Evaluation of some effective parameters on the energy efficiency of on-board photovoltaic array on an unmanned surface vehicle

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Evaluation of some effective parameters on the energy efficiency of on-board photovoltaic array on an unmanned surface vehicle

Makhsoos, Ashkan / Mousazadeh, Hossein / Mohtasebi, Seyed Saeid

Providing energy for an unmanned robot boat, which should work autonomously for hours on water, requires some special attentions. To increase generated energy, some excellent options are evaluated in on-board photovoltaic system of an unmanned robot boat. The research is initiated by simulating the energy generation system of the unmanned surface vehicle (USV), then study of some effective parameters on the efficiency of photovoltaic array on the USV. Temperature, sun tracking and glass transparence are three factors that are evaluated by simulation and experimental tests to obtain their effects on the PV efficiency. Temperature analysis illustrated that generated energy can increase to 12.9%, by controlling thermal effect. Furthermore, one-axial sun tracking system would increase the amount of energy up to 20% in some cases. Cleaning panels is another effective parameter that can raise daily average of harvested energy by 15.7%. Finally, it is concluded that total PV efficiency on the USV can improve up to 50% by accurate tracking and well maintenance.