structure 63
F Detail View of Power Supply System Assembly 65
Bibliography 67

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Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Objective
The main objective of the AVALON project is to get an autonomous sail boat across
the Atlantic Ocean. The time in which the boat is reaching its target is only secondary.
More important is that the boat can withstand extreme weather conditions which are
no exception on the Atlantic Ocean. Of course this also includes the power supply
system. All components have to be mechanically and electronically robust which means
that they have to withstand extreme movements of the boat as well as electronic spikes
when it tacks which means that sail and rudder motors are running simultaneously with
full power.
This bachelor thesis is about designing, con guring and tuning the power supply system
of the boat. It is extremely important that the power supply does not fail. It has to
be completely autarkic. If there is no power provided all systems on board would
shut down; communication would no longer be possible and the boat would become
uncontrollable.
The necessary electrical power is supplied by two square meters of solar cells and a
methanol fuel cell. Later will be explained how the decision fell onto these components
and how the di erent technologies work; what their advantages and disadvantages are.

1.2 About the Microtransat Challenge


The microtransat challenge is a competition of autonomous sailboats which race each
other across the Atlantic Ocean. The AVALON is one of the twelve boats taking part
in the race. They must not be longer than 4 meters. It is not allowed to interact
with the boat which means absolutely no communication to the boat. Disregarding
this rule would result in disquali cation. The complete rule book is to be found in
Appendix C.

1.3 About the Team SSA


The team SSA consists of eight mechanical engineering students who have met in June
2008. The team has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to build and programm
the AVALON so it is ready to cross the Atlantic Ocean in September 2009. Three sub-
teams where formed; mechanics, sponsoring and electronics & control. The mechanics
team was responsible for designing and building the boat. The sponsoring team was
looking for companies which where interested to support the project nancially but

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Chapter 1. Introduction 2

also with resources and know-how. The assignment of the electronics and control
team is to look for the necessary electronic components and tune those according to
their function, this also includes the power supply system.
Chapter 2

Energy Collection

2.1 Introduction

This Chapter will brie y explain the most common ways of autonomously collecting
electric energy. A short explanation of how the di erent technologies work in principle
will be given. The end of the chapter covers the decision made in the case of the
AVALON project.

2.2 Photovoltaic Power Generation

One way of collecting electric energy is the principle of photovoltaics used in solar
cells. Solar cells are able to convert irradiation energy from sunlight directly into
electric energy.

As shown in Figure 2.1 when sunlight hits the surface of the solar cells electrons can
be moved around in the silicon surface. They leave holes behind which represent the
positively charged layer or p-layer. The electrons move into the negatively charged
layer or n-layer which is separated from the p-layer through a junction. This principle
is called p-n junction.

Solar technology is a booming eld of the renewable energy sources. Every year
the number of solar cells in use worldwide doubles. The advantages of this kind of
power conversion is that there are no moving parts involved which can get damaged
or jammed. On the other hand quite a big surface is needed to convert a substantial
amount of power. At night the solar cells are not producing any power which means
there has to be a possibility of storing energy during the day.

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Chapter 2. Energy Collection 4

Figure 2.1: Working Principle of solar cells [1]

2.2.1 Types of Solar Cells

Silicon solar cells are the most common solar cells on the marked. As the name is
suggesting they use the semiconductor silicon to generate power. There are two main
types of silicon solar cells the mono- and polycrystalline cells. The monocrystalline cells
(Figure 2.2) are made of just one single silicon crystal which is expensive but promises
a high eciency of up to 25%. The polycrystalline cells (Figure 2.3) are made of
liquid silicon which results in many crystals with di erent directions. This method is
more cost ecient but less power ecient because the contact line of two crystals
constitute a resistance. The eciency of these cells reach up to 20% depending on the
quality. A thin lm solar cell (Figure 2.4) is basically any material coated with a thin
layer of a photovoltaic material (Cadmium Telluride, Copper indium gallium selenide,
Thin- lm silicon, etc.). The advantage of this kind of solar cell is its low cost and the
fact that it can be applied on any material, also exible ones. The disadvantage is its
poor eciency of maximal 12%. There are also other semiconducting materials used
in photovoltaics but because of lack of importance, they will not be documented in
this thesis.

The most ecient cells today are the multiple junction solar cells (Figure 2.5) which
consist of several layers of usually monocrystalline silicon cells stacked on top of each
other. They are very new and experimental. These cells are not available on the mass
marked and are only used in space application and research. The record of eciency
with this technology is almost 43%.
5 2.2. Photovoltaic Power Generation

Figure 2.2: Monocrystalline solar cell [2] Figure 2.3: Polycrystalline solar cell [3]

Figure 2.4: Thin lm solar cell Figure 2.5: Three junction solar cells of the
[8] spacecraft DAWN [9]

2.2.2 Maximum Power Point Tracker

A maximum power point tracker is a device which optimizes the power generation of
the solar panels. It does that in controlling the voltage applied to the solar panel. This
voltage is depending on the solar irradiance on the solar cells and the temperature.
If the voltage applied on the solar module would be constant it would only produce
maximum power at certain conditions. If it is set do produce maximum power at sunny
conditions in midday it would'nt produce any power at a later or earlier time or at bad
weather. If it is set to bad weather it would'nt produce maximum power at clear sky.
A maximum power point tracker can increase the eciency of a solar module by up
to 25%. Figure 2.6 shows an example of maximum power point tracking and Figure
2.7 its dependency on temperature and sunlight.
Chapter 2. Energy Collection 6

Figure 2.6: Maximum Power Point Tracking [17]

Figure 2.7: Dependency of Maximum Power Point to Temperature and Sunlight [18]

2.3 Wind Generator


Using wind to convert energy is a very old principle used already in the middle ages to
make our out of grain. Today it is still a widespread technique in renewable power
conversion. Wind mills come in all shapes and sizes. From the twenty centimeters
wingspan ones to charge batteries to the hundred meter wingspan ones to supply
power grids. This method of power generation works with a simple electric generator
attached to a rotor which converts wind energy into rotation.
There are mainly two di erent kinds of rotors. Rotors with horizontal and with vertical
axes of rotation. The most common rotor is one with a horizontal axis of rotation. It
consists of one to four blades connected to a hub in the center (Figure 2.8). Today
the rotors have mostly three blades because it has proven to be most ecient this way.
The Darrieus rotor is a rotor with a vertical axis of rotation (Figure 2.9). It is also an
important kind of rotor. Compared to the standard rotor its blades are bent and xed
on the top and the bottom of a drive shaft. Its advantage is that it doesn't matter
what direction the wind is blowing from. Its sophisticated aerodynamic principle is not
bound on the wind direction. That means it doesn't have to be turned to face the
wind like the standard rotors. Unfortunately this results in a lower eciency and a
7 2.4. Burning of Fuel

higher minimal wind speed.

