Powering In-Field Continuous Robotic Systems Using Solar Energy Systems
Authors: Dvorak Joe , Smith Bo 
Published: May 2024

Highlights

Because of variable weather conditions, battery capacity must be at least 2.5 times larger than daily energy demands for continuous off-grid power.

At a minimum, the nominal solar panel array size must be large enough to provide the daily energy demand in 3 hours.

Because of a trade-off relationship, minimal battery capacity or solar panel size requires more than the minimum for the other component.

Limiting operation to March through October reduced required sizes.

Adding a backup generator with minimal usage of 50 kg of propane per year also reduced sizes.

Abstract. Continuous in-field robotic and automated systems are challenged by the need for a continuous supply of power. This off-grid power supply can be diesel, gasoline, propane, or alternative energy sources like solar or wind. This study investigates the required solar panel arrays and energy storage capacities for an off-grid solar-battery power supply system. This study used 22 years of historical weather data from Lexington, Kentucky, and processed it with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s System Advisor Model to model hourly energy output from solar panel arrays of 2 kW, 3 kW, 4 kW, 5 kW, 10 kW, 15 kW, and 20 kW. This was combined with an energy storage model (simulated battery capacities of 5 kWh, 10 kWh, 15 kWh, 20 kWh, 30 kWh, 40 kWh, 50 kWh, and 60 kWh) and an energy use model (simulated daily energy demands of 3.6 kWh, 6 kWh, 12 kWh, 18 kWh, and 24 kWh) to determine which systems could operate over the entire 22 years without reaching critical minimum levels. For a 3.6 kWh daily energy demand, 32 combinations of solar panel arrays and battery capacities remained above critical levels, while this was only 12 combinations for a 6 kWh daily energy demand and no combination could support larger energy demands. An example a feasible system to support a 6 kWh energy demand is one that uses a 15 kW panel array (42 standard panels with an approximate system hardware cost of $22,650) and 30 kWh of energy storage capacity (which with lead acid batteries would cost $11,661 and require a volume of 300 L). There is a tradeoff between solar panel array size and battery capacity so other feasible systems can be realized by increasing one to make up for reductions in the other variable. Additionally, limiting system operation to March through October can reduce the size of the required panel array (to between 33% to 67% of the original size) or energy storage capacity (to between 40% to 67% of the original capacity) for a given daily energy load. The size of the solar battery system could be further decreased by adding an emergency generator that uses no more than 50 kg of propane annually. Battery capacities could be reduced by 17% to 38% compared to the original system, and the solar panel arrays could be reduced by 13% to 15% compared to the original. Specific reduction amounts depended on the specific configuration of the original system and the daily load level that had to be supported. A system that only operated from March through October with a backup generator could also support the 12 and 18 kWh daily energy demands, which could not be supported by the original system. Even with limiting operation to March through October and using an emergency generator, the minimal battery capacity was at least 2.5 times larger than the daily energy demand, and the solar panel array had to be large enough that the nominal output would provide the daily energy demand in 3 hours of full sun. However, because of the trade-off relationship, these minimums cannot be attained together. While continuous in-field robotic deployments show promise for improving agriculture, it will be critical to design with energy efficiency in mind and the off-grid power supply for wide-spread use across agricultural lands. Keywords: Agriculture robot, Autonomous, Batteries, Computer modeling, Energy, Power, Simulation, Sizing, Solar, System.