US-20260125138-A1 - SELF-TILTING OFFSHORE FLOATING PHOTOVOLTAIC PLATFORM AND SUPPORT METHOD THEREFOR

US20260125138A1US 20260125138 A1US20260125138 A1US 20260125138A1US-20260125138-A1

Abstract

A self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform includes a membrane, photovoltaic panels, a barrier, a first mounting position and a second mounting position. The first mounting position is higher than the second mounting position, and the barrier is provided on the outer side of the second mounting position. The membrane is mounted between the first mounting position and the second mounting position, and a plurality of photovoltaic panels are mounted on the membrane; the first mounting position and/or the second mounting position are also provided with floating bodies and are connected to mooring cables. A multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform is disposed above the membrane and is provided with a multi-axis robotic arm. The self-tilting design with mounting positions at different heights achieves the capability of rapid drainage, and can reduce the impact of seawater accumulation on photovoltaic panels in cooperation with the barrier.

Inventors

Deqing ZHANG
Junfeng Du
Huajun LI
Zhiming YUAN
Qiujue JIANG
Shujie ZHAO
Zhengke YAN

Assignees

OCEAN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251030
Priority Date: 20241101

Claims (12)

1 . A self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform, comprising a membrane, photovoltaic panels, a barrier, a first mounting position and a second mounting position, wherein the first mounting position is higher than the second mounting position, and the barrier is provided on an outer side of the second mounting position; the membrane is mounted between the first mounting position and the second mounting position, and the photovoltaic panels are mounted on the membrane; the first mounting position and/or the second mounting position are provided with floating bodies; the first mounting position and/or the second mounting position are connected to mooring cables; a multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform is disposed above the membrane and is provided with a multi-axis robotic arm; the multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform comprises beams, flatbed trolleys and a movable base; the beams bridge the first mounting position and the second mounting position; one ends of the beams are connected to the movable base, and the movable base is rotatably connected to or slidingly connected to the first mounting position; the other ends of the beams are slidably connected to or lapped with the second mounting position; the flatbed trolleys are slidably connected to the beams, and the multi-axis robotic arms are mounted on the flatbed trolleys; the movable base is higher than the second mounting position; the movable base is provided with winch mechanisms which are connected to the flatbed trolleys by cables; stay cable structures are disposed between the movable base and the beams.
2 . The self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 1 , wherein the first mounting position is designed into a cylindrical structure, and the second mounting position is designed into an annular structure; the membrane is designed into a circular structure, with a center connected to the first mounting position and an edge connected to the second mounting position.
3 . The self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of tension ropes are connected between the first mounting position and the second mounting position; the tension ropes are connected in a radial structure or a net-like structure.
4 . The self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 2 , wherein the floating bodies comprise a buoy and a buoyancy ring; the buoy is disposed at a lower part of the first mounting position, and the second mounting position is provided with at least one buoyancy ring; the second mounting position is provided with an annular water collecting trough; a drain port is provided at the lower part of the water collecting trough and is equipped with a one-way valve.
5 . The self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 1 , wherein a suction cup assembly or a cleaning assembly is provided at an end of the multi-axis robotic arm.
6 . A support method for the self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 1 , comprising the following steps: according to preset instructions or system instructions, the multi-axis robotic arm is configured with working assemblies carried to designated positions by the multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform to carry out support operations; and a motion trajectory of the multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform is obtained through computing by a path planning algorithm.
7 . The support method for the self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 6 , wherein the support operations comprise photovoltaic panel mounting operation, photovoltaic panel replacement operation, and photovoltaic panel cleaning operation; the self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform is integrated with a vision recognition system computing surface cleanliness of the photovoltaic panels; when the surface cleanliness is lower than a threshold value, the system sends a corresponding instruction for the photovoltaic panel cleaning operation; the path planning algorithm is a savings algorithm or a genetic algorithm, and computation results of the path planning algorithm are weighted and corrected to obtain the motion trajectory of the multi-degree-of-freedom motion platform.
8 . The self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of tension ropes are connected between the first mounting position and the second mounting position; the tension ropes are connected in a radial structure or a net-like structure.