Figure 2.8: Wind generator with a Figure 2.9: Wind generator with a
standard rotor [4] Darrieus rotor [5]

The big advantage of this kind of power generation device is its small size compared to
the amount of power generated. The disadvantage is that those devices have moving
parts and are therefore in regular need of maintenance. The rotor can jam or even
break. To convert power the wind turbine needs a fairly strong wind. Dead times are
unavoidable which means like for the solar cells (Section 2.2) a way to store energy is
necessary. The wind turbine has to be mounted at a certain hight to produce a fair
amount of power which is not always easy to realize. Also the surface of the rotor
can act as drag to a sail boat while it is sailing upwind.

2.4 Burning of Fuel


2.4.1 Engine-Generator
Petrol-, natural gas or diesel generators are often used on sail boats because they are
cheap, easy to use and provide a lot of power, anytime and anyplace. The device seen
in Figure 2.10 for example has a continuous power output of 600 Watts. Because
these generators burn fossil fuels they are not renewable energy sources. An engine-
generator is basically an engine connected to an electric generator which converts the
rotational energy into electric energy. The engine-generators have also the advantage
that it is, apart from the noise, no problem to produce power at night. One big
disadvantage for the use of a engine-generator on a autonomous vessel is the low
eciency and with this the high heat production which has to be dissipated. Also the
vibrations resulting from the engines pistons may constitute a problem. The generator
would have to be mounted on a elastic frame.
Chapter 2. Energy Collection 8

Figure 2.10: Honda petrol generator (450 x 240 x 380 mm) [6]

2.4.2 Fuel Cell

Using a fuel cell is a very sophisticated way of burning fuel. The eciency is signif-
icantly higher than with a engine-generator. There are many di erent types of fuel
cells with di erent properties. Some of them can even work in both direction which
means they can not only convert fuel into electrical power but also electrical power
into fuel. There are not many complete solutions of fuel cells available on the mass
market. The rest of the section is only looking at the direct-methanol fuel cell shown
in Figure 2.11 which is a complete solution available to purchase for everyone.
The heart of a fuel cell is the stack. It consists of multiple single fuel cells which
themselves consist of an anode and a cathode separated through a membrane (see
Figure 2.12). The membrane is only penetrable for the positively charged protons. The
negatively charged electrons have to take the way around and by doings so produce
a current. Methanol and Water enter the anode side. The protons of the methanol
di use through the membrane and carbon dioxide leaves the cell as emission. On the
cathode side air enters. The oxygen reacts with the protons from the methanol to
water which is used again on the anode side of the cell. The chemical formula for this
reaction is:

2CH3 OH + 3O2 ! 4H2 O + 2CO2 (2.1)

The big advantage of a fuel cell compared to an engine-generator is its good eciency.
The fuel cell shown in Figure 2.11 for example has an eciency of 26%. The best
engine-generators reach only an eciency of 15%. As a result of this high eciency
the fuel cell doesn't produce as much heat as the engine-generator and it runs without
vibration because it doesn't have any mentionable moving parts.
9 2.5. Decision

Figure 2.11: EFOY Pro Series fuel cell [7]

Figure 2.12: Working principle of direct methanol fuel cells [7]

2.5 Decision
Based on the results of the power simulation (see Chapter 4), the size of the boat
and the objective of the project AVALON (see Chapter 1), the choice for the primary
power supply fell on monocristalline solar cells. The area of the deck is large enough
to harbor four solar panels SPR-90 from Sunpower (see Appendix A.1). Solar cells are
a very reliable and low maintenance solution for an autonomous power supply if there
is enough suitable surface provided. If there isn't enough area a wind turbine would be
a possible alternative. If there is no possibility to mount the wind turbine or maintain
it there is always the possibility of an engine-generator or a fuel cell. In theory the
solar panels alone would provide enough power for the electronics on board but for
redundancy reasons the boat also carries an auxiliary power supply in form of a direct
methanol fuel cell (see Appendix A.2). The fuel cell is programmed to activate when
Chapter 2. Energy Collection 10

the voltage of the batteries reaches a voltage of 22.5 volts. This relates to a charge
capacity of 20 to 30%. It charges the battery as long as the voltage stays under 27
volts, after that it shuts down again. This prevents the batteries of under charging
and ensures a constant power supply of the system. AVALON will have about 30 litres
of methanol on board which enables the fuel cell to charge the batteries 25 times from
30 to 80% charge capacity.
Chapter 3

Energy Storage

3.1 Introduction
In order to ensure a continuous power supply a way to store energy is a necessity.
At night or in bad weather the solar cells will not deliver much energy so the stored
energy will be used to supply the system with power.
There are many di erent possibilities to store energy:

 Chemical (petrol, hydrogen)

 Electrochemical (batteries)

 Electrical (capacitor, supercap)

 Mechanical (compressed air, ywheel)

 Thermal

This chapter will shortly explain the most common methods of storing energy, the
working principle of the technologies mentioned and in the end, it will describe how
the energy storage was realized in the AVALON project.

3.2 Electrochemical Batteries


Electrochemical Batteries can convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy.There
are many types of batteries with various kinds of chemical reactions which results in
di erent electrical and mechanical properties. The principle of a electrochemical bat-
tery will be explained on a galvanic cell (Figure 3.1) which is a simpli cation of the
modern batteries.
This galvanic cell consist of an magnesium-anode and a aluminium-cathode connected
by a conductive electrolyte containing anions and cations. One half-cell includes elec-
trolyte and the electrode to which anions migrate, the other half-cell includes elec-
trolyte and the electrode to which cations migrate. Reduction (addition of electrons)
occurs to cations at the cathode, while oxidation (removal of electrons) occurs to
anions at the anode. The electrodes are connected through a salt bridge which allows
the transfer of ions. This results in a ow of electrons. In this process the materials
of the anode and cathode deteriorate slowly.

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Chapter 3. Energy Storage 12

Figure 3.1: Galvanic Cell [10]

3.2.1 Types of Electrochemical Batteries


There are two main types of batteries. The primary batteries use a chemical reac-
tion which can't by reversed by electrical means. The secondary batteries can be
recharged, their chemical reaction can be reversed by applying an outside current. For
the AVALON project only the secondary batteries are of interest because it is essential
to be able to recharge the batteries during the day. There are still a considerable
number of di erent secondary batteries with di erent properties. For the AVALON
project the weight of the battery is an important criterion but also its charge- and
discharge characteristic. It is important that we are able to determine the SOC (State
of Charge) preferable by measuring the voltage of the battery. It also has to show a
certain electrical and mechanical durability due to unfrequent charging condition and
wave movements. Only the four types of batteries which satisfy some of the criteria
mentioned above where examined closer. Table 3.1 show an overview of the most
important properties of the chosen types of batteries.

