Battery-less solar power system

Abstract

Abstract A photovoltaic energy system that accumulates mechanical energy, i.e., pneumatic or hydraulic pressure, or performs mechanical work, i.e., pumping water, without using electrochemical batteries. The system includes one or more photovoltaic panels, one or more high capacitance electrical capacitors, an electrical motor and an electric/electronic control circuit. In essence, the system takes the energy produced by the photovoltaic modules and accumulates it in the capacitors. Once enough energy is accumulated to run the motor, the controller circuit activates the motor. As the motor consumption is larger than the power produced by the photovoltaic module, it takes current from the charged capacitors and the voltage in the capacitors quickly decreases. Once the voltage reaches a minimum where the operation of the motor is no longer practical, the control circuit stops the motor to let the photovoltaic modules recharge the capacitors and the cycle is then repeated. What the above arrangement does is to take the small amount of power generated by a photovoltaic modules and concentrate it in an electrical capacitor. The accumulated energy is then used to produce a burst of power to run an electrical motor which in turn performs the desired mechanical work such as compressing air, pumping hydraulic pressure or pumping water.

Inventors

• 👤 Miguel A. Timm

Bibliographic Details