9 . The support method according to claim 6 , wherein the first mounting position is designed into a cylindrical structure, and the second mounting position is designed into an annular structure; the membrane is designed into a circular structure, with a center connected to the first mounting position and an edge connected to the second mounting position.
10 . The support method according to claim 6 , wherein a plurality of tension ropes are connected between the first mounting position and the second mounting position; the tension ropes are connected in a radial structure or a net-like structure.
11 . The support method according to claim 9 , wherein the floating bodies comprise a buoy and a buoyancy ring; the buoy is disposed at a lower part of the first mounting position, and the second mounting position is provided with at least one buoyancy ring; the second mounting position is provided with an annular water collecting trough; a drain port is provided at the lower part of the water collecting trough and is equipped with a one-way valve.
12 . The support method according to claim 6 , wherein a suction cup assembly or a cleaning assembly is provided at an end of the multi-axis robotic arm.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411545989.4, filed on Nov. 1, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention belongs to the technical field of marine new energy, and particularly relates to a self-tilting offshore floating photovoltaic platform and a support method therefor. BACKGROUND Offshore photovoltaic platforms are important facilities for developing and utilizing offshore solar energy resources. According to their supporting structure characteristics, offshore photovoltaic platforms can be divided into two categories: fixed and floating offshore photovoltaic platforms. Fixed offshore photovoltaic platforms are similar in structure to onshore photovoltaic platforms. Pile foundations are generally used in the fixed offshore photovoltaic platforms to support the upper photovoltaic modules, and this design is only suitable for shallow-water nearshore sea areas. Correspondingly, offshore floating photovoltaic platforms use floating structures to keep photovoltaic modules afloat on the water surface for power generation. This design not only saves mounting resources but also prevents water-borne structures from shading photovoltaic modules. Therefore, the offshore floating photovoltaic platforms can have better power generation efficiency and have gradually become one of the important facilities for marine new energy in the future. On the basis of the above, floating offshore photovoltaic platforms can also be divided into two types: rigid multi-module interconnected platforms and flexible membrane platforms. Since the flexible membrane platforms are close to the sea surface, the temperature of photovoltaic modules can be reduced effectively by means of a heat exchange assembly or natural water vapor, thereby significantly improving energy conversion efficiency. However, existing floating offshore photovoltaic platforms are also prone to waves due to their close proximity to the sea surface. In addition, due to frequent precipitation at sea, this type of photovoltaic platform is prone to technical problems of easy water accumulation and difficult drainage. Furthermore, if a floating offshore photovoltaic platform needs to provide sufficient power generation, more photovoltaic panels need to be laid on the main structure. In order to meet the requirements of the floating design, the structural design strength is relatively low, and the structure is generally prone to damage. Therefore, large-scale construction equipment cannot be operated on the floating offshore photovoltaic platform, and photovoltaic modules or other components are generally handled, mounted and disassembled manually, which is labor-extensive and time-consuming and requires high mounting and post-operation and maintenance costs. In order to solve the above problems, a lot of research has been carried out on the platform structure in the prior art. For example: Chinese invention patent application with publication number CN117326008A describes a membrane-type offshore photovoltaic power generation platform that integrates water storage and cleaning functions and prevents water accumulation. Its platform structure is mainly composed of a buoyant floating ring, a membrane-covered floating ring, stress ropes and a central floating cabin. The patent application provides an idea to solve the water accumulation and drainage problems of membrane-type offshore photovoltaic platforms, but does not specify the mounting and maintenance methods of photovoltaic panels and the corresponding equipment. And the provided cleaning method of collecting and storing rainwater and using rainwater to clean photovoltaic panels faces a practical issue that in real sea areas, rainfall will come with strong winds and large waves, and the collected water is a mixture of rainwater and seawater rather than rain water only and is not suitable for cleaning photovoltaic panels. Chinese patent publication Number CN116750144B discloses a novel membrane-type offshore photovoltaic power generation platform. Its main structure includes an air-floating pipe composed of three air-floating assemblies and a membrane for placing photovoltaic panels. The invention patent provides an idea of using a wiper blade to remove accumulated water from the platform, which is equivalent to a structure which uses a sponge wipe to clean the surfaces of photovoltaic panels and guides seawater to the sponge wipe to enhance the cleaning effect. However, inorganic salts in the seawater will remain on the surfaces of photovoltaic modules and corrode the photovoltaic modules. In addition, the sponge wipe has a limited service life and needs to be replaced regularly to ensure the cleaning effect. If the leakage of structures such as water suction pipes and solenoid valves is taken into consideration, seawater will also corrode the internal s