Table 3.1: Battery features

Battery Type Weight Charge Characteristics Mechanical Durability


Lead based { ++ ++
Lithium-Iron + - +
Lithium-Manganese + + +
Lithium-Ion ++ { -

Lead Battery
Lead-acid or lead-gel batteries are used in a wide range of applications like cars or o -
grid systems. Their biggest advantage is their electrical robustness and mechanical
durability. These batteries can be over- and undercharged several times without loss
of capacity. The only problem with these batteries is their weight. Lead-Acid batteries
13 3.3. Chemical Energy Storage

are with a speci c energy density of 30 Wh/kg more than eight times heavier than
the very light lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium-Iron Battery

Lithium-iron batteries are very new and have a very long lifespan of up to 4000 cycles
that means the battery can be charged 4000 times before it loses its capacity. This
battery is used mostly in applications like electric wheel chairs, golf carts or even
electric cars because it can output a lot of power. A disadvantage of this battery is
when connected in series the single cells can discharge unequally which means they
have to be balanced with an additional electronic device. The speci c energy density of
this battery is 110 Wh/kg which is much better than the lead based batteries but not
as good as the lithium-ion batteries. The data sheet of a lithium-iron cell is available
in Appendix A.3.

Lithium-Manganese Battery

The properties of the lithium-manganese battery are very similar to the ones of the
lithium-iron battery. The speci c energy density is with 100 Wh/kg a little bit lower
and the lifespan is also not as long than the one of the lithium-iron battery. This cell
is mostly used in small applications like power tools. One advantage of this battery
compared to the lithium-iron battery is that it doesn't have to be balanced and that
its charge characteristic is easier to adapt to the rest of the system because its SOC
can be related more easily to its voltage (see data sheet in Appendix A.4).

Lithium-Ion Battery

The lithium-ion batteries are very powerful and light. They are used in modern elec-
tronic devices like laptops and mobile phones. This battery is the lightest on the
market with a speci c energy density of up to 238 Wh/kg. The big disadvantage of
this cell is its very speci c charge- and discharge characteristic. The cell can, when
charged wrongly, heat up and lose its capacity very quickly. In rare cases, the battery
can even explode. A charge- and discharge plot of a lithium-ion cell is available in
Appendix B.1.

3.3 Chemical Energy Storage


Energy can also be stored in chemicals like petrol or natural gas. The speci c energy
density of chemical energy carriers is normally much higher than the one of batteries.
The methanol used in the fuel cell mentioned in Section 2.4.2 for example has a
speci c energy density of 5470 Wh/kg which is 22 times higher than the one of a
lithium-ion battery. Of course the eciency of the conversion into electrical energy is
about 26% which results in a speci c energy density of 1422 Wh/kg. Another problem
with chemically based energy storage is its irreversibility. Reactions used in converting
chemical into electrical energy can not be reversed (within limits of practicality). The
most commonly used chemicals and their speci c energy densities are listed in Table
3.2.
Chapter 3. Energy Storage 14

Table 3.2: Energy Stored in Chemical Materials

Storage Type Speci c Energy Density


Compressed Hydrogen 39720 Wh/kg
Methane 15440 Wh/kg
Gasoline 13640 Wh/kg
Diesel 12830 Wh/kg
Butanol 10170 Wh/kg
Coal 9030 Wh/kg
Ethanol 8330 Wh/kg
Methanol 5470 Wh/kg

3.4 Other Energy Storage Methods


There are many more possibilities to store energy than mentioned above.
A few examples are:

 Capacitor: Capacitors store energy in a pair of conductors separated by a


dielectric. This is a very dependable way to store electric energy but the capacity
is very low. On the other hand is the power density much higher than the one
of electrochemical batteries which means they can output a lot of power in a
short period of time.
 Supercaps: Supercaps or super capacitors are electrochemical capacitors. Su-
percaps can store much more energy than common capacitors. The problem
is that supercaps are very expensive and heavy with a speci c energy density
of maximal 30 Wh/kg. Like the capacitors the supercaps have a high power
density.
 Compressed Air: Compressed Air is used in pneumatic systems. Air gets
pressed into a tank and may be used again at will. It is rather used to bu er
energy than to actually store it because the capacity of such a tank is again
quite low.
 Flywheel: The Flywheel has the advantage that it can empty its power storage
in a very short period of time but like the compressed air it is mainly used to
bu er energy because its capacity is also quite low.

3.5 Decision
The only viable solution for the AVALON project are rechargeable batteries. That
leaves the four di erent secondary batteries mentioned in Section 3.2.1. If just dura-
bility and charge robustness were weighted, the lead based battery (see Table 3.1)
would constitute the best solution. But because weight is also an important factor
and the keel is too small to place the batteries there, the idea to use lead based energy
storage had to be dropped. Lithium-ion batteries are too dangerous for an autonomous
vessel which is unsupervised for up to six months. The probability of damaging the
batteries or even blow up the boat is too high. The two remaining options are very
similar in properties and weight. The choice fell onto the lithium-manganese batteries
15 3.5. Decision

because they are cheaper, they don't have to be balanced and they are not much heav-
ier than the lithium-iron cells. If there would be the possibility to ensure the safety of
the lithium-ion batteries they would probably be the rst choice. This would require a
long series of simulations and tests which would exceed the time frame of this project.
As mentioned in Chapter 2 there will also be a fuel cell on board which requires
methanol as secondary energy carrier. The fuel cell is a back up system which only
activates in emergency situations that is when the capacity of the batteries drop to a
point where they can't supply the system much longer, e.g. during a long period of
bad weather.
Chapter 3. Energy Storage 16
Chapter 4

Simulation

4.1 Introduction

In order to nd out how many solar panels are needed and what con guration to
chose it is essential to conduct a simulation. Because the solar irradiation angle and
intensity are not constant during the day, it is essential to have a function which can
simulate it as accurately as possible. Moix Pierre-Olivier has written such a function
in MATLABr (see Appendix D). With the help of this function, the power output of
the solar panels could be calculated fairly accurate. Of course the power requirements
of the electronics and the motors are also taken into account.

