Weekly Team Update


On the week of 11/7, the Full-Scale Solar Team was able to develop the end goal for the solar canopy fixture on SolidWorks, shown below in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Solar canopy mount.

For the method of mounting the solar panels to the fixture the idea of using a clamp to secure the panels was chosen, as opposed to using an adhesive or industrial grade Velcro. This was chosen with the idea of having the least amount of error when assembling the solar canopy during installation. The decision of the specific clamp is still in discussion, but will look something like the one in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Concept of clamp to secure panel to fixture

To stay on track, a small-scale prototype will be developed to provide a hands-on feel. A 3D prototype will be printed in addition to an Ansys of the CAD model and cost for parts. Lastly, the Full-Scale Solar Team will analyze the comments from our adviser and create a list of what we are missing and/or need.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Weekly Team Update

This week, the Solar PV team delivered our presentation focusing on the finalization of our solar array design, future plans for testing on materials to make sure they're up to snuff, and our plan for acquiring all the materials we need to finish construction. We've divided this all into several parts. 1. Contact various purlin manufacturers and get quotes. Whatever quote we decide is the best for the money, then we will pursue that option. 2. Finalize our solidworks design so that we can size all the pieces properly. 3. Get in contact with the central shop or any 3rd party shop to manufacture a couple of brackets that we need. 4. Reach out to the materials enginering department to gain access to the materials lab and do testing on materials. 5. Finalize any discrepancies that we have with any mis-information that we have. Sticking to this strict guideline, the team will work tirelessly to get everything lined up so that construction can begin immediately.
Read more

Weekly Team Update

This week the Solar PV team is finalizing all the loose ends of the project and preparing for the final presentation to give to the class. With all the preparation, we hope to have a good presentation to showcase the results of our hard work. Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1x5zUFrzC4uPPOYsBcT-OIvrulDC8FQ9Uk78WcTp1GTc/edit?usp=sharing
Read more

Weekly Team Update

For the week of 3/27/19 we have narrowed down an idea on what to work with for clamping the solar panels from underneath. With spring break next week we are going to be putting in a lot of work to ensure we have a good presentation the following meeting. For the week to come we are going to be generating multiple ideas to implement the clamp and make solidwork models as well as sketches. We will also be researching several racking structures with and emphasis on cost per length. Further information for clamps will be gathered from google patents to help us create several ideas.
Read more