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EP-4489298-B1 - MULTIFUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS

EP4489298B1EP 4489298 B1EP4489298 B1EP 4489298B1EP-4489298-B1

Inventors

  • CIAPONI, Fabio

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240704

Claims (10)

  1. Multifunctional structure for supporting one or more photovoltaic panels (P) provided with a sensitive surface (7) exposed to solar radiation above an installation surface (C), comprising a load-bearing tubular structure (2) provided with fixing means (9, 11) for fixing to one or more panels (P), at least one inlet (5) for a compressed air flow and a distribution of nozzles (6) for dispensing one or more compressed air flows directed towards the sensitive surface (7) of the panel (P), characterized in that said load-bearing tubular structure (2) comprises at least one tubular element (2) provided with an upper surface (40) for resting the panels (P), fixing means (9, 11) for fixing said at least one tubular element (2) to an overlying panel (P), said fixing means (9, 11) comprising at least one clamp (11) connectable to the panel by means of clamping elements (22) which are adjustable in position along an upper groove (9) of the profile (2) of the tubular element (2).
  2. Structure according to claim 1, wherein said at least one tubular element (2) comprises a first main internal channel (13) communicating with said compressed air inlet (5) and an internal bypass channel (14) communicating with the nozzles (6) and with the first channel (13) by means of at least one controllable solenoid valve (24).
  3. Structure according to claim 2, wherein ducts (26, 27) branch off from said at least one solenoid valve (24), respectively communicating with the main channel (13) and with the secondary channel (14).
  4. Structure according to claim 3, comprising an assembly (36) of nozzles (6) communicating with a section (37) of the bypass channel (14) and positioned to dispense the air flow towards a same panel (P), said section (37) of the internal bypass channel (14) being connected to the main channel (13) by means of a pair of solenoid valves (24) arranged at its ends.
  5. Structure according to one of the preceding claims, provided with first fixing means (8, 20) of said at least one tubular element (2) to an underlying frame (1), the first fixing means comprising at least one connection bracket (20) which can be constrained to the frame and to a side groove (8) of the profile (2) by means of clamping elements (21) which are adjustable in position along the tubular element (2) itself.
  6. Structure according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a pair of tubular elements (2) configured to be fixed near opposite sides of said panels (P).
  7. Photovoltaic plant comprising a structure according to one of the preceding claims for supporting one or more panels (P) and a pipe (17) for connecting said inlet (5) with a source of compressed air (18).
  8. Plant according to claim 7, further comprising a control unit (U) operatively connected to said solenoid valves (24), and configured to control the opening of the solenoid valves (24) to perform the pneumatic cleaning of one or more panels.
  9. Plant according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising sensors (S) for detecting parameters associated with the electrical conversion efficiency of the panels (P), wherein said unit (U) is connected to said sensors and is configured to control the opening of the solenoid valves (24) based at least on the detections of the sensors (S) to perform the pneumatic cleaning of one or more panels.
  10. Plant according to one of claims 7-9, further comprising a wireless interface (I) of the control unit U configured to receive relevant data for activation logic use, and/or activation instructions given remotely.

Description

Field of the Invention The invention relates to a multifunctional structure for photovoltaic panels and in particular a structure with a function of both panel support and positioning and of assistance for the cleaning thereof by means of the use of compressed air. Technical background It is known at present, both basic research and industrial efforts are strongly focused on improving the efficiency of energy production through the exploitation of the sun. In this context, photovoltaic panels or modules represent the main tool for transforming energy from the sun into electrical energy. However, the productivity of photovoltaic panels does not depend exclusively on endogenous factors such as the features of the materials and technologies used, but also on exogenous factors, for example positioning, geographical area, climatic conditions and, importantly, the cleanliness conditions of the panels which largely determine the overall efficiency of the energy conversion system. To this end, various cleaning systems have been developed over time, for example cleaning robots, vibration systems and compressed air systems which have the purpose of removing dust from the panels. Among the known systems, the construction of cleaning robots is one of the most studied and concretely used solutions. The advantages of this system are given by an optimal cleaning thanks to the mechanical combination of brushes and the use of water. The negative aspects are still due to the use of water and the presence of complex mechanical movement. Among the negative aspects, there is also the considerable amount of energy which is absorbed for its operation. Vibration systems for dust removal have also been studied in combination with antistatic coatings, but despite having the advantage of not using water, they have shown a lower efficiency capacity than both the manual and robotic systems. Compressed air systems have been studied in two recent works (King, M., D. Li, - M. Dooner, S. Ghosh, J. N. Roy, C. Chakraborty, and J. Wang. 2021. Mathematical Modelling of a System for Solar PV Efficiency Improvement Using Compressed Air for Panel Cleaning and Cooling. Energies 14 (14):4072, and - Li, D., M. King, M. Dooner, S. Guo, and J. Wang. 2021. Study on the cleaning and cooling of solar photovoltaic panels using compressed airflow. Solar energy 221:433-444. An example is shown by US11316469, which discloses a system including a storage tank containing pressurized air which drives actuators and a panel cleaning device. This document also shows sensors associated with the actuators and cleaning device configured to detect fluids and debris on the panels, to be removed by means of a programmable processor configured to execute stored instructions. There are basically three advantages considered in the compressed air systems, namely that no water is used, there are no mechanisms with mechanical movement, and they can be activated with a high frequency. However, it has been found that the absence of a mechanical action in the dust removal generates a significantly lower cleanliness rate with the same frequency and conditions of the cleaning intervention. Such an inconvenience therefore requires a commitment of hours and equipment which at present makes the use of compressed air for cleaning photovoltaic plants uneconomical, in particular if located in unreachable points such as in the case of building roofs. A solar panel cleaning system is also known from CN216225877U which comprises a source of compressed air, a main air conveying pipe, an air conveying branch tube and a air-blowing cleaning device used to blow compressed air onto the panel surface and remove dust and dirt in general. Documents US 11, 404 998 B1, CN 110 756 518 A, KR 101 358 495 B1 also relate to a solar panel cleaning system. Object of the invention The present invention is intended to overcome the drawbacks of the already known solutions and propose a multifunctional structure which allows simultaneously effectively installing photovoltaic panels and allowing an optimal cleaning thereof using compressed air, in order to improve the energy productivity thereof and reduce the structural and energy cost of the cleaning system, thus making it acceptable from an economic point of view. Summary of the invention These objects have been achieved by creating a multifunctional structure for supporting one or more photovoltaic panels (P) provided with a sensitive surface exposed to solar radiation above an installation surface (C) as defined in claim 1 in which a compressed air conduction system is provided which exploits the support structures of the photovoltaic panels to perform the double function of connection between the panel and the underlying structure (or ground) during the installation of the panels and that of air conduction during cleaning interventions. The preferred embodiments are set out in the appended set of dependent claims A first advantage of the invention is that