4.2 Description of the Simulation

The simulation consists of four di erent parts; the counter which counts the time, the
energy supply, the energy storage and the energy consumption. The four parts will be
explained individually while the complete simulation is to be found in Appendix E.

4.2.1 Counter

The counter is the part of the simulation which counts the time passing. It is important
that the initial time is set correctly. Because the lengths of the days depends distinctly
on the date. The rst box in Figure 4.1 is the counter itself which counts the time
in seconds. The second box called "GMT shift in hours" which is not very important
for long time simulations calculates the time variations of di erent time zones. The
third and fourth box determine the starting time of the simulation, it can be set to an
exact hour at an exact date.

17
Chapter 4. Simulation 18

Figure 4.1: Time Counter of Power Simulation

4.2.2 Energy Supply

The purpose of the energy supply part seen in Figure 4.3 is to summarize the power
supplied by the di erent sources which are the solar panels and the fuel cell. The
geographic position is determining the global position of the solar panels. This is
necessary because depending on the date the days are of various length at di erent
places. The ground re ection or albedo factor is a factor which is de ned by the type
of surface surrounding the panels. It indicates the amount of light re ected from the
ground. The albedo factors of the most common surfaces are listed in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Albedo Factor of common Surfaces

Surface Albedo Factor


Fresh Snow 0.8-0.9
Old Snow 0.45-0.9
Desert 0.3
Grass 0.18-0.23
Asphalt 0.15
Water 0.05-0.22

In the lower left corner of Figure 4.3 are the solar panels situated and the heading of
the boat. On the deck of the AVALON are two di erent con gurations of solar panels.
Each side of the deck contains 1.1m2 of solar cells with a slope of 10 each (see Figure
4.2). Beneath the box with the solar surface of the bow panel is another box where
the eciency of the solar panels is included. Combined with the irradiance function
mentioned in Section 4.1 Simulinkr is now able to calculate the power sopplied by
the solar cells at any given time. In the upper right corner, there is a box called fuel
cell where the average power output of the fuel cell can be included.
19 4.2. Description of the Simulation

Figure 4.2: Solar Con guration of the AVALON [15]

A safety factor is also included, located in the upper right corner of Figure 4.3. This
factor is necessary because the irradiance function is always assuming clear sky which
obviously is not an assumption that can be made due to clouds, shade from the sail
or salt accumulated on the solar panels surface. The factor is currently set to 0.5
which means the simulation takes only half of the possible amount of power supplied
in perfect conditions.
Chapter 4. Simulation 20

Figure 4.3: Power Supply Part of the Simulation

4.2.3 Energy Storage

The energy storage part (Figure 4.4) includes basically a simulation of the batteries. It
includes the initial charge and maximum charge of the batteries as well as the charge
and discharge eciencies. The charge and discharge eciencies are a result of internal
resistance of the batteries and other resistances from cabling inside the boat. The
white box "Charge" is used to plot the remaining energy inside the batteries. This
part has the produced and the required power as input.
21 4.2. Description of the Simulation

Figure 4.4: Energy Storage Part of the Simulation

4.2.4 Energy Consumption


The energy consumption part of the simulation (Figure 4.5) includes the power re-
quirements of the electronics and the motors for rudders and sail. The power required
by the electronic components is summarized into one constant. This constant repre-
sents the average power used by the boats electronics. The motors are implemented a
little bit di erent. First the mechanical power needed to turn the motors in a certain
state of sailing is calculated. This calculation includes several factors. The control
frequency determines how many times a certain de ection (one box below) has to be
executed. The boxes "Torque" and "Rotation Speed" tell how fast and with what kind
of force the motors have to turn. After the required mechanical power is calculated
the value gets multiplied by an inverse-eciency-factor of the electrical motor which is
currently set on 4. This means the motors can transform 25% of the electrical power
into mechanical power. After all this is done the simulation outputs the average power
required by the motors. The two rudder motors are realized with a control frequency
which is twice as high as actually needed. This has the same e ect as if two single
calculations for the rudder motors where made. The box in the upper right corner
displays the total average power consumed by the boats system.
Chapter 4. Simulation 22

Figure 4.5: Energy Consumption Part of the Simulation


23 4.3. Simulation Results

4.3 Simulation Results

Two di erent parts of the journey have to be simulated. The most critical part of the
journey is right at the start in south Ireland because there the days are fairly short and
the weather is usually quite cloudy. The red arrow in the top right corner of Figure
4.6 shows the place an the direction the boat is going at that stage. The second red
arrow, in the center of the picture shows the Passat route which is the main part of
the boats journey and takes the longest.

Figure 4.6: Planned Route [16]

4.3.1 Simulation of Ireland Sailing

For the simulation of the Ireland sailing the coordinates are set to 51 N / 9 W which
relates to the Atlantic Ocean just south of Ireland. The direction of the boat is set to
south. In Figure 4.7 one can see that both solar con guration (starboard and port)
produce the same amount of power but shifted in time which is obvious when the boat
is traveling south and the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. Figure 4.8 shows
the power produced by the solar cells. The maximum power is obviously generated at
midday and amounts to 250 watts. This number is already divided by 2 which is the
de ned safety margin. That means the actual maximal power adds up to 500 watts
in optimal conditions.
Chapter 4. Simulation 24

Figure 4.7: Power of the Sun during Figure 4.8: Power produced by solar
three days module during three days

The most important value is the remaining energy inside the batteries. Figure 4.9
shows a plot of the battery energy during three days. The horizontal plateaus occur
when the batteries are fully charged and there is still power provided by the solar panels.
Summarized, the simulation shows positive results because each day the batteries can
be recharged fully which means the power supply is assured.

Figure 4.9: Energy in the batteries during three days

4.3.2 Simulation of Passat Sailing


For the sailing on the Passat route, the coordinates are set to 20 N / 25 W which is
where we change direction to west and sail on the Passat. The power of the sun during
three days is again plotted in Figure 4.10. The di erence between the Ireland- and the
Passat simulation is that on the Passat route the two di erent solar con gurations
don't produce the same amount of power because the sun passes on the port side of
the boat which results in a higher energy production of the port side panels. Because
of the lower latitude, the angle of the sun is higher and the solar panels can produce
more energy than when sailing near Ireland. Figure 4.11 shows that the maximum
25 4.3. Simulation Results

power produced in the passat route is 300 watts which is 50 watts higher than near
Ireland.

Figure 4.10: Power of the sun during Figure 4.11: Power produced by solar
three days module during three days

The remaining energy in the batteries is plotted in Figure 4.12. In direct result of
the better energy production due to more sunlight the plateaus of the fully charged
batteries are longer than the ones in the Ireland simulation. The safety margin of
this simulation is again two. Although the weather is normally much sunnier than in
Ireland there is the possibility of accumulated salt on the solar cell which could result
in a lower power output.

