Method for robust wireless monitoring and tracking of solar trackers in commercial solar power plants

• US 9,202,370 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Jain, Vivek, May, Gunther, Venkatraman, Lakshmi, Keshavarzian, Abtin, Deubel, Till
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Hai
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bousono, Orlando
• Application Number:
  US13/550,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20140022090A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F24S 2020/10 Solar modules layout; Modular arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: F24S 2023/87 Reflectors layout
• CPC Class Codes: F24S 50/20 for tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/00 Arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless electrical link
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 19/00 Electric signal transmission systems G08C17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/04 Network management architectures or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/34 Signalling channels for network management communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/10 using a centralized architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/47 Mountings or tracking

Abstract

For each first tracker in a first subset there exists a respective second tracker in a second subset such that a distance between the first tracker and the second tracker is shorter than each distance between the second tracker and each of the other first trackers in the subset by more than a threshold distance. In a first time slot, data is wirelessly transmitted using a same first frequency from each of the first trackers in the subset of the first trackers to the respective second tracker in the subset of the second trackers. In a subsequent time slot, the data is wirelessly transmitted from each of the second trackers in the subset of the second trackers to a final destination data collector.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a final destination data collector;

providing a plurality of trackers disposed to one side of the final destination data collector, the trackers being arranged in a sequential data path such that each of said plurality of trackers is configured to pass data to the final destination data collector or to another of said plurality of trackers that is closer to the final destination data collector;

dividing the sequential data path into a plurality of sectors, each of said plurality of sectors including a subset of the plurality of trackers, each of said plurality of sectors including a far end and a close end, the far end being farther from the final destination data collector than is the close end;

simultaneously beginning transmission of the data from the far end of each of said plurality of sectors towards the close end of each of said plurality of sectors along the sequential data path;

continuing the transmission of the data along the sequential data path such that each of said plurality of trackers transmits its own data in addition to data received from an immediately preceding tracker of said plurality of trackers, the transmission continuing until the data from a first of said plurality of sectors that is closest to the final destination data collector has been transmitted to the final destination data collector;

transmitting the data from a second of said plurality of sectors that is second closest to the final destination data collector to the first of said plurality of sectors; and

passing the data from the second of said plurality of sectors along trackers in the first of said plurality of sectors to the final destination data collector, the trackers in the first of said plurality of sectors refraining from adding their data to the data from the second of said plurality of sectors during the passing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the trackers that receives the passed data also produces original data, and the at least one of the trackers passes both the passed data received by the at least one of the trackers and the original data produced by the at least one of the trackers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the data is transmitted at a same frequency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is transmitted at two different frequencies along two parallel sequential data paths.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the data from a third of said plurality of sectors that is third closest to the final destination data collector to the second of said plurality of sectors.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of passing the data from the third of said plurality of sectors along the trackers in the first of said plurality of sectors and the second of said plurality of sectors to the final destination data collector, the trackers in the first of said plurality of sectors and the second of said plurality of sectors refraining from adding their data to the data from the third of said plurality of sectors during the passing.