2008 Volume 3 Issue 3 Pages 499-510
The distribution of solar cell modules is planned by referring to the configuration of plant shoots. The object is to develop a solar power generation system with low directivity and a small installation space. In this paper, the amount of insolation that reaches a plant shoot in an arbitrary period was investigated using the “Light received analysis algorithm of a plant shoot” (LAPS) described in a previous report. Based on the analysis, the optimal configuration of the shoot to maximize the amount of light received was determined. The position of the light source on a representative day in summer has a wide range of elevation angles and directions, and has a narrower range in the winter. This paper mainly examines the condensing system of low directivity using the plant shoot of a simple leaf. Based on the relation between the characteristics of these light sources, the shoot configuration for the summer season is optimized by a solar position at 12:00, with considerable solar radiation. The shoot configuration for winter, meanwhile, is arranged so that half the total leaves may absorb solar radiation at a small elevation angle. When the amount of light received by the leaves arranged horizontally and the optimized plant shoot configuration for every month is measured, the difference is found to be modest during the period from March to September. However, a greater amount of light is received in the plant shoot arrangement in January, February, and October to December, based on an optimal solution that is superior to that with the leaves arranged on the level surface.