Figure 4.12: Energy in the batteries during three days


Chapter 4. Simulation 26
Chapter 5

Component Based Testing

5.1 Battery

The discharge characteristic of the battery is a very important matter in calibrating the
power supply system. Its value de nes a fairly accurate estimation of the SOC of the
battery. To determine the discharge characteristic the battery has to be discharged
with the conditions existing on the boat. To do that the whole system was divided by
four which means that not all four battery packs were used but just one. Of course
also the power consumption and power generation had to be quartered. Only one solar
panel was used and the power consumption was realized with a 47
resistor which
results in a average power consumption of 13 watts. In the simulation (Chapter 4)
the power consumption was set to 40 watts which divided by four would result in a
usage of 10 watts but because of the time needed to discharge the battery and the
availability of the resistors the discharge power is chosen slightly higher rather than
lower. This does not substantially in uence the test results and reduces the time of a
discharge cycle.

In Figure 5.1 is the plot of a discharge cycle of one lithium-manganese battery pack
with 70 single cells. The blue line represents the measured voltage of the cycle while
the red line shows the state of charge of the battery pack. This plot shows a fairly
exact dependency of the battery voltage to the state of charge. The example in Figure
5.1 shows that when the battery reaches 22.5 volts and the fuel cell is activated the
SOC is at 10.3%. The discharge was realized with a constant resistor which results
in a slowly decreasing power consumption and therefore the slightly curved SOC line.
The 100% mark was set at the nominal capacity of the battery which is 600 Wh.
Because the Cells are very new their capacity is still a little bit above that.

27
Chapter 5. Component Based Testing 28

Figure 5.1: Discharge Characteristics of Battery

5.2 Solar Modules and MPPTs


5.2.1 Maximum Power of the Solar System
To check if the solar module can do what it promises it had to be tested in sunny
conditions. The whole test took three days; the rst one was mainly sunny with a
few small clouds, the second one was mostly cloudy and the third one was rainy with
thick clouds (see Appendix B.2).
The maximum power calculated by the simulation (see Appendix B.3) for the test site
in Zurich is 67 watts per solar panel. The maximum power measured while testing is
62 watts which is the result of voltage multiplied by the current at a maximum power
situation (see Figure 5.2). This value is slightly lower than the one of the simulation
which could have several reasons:

 There was a thin layer of pollen on the solar panel which could result in the
slight decrease of power

 The solar panel has not the eciency issued on the data sheet (Appendix A.1)

 The albedo e ect of the asphalt around the test site is lower than the 0.15 which
is its average albedo factor (see Table 4.1)
29 5.2. Solar Modules and MPPTs

Figure 5.2: Maximum Power of Solar Module

Summarized is this test result well in the margin of error expected and can be stated
as a success.

5.2.2 Salt on the Solar Panel


The salt water of the Atlantic Ocean can splash onto the solar module and build crys-
tals which compromise the panels functionality. Test have shown that if a substantial
amount of water sweeps over the panels most of the accumulated salt gets washed
away. But if the sea is calm for a long time and no wave washes across the panels the
salt layer gets rather thick (see Figure 5.3). Figure 5.4 shows a clean solar panel for
comparison.
Chapter 5. Component Based Testing 30

Figure 5.3: Solar Panel with Salt Coat Figure 5.4: Clean Solar Panel

For time reasons no cleaning system for the solar modules was designed which means
it has to be tested how much the salt compromises the functionality of them. A
solar panel was irradiated with a constant light source consisting of two 500 watts
spotlights. Once the panel was coated in salt and once it was clean. The output
power measured with the salty panel was 5.4 watts and the one of the clean panel 7.4
watts. This result is rather satisfactory because it means that even with the salt coat
the functionality of the solar cells is still at 73%. The expectation guessed from the
look of the salty panel were much lower. The salt must therefore let a considerable
portion of the light pass through and the MPPT's set a new maximum power point
which makes the good result possible.

5.2.3 Partially Shaded Solar Panel


Because the solar panels are close to the sail it is unavoidable that some of the cells are
partly or fully severed from direct sunlight. Because the solar modules are con gured
in series if a cell in is completely separated from sunlight it is not only not producing
power it is also acting as resistance. As a result of that the power remaining when
some of the panels surface is covered is not proportional to the area of the covered
surface. Tests have shown that if one vertical row is covered the panel runs at 32% of
the maximum capacity. If two rows are covered the panel only works at 5% and if three
or more rows are covered the it is completely inactive. Figure 5.5 shows which rows
were covered. The same test was conducted for horizontal rows. If one horizontal
row is covered only 9% of power remains. Surprisingly if two rows are covered 35% of
power remains which is a result of the internal electronics of the solar module. There
are several diodes which can cut of some parts of the module. Evidently covering
two rows is better for this particular diode system than covering just one. If three
31 5.2. Solar Modules and MPPTs

horizontal rows are covered the module is inactive. Figure 5.6 again shows which
horizontal rows were covered.

Figure 5.5: Vertical Partial Coverage of Figure 5.6: Horizontal Partial Coverage
Solar Panel of Solar Panel

This test shows that the outputted power very much depends on which exact cells
are severed from direct sunlight. In reality the cell will never be completely covered
because the sail is not completely blocking the sunlight and the water re ects di use
light onto the cells. This will reduce or even eliminate the partially covered cells
resistance.
Chapter 5. Component Based Testing 32

5.3 Fuel Cell

The fuel cell has its own control software which has to be adapted to our system
especially to our batteries. There are four di erent parameters which have to be set
to a suitable value. The rst one is the switch on voltage. When the battery is
reaching this voltage the fuel cell initiates and starts to charge the batteries. The
second one is the switch o voltage which is depending also on the switch o current.
When the fuel cell is charging and the batteries reach the switch o voltage it stops
increasing the voltage but lowers the current until this decreases below the switch o
current. Then the fuel cell shuts down. The fourth one is the reaction time which is
the time the voltage has to be below the switch on voltage or the switch o current
for the fuel cell to react. In Table 5.1 is a list of those parameters and their range.

