Design and application of a decoupled rotary-linear switched reluctance motor for concentrated photovoltaic power generation

Abstract

A decoupled two-degree of freedom switched reluctance motor is investigated for a special application in concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) power generation system. Firstly, a new method to adjust the gesture of solar cells by the motor is proposed. Second, the motor is introduced elaborately, including its structure, design and control. Importantly, this motor has been manufactured and initially used by the CPV power generation system. Thirdly, experimental measurements involving force outputs and torque outputs are given. The tracking accuracies in linear and rotary directions can achieve high accuracy in both degree of freedom of 0.3° and 100 μm, respectively, that is utterly needed by CPV. As the results of the tracking upgraded, the power generation output of the new CPV system has been enhanced, validating the effectiveness of the motor and the solar tracking system proposed. This power generation approach can be used in solar energy harvesting in future.