Table 5.1: Parameters of Fuel Cell

Parameter Minimal Value Maximal Value Set Value


Switch on Voltage 22 V 26 V 22.5 V
Switch o Voltage 27 V 29.4 V 27 V
Switch o Current 0.5 A 5A 1.8 A
Reaction Time 2s 300 s 60 s

At rst the lowest possible value for the switch on voltage was chosen because it is
essential to use the fuel cell only in emergencies which means just before the battery
is fully discharged. But while initiating the fuel cell at 22 volts a battery error occurred
because the voltage dropped too low under the additional load of the fuel cells initiation
procedure. The switch on voltage was then chosen half a volt higher at 22.5 volts.
The switch o voltage was chosen at its lowest value because it is not necessary to
ll the batteries completely. If for example the batteries are empty at 11:00 pm and
the fuel cell starts to charge. If it nishes just before dawn and there is a sunny day
this sun can not be stored because the batteries are already full. This would result in
wasted methanol which could have been used in a power emergency at a later time.
The switch o current was chosen at 1.8 ampere after testing which is just below
the maximum output of the fuel cell of 50 watts. This means shortly after reaching
the switch o voltage the switch o current will be reached too and the fuel cell
shuts down as early as possible. The nal value, the reaction time was chosen at
60 seconds. This time should not be too low because while the electric motors are
running the voltage drops. This voltage drop should not be the reason for the fuel cell
to initiate.
33 5.3. Fuel Cell

Figure 5.7: Fuel Cell Charge Cycle

The graph of a charge cycle of the fuel cell is shown in Figure 5.7. A load of approx-
imately 48
was connected. Between the green lines the load was disconnected to
accelerate the charging and for comparison of the values. The purple line shows the
point where the switch o voltage is reached and the current constantly decreases
until the switch o current is reached. In this test the switch o current was set to
1.5 ampere, minus the approximately 0.5 ampere used by the attached load results
in the 1 ampere shown in Figure 5.7. The frequent voltage and current drops are a
result of the fuel cells operating mode. It has to refresh the stack approximately four
times an hour. To do so it has to shut down the fuel cells for a short period of time.
Chapter 5. Component Based Testing 34
Chapter 6

Connecting the System

For the power supply system to work it has to be connected properly. First each solar
panel is connected with one MPPT. The MPPT's themselves are connected in parallel
to the batteries. The fuel cell is connected directly to the batteries without any device
in between. The software of the fuel cell is capable to charge the batteries directly.
Figure 6.1 shows a detailed electrical schematic.

Figure 6.1: Schematic of the Electrical System

The complete power supply system has to be mountable on the boat. The main
concern is to nd sucient space inside the hull of AVALON. In addition has to be
kept an eye on the weight distribution. The boat must not lean to the side nor to the
front or back. To achieve the stability along the roll axis the single components where
mounted right on it. The multiple components like the solar panels where mirrored on
it. The stability on the pitch axis was achieved through extensive testing while sailing
on the lake.

35
Chapter 6. Connecting the System 36

Figure 6.2: Assembly of the Power Supply System on AVALON

Figure 6.2 shows the assembly of the power supply system. The solar panels (blue) are
mounted on the stern of the boat, two modules each side. They are connected to the
MPPT's (red) which themselves are connected to the batteries (green). These three
components form the main power supply, a detailed picture can be found in Appendix
F.
The fuel cell (orange) is connected in parallel to the main power supply. It is situated
in the bow of the boat. The methanol tank (brown) is mounted right in front of the
batteries. This arrangement does'nt make the connecting of the various components
very easy but it was the only way to ensure a more or less balanced weight distribution
even when the methanol tank is getting lighter while methanol is consumed.
Chapter 7

Conclusion

7.1 Outcome
The AVALON project and within the implementing of its power supply system was an
extraordinary experience. Countless hours are behind such a project but it is satisfying
to see results after such hard work. Figure 7.1 shows the nished boat. On the stern
of it two of the four solar panels are clearly visible and give the boat a futuristic look.
The goal of designing a fully autarkic and robust power supply system is reached as
far as one can tell at this point but more tests will be required. The Atlantic crossing
will be the nal test for the system. If it survives this the goal is reached inde nitely.

Figure 7.1: Autonomous Sail Boat AVALON

37
Chapter 7. Conclusion 38

Several things could have been done di erently, if time would have allowed it. The
usage of the lighter lithium-ion batteries would have been possible with some additional
test and safety precautions. Further could the boat be designed slightly di erent to
harbor the power supply system more compact which would simplify the assembly of
the system and reduce its space requirements.
This power supply system could be used as it is or slightly customized on almost
any device or vehicle which requires an autarkic power supply. Its speciality is its
high redundancy and its light weight batteries. Also the energy storage through the
methanol is a advantage of this system because it is possible to store basically any
amount of energy required (of course with the cost of a higher weight).

7.2 Outlook
This power supply system as a part of the autonomous sailboat AVALON will sail at the
world championship for autonomous sailing in Portugal taking place in July 2009. In
September 2009 the crossing of the Atlantic will be the ultimate test for the AVALON
and its power supply system. Until then the power supply system will have had quite
some runtime and possible bugs and faults will hopefully be identi ed and xed.
Appendix A

Data Sheets

A.1 Sunpower SPR-90

39
Appendix A. Data Sheets 40

Figure A.1: [11]


41 A.2. EFOY pro 1200

A.2 EFOY pro 1200


Appendix A. Data Sheets 42

Figure A.2: [12]


43 A.3. A123 ANR26650M1

A.3 A123 ANR26650M1

Figure A.3: [13]


Appendix A. Data Sheets 44

A.4 BMZ BM26650ZTC


45 A.4. BMZ BM26650ZTC

Figure A.4: [14]


Appendix A. Data Sheets 46
Appendix B

Plots and Graphs

B.1 Charge- and Discharge Characteristics of a Lithium-


Ion Cell [18]

47
Appendix B. Plots and Graphs 48

B.2 Complete Charging with Solar Panel

B.3 Simulated Power produced at the Test Site in


Zurich
49 B.4. Discharge of Battery with y-axis voltage and current

B.4 Discharge of Battery with y-axis voltage and cur-


rent
Appendix B. Plots and Graphs 50
Appendix C

Rules Microtransat
Safety Rules:
1. Safety should take priority over winning.
2. Competitors may not attempt to inhibit other competitors by intentionally col-
liding with or obstructing their boat or by interfering with radio and electronic
equipment.
3. All radio equipment must comply with appropriate International regulations.
4. Each boat must be equipped with a navigation light which is turned one during
the hours of darkness. It should be visible from all directions and from a dis-
tance of at least 2 miles. The light maybe a single white light or a tri-colour
red/white/green light.
5. Boats must take appropriate precautions to avoid collisions. This might include
the use of radar re ectors, brightly coloured panels, warning labels/ ags or AIS
transponders and avoiding known shipping lanes. Each team must decide the
exact precautions they wish to take.
6. The boat owner is liable for any damage caused to their boat or by their boat.
The organisers take no responsibility for any damage caused.
7. Boats must remain outside any de ned exclusion zones.
8. The organisers will only arrange permission for the boats to operate in the waters
of the country of departure. If permission is not obtainable then the launch will
take place in international waters. Competitors are responsible for arranging
permission for their boat to enter the waters of their destination country and
other countries along the way. Competitors are recommended to remain in
international waters where possible.

Tracking of boats and transmission on data:


1. Each competitor will be required to provide their boat's position to the organisers
via a web or email interface every 24 hours. Competitors are free to decide
how this information is obtained and transmitted. A map showing each boat's

51
Appendix C. Rules Microtransat 52

position will be provided on this website. Any boat which fails to transmit for
more than 10 consecutive days will be disquali ed.
2. In adition to transmiting position data, each boat should keep a record onboard
of its position at least once every 24 hours. A copy of this must be presented
to the jury upon completion.
3. Competitors may transmit status information such as battery state from their
boats.
4. During the race competitors may not transmit any information to their boats,
including new waypoints, weather information or software updates. Any competi-
tor which does will be disquali ed. However if a competitor wishes to implement
such features for use in an emergency or after the race, then they may do so
on the understanding that their use during the race will result in disquali cation.
The jury may request to examine satellite phone bills, log les or computer code
if they suspect data has been sent to the boat.

Criteria for entry:

Every boat entered must ful ll the following criteria:


1. No source of propulsion other than wind.
2. The sailboat must be fully autonomous, no operator control is allowed.
3. The sailboat must be energetically autonomous, carrying on board any required
batteries and electricity generating equipment.
4. The length of the boat must not exceed four metres.

The competition:
1. The aim of the competition is simple, to sail an autonomous sailing boat between
Europe and the Caribbean in the fastest possible time.
2. The competition will start over the course of a week, competitors may launch
at any time during this week. The start date is intended to be during September
2009. However the exact dates are still to be con rmed.
3. The start point will be con rmed at a later date but is expected to be o the
South West coast of Ireland.
4. The nishing line is the line of longitude between 10.00 degrees North, 60.00
degrees West and 25.00 degrees North 60.00 degrees West. Before departing,
each team must choose a target area of 50km diameter along this line. A boat
will only be considered to have nished the race when it reaches this 50km
target, even if it has already crossed the nish line.
53

Judging Criteria:
1. How quickly the boat crosses the Atlantic between the designated start point
and the team's target end point.
2. A handicap will be calculated by the jury based on the boat's hull length using
the following formula: Time Corrected = Time * square root(length in me-
ters)/square root(4 meters)
3. In the event of no boat reaching the nishing line, no winner will be declared.
4. The result will be given by the jury within one week of the last boat arriving
or giving up. During this time each competitor will submit a complete log of
positions (minimum of 1 every 24 hours) along with any contest or comment to
the jury and to all other teams.
Appendix C. Rules Microtransat 54
Appendix D

Irradiance MATLABr Function


of Moix Pierre-Olivier
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Moix Pierre-Olivier %
% January 2004 %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% MODIFIED FOR THE INDEPENDENT SOLAR RADIATION CALCULATOR
%
% solar_radiation_on_surface.m
% modeling of the sun irradiance on a given surface at a given time
% The model is based on Duffie & Beckman: "Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes"
% the equations numbers is refered to this book
%
% Derived from a base script of N. Morel at start but fully revised with
% the equations of the book
%
%
% The function calculates an estimate of the instantaneous
% solar radiation during at a time ts0 on a surface
% of arbitrary slope and orientation.
%
% Parameters:
% slope in degrees: horizontal=0, vertical=90
% orien in degrees South=0, East=90, West=-90, North=180
% ts0 is time in seconds
% altitude in meters
% albedo, from 0 to 1
% typically albedo is
% fresh snow 0.8 to 0.9
% green land with grass 0.12 to 0.25
% sand 0.25 to 0.45
% forest 0.05 to 0.2
% sea and ocean 0.02 to 0.05 if sun height >30 degrees
% 0.02 to 0.2 if sun height <10 degrees
%
%
%

55
Appendix D. Irradiance MATLABr Function of Moix Pierre-Olivier 56

% The output of the function is an array with the


% following components (the components not calculated
% because of 'flagSolOutput' value are set to zero):
% r(1)=global radiation on the surface
% r(2)=direct radiation on the surface
% r(3)=diffuse radiation on the surface
% r(4)=global horizontal radiation
% r(5)=direct horizontal radiation
% r(6)=diffuse horizontal radiation
%
% r(7)=incidence_angle=incidence angle theta on surface (radians)
% r(8)=azimut_angle=direction of the sun compared to the direction of the south
% r(9)=zenith_angle;
%

function r=solar_radiation_on_surface(slope,orien,ts0,latitude,longitude, altitude,albedo)

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% not modified
timezone=round(longitude*24/360); % [hours], West>0
%We place ourself at Greenwich time in any case
%as basis, this will be much easier:
ts0=ts0-timezone*60*60;

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Limits
max_incidence_angle=87*pi/180; %To choose with cell properties
cosmin=cos(max_incidence_angle); % For the limit of direct irradiance over this there
% is total reflectance or the sun is behind the cell
fminDiff=0.2; % minimum diffuse fraction

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%Computation of the time
day=fix(ts0/86400); %tso is given in seconds and 60*60*24=86400

if day>365
disp(' You entered a time over 365 day ');
day=day-365;
end
%the legal hour is
year=fix(day/365); %not really used
hour=fix((ts0-(day+365*year)*86400)/(60*60));
minutes=fix((ts0-(day+365*year)*86400)-hour*60*60)/60;
57

% Determine the month in the year


number_days_in_month=[...
31 ... %January
28 ... %February
31 ...
30 ...
31 ...
30 ... %June
31 ...
31 ... %August
30 ...
31 ...
30 ...
31];

for i=1:12
if day<=sum(number_days_in_month(1:i))
month=i;
break
end
end

% Changes for simplifications of the inputs


phi=latitude*pi/180;
cosphi=cos(phi);
sinphi=sin(phi);

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% declination
del=23.45*(pi/180)*sin(2*pi*(284+day)/365); % [rad]
cosdel=cos(del);
sindel=sin(del);
da=2*pi*day/365;

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% sunrise and sunset solar times [s]
omega_s=acos(-sindel/cosdel*sinphi/cosphi); %hour angle at sunrise 1.6.10
tsunrise=43200*(1-omega_s/pi);
tsunset=43200*(1+omega_s/pi);

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% et = equation of time, in seconds,
% correction due to the speed variation of the earth around the sun
et=(0.0072*cos(da)-0.0528*cos(2*da)-0.0012*cos(3*da)...
-0.1229*sin(da)-0.1565*sin(2*da)-0.0041*sin(3*da))*3600;
Appendix D. Irradiance MATLABr Function of Moix Pierre-Olivier 58

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% time difference and other constants
tdiff=et+3600*(timezone-longitude/15)-day*86400;
tsSol0=ts0+tdiff; % solar times, one day range

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% solar angles (Duffie & Beckman, pp 15 ff)
ha=pi*(1-tsSol0/43200); % this is the omega in the book, ha is for hour angle

sinha=sin(ha);
cosha=cos(ha);
beta=pi/180*slope;
sin_beta=sin(beta);
cos_beta=cos(beta);
gam=pi/180*orien;
singam=sin(gam);
cosgam=cos(gam);
cost=sindel*sinphi*cos_beta-sindel*cosphi*sin_beta*cosgam...
+cosdel*cosphi*cos_beta*cosha+cosdel*sinphi*sin_beta*cosgam*cosha...
+cosdel*sin_beta*singam*sinha; %equation 1.6.2

if (abs(cost)>1+eps)
error(['*** solar: cos(t)=',num2str(cost)]);
end

incidence_angle=acos(cost); % [rad]

%the zenith angle: (is incidence angle for an horizontal surface)


cosz=cosphi*cosdel*cosha+sinphi*sindel;
if (abs(cosz)>1+eps)
error(['*** solar: zenith angle=',num2str(cosz)]);
end
zenith_angle=acos(cosz);

h=pi/2-acos(cosz); %sun height h (called alpha s in the book), complement of the zenith a
sin_h=sin(h);
cos_h=cos(h);

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Solar angle for which the sun azimut is > pi/2 or < -pi/2, this happens for days longer
% In that case we must determine in which quadrant we are
% equation 1.6.6g

omega_ew=acos(sindel/cosdel*cosphi/sinphi);
59

% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% %With the notations of the book:
sinz=sqrt(1-cosz*cosz);
sina=cosdel*sinha/sinz; % this is eq 1.6.6b a is for gamma prime s
if (abs(ha)<=omega_ew), C1=1;
else C1=-1; end
if ((phi-del)>=0), C2=1;
else C2=-1; end
if ((ha)>=0), C3=1;
else C3=-1; end
gamma_s=C1*C2*asin(sina)+C3*(1-C1*C2)*pi/2;

%correction to put back between -pi and pi:


if (gamma_s<-pi), gamma_s=gamma_s+2*pi; end
if (gamma_s>pi), gamma_s=gamma_s-2*pi; end
% %it's OK, checked it gives the same value
% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

absgamma_s=abs(gamma_s);
azimut_angle=gamma_s;

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Radiation for a completely clear sky
% reference: T.Markus, E.Morris, "Building, Climate and Energy",
% Pitman, London (1980)

%corrections to apply for each month for radiation:


aa=[1230,1214,1185,1135,1103,1088,1085,1107,1151,1192,1220,1233];
bb=[142,144,156,180,196,205,207,201,177,160,149,142]*0.001;
cc=[58,60,71,97,121,134,136,122,92,73,57,57]*0.001;

if (tsSol0<tsunrise | tsSol0>tsunset), % then we are during night


r(1:6)=[0,0,0,0,0,0];
else % day
m=35/sqrt(1224*cosz*cosz+1);
tau=(1-altitude/44308).^5.257;
qndirCS=aa(month)*exp(-bb(month)*m*tau);
if (cosz>=0),
qhdirCS=qndirCS*cosz;
qhdiffCS=qndirCS*cc(month);
else
qhdirCS=0; qhdiffCS=0;
Appendix D. Irradiance MATLABr Function of Moix Pierre-Olivier 60

end
qhtotCS=qhdirCS+qhdiffCS;

if (cosz<cosmin | cost<cosmin), % low sun or sun behind surface


qdirCS=0;
else % normal case with a direct component
qdirCS=qhdirCS*cost/cosz;
end
qdiffCS=0.5*(qhdiffCS*(1+cos_beta)+qhtotCS*albedo*(1-cos_beta));
qtotCS=qdirCS+qdiffCS;
r(1:6)=[qtotCS,qdirCS,qdiffCS,qhtotCS,qhdirCS,qhdiffCS];
end

% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% % Radiation for a completely clear sky
% % reference: Duffie & Beckman: "Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes" 2.8
% % Hottel method 1976
% %
%
% %atmospheric parameters:
% a0_star=0.4237-0.00821*(6-altitude/1000)^2;
% a1_star=0.5055+0.00595*(6.5-altitude/100)^2;
% k_star=0.2711+0.01858*(2.5-altitude/1000)^2;
%
% %corrections factors for climate types
% if abs(latitude)>65
% climate='Subarctic summer';
% r0=0.99;
% r1=0.99;
% rk=1.01;
% elseif abs(latitude)<20
% climate='Tropical'
% r0=0.95;
% r1=0.98;
% rk=1.02;
% else
% if month>3&month<9
% climate='Midlattitude summer';
% r0=0.97;
% r1=0.99;
% rk=1.02;
% else
% climate='Midlattitude winter';
% r0=1.03;
% r1=1.01;
% rk=1.00;
% end
% end
%
61

% a0=a0_star*r0;
% a1=a1_star*r1;
% k=k_star*rk;
%
% % we have to put a limitation on the coz to avoid division by 0:
% if cosz<cosmin, % low sun or sun behind surface
% limit_it=0;
% else % normal case with a direct component
% limit_it=1;
% end
%
% tau_b=(a0+a1*exp(-k/cosz))*limit_it;
%
% %radiation received over the atmosphere in space G_on an horizontal surface
% G_on=1367*(1+0.033*cos(2*pi*day/365));
%
% %G_cnb=G_on*tau_b;
% %The horizontal received is
% G_cb=G_on*tau_b*cosz;
%
%
% %The radiation on the sloped surface is not computed yet with this method

r(7)=incidence_angle;
r(8)=azimut_angle;

r(9)=zenith_angle;

%r(10)=gamma_s2;
Appendix D. Irradiance MATLABr Function of Moix Pierre-Olivier 62
Appendix E

MATLABr Simulinkr
Simulation Structure

63
Appendix E. MATLABr Simulinkr Simulation Structure 64
Appendix F

Detail View of Power Supply


System Assembly

65
Appendix F. Detail View of Power Supply System Assembly 66
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67
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