Write code to interface microcontroller with multiplexer’s and wireless device Collaborate with Mike G in ordering all the parts Design secondary board schematic Mike G.’s main responsibilities: To define the connectivity between the panels Define the functionality and need of current, voltage and temp. sensors Research for the most economical solar panels Assist Mike P in researching for suitable current, temperature and voltage sensors Collaborate with Mike P in ordering all the parts Design the panel connection Assist Mike P in designing secondary board schematics Design mother board schematic Design, layout and order both kinds of PCB boards Design Power Supply Figure 1.5-1: Roles and Responsibilities 1.6 PROGRAMMING AND CODE DIVISION: Along with the hardware aspects of the project, we have also divided the coding and software part into four. In addition to that, the project management is also divided into four parts. Figure 1.6-1 briefly represents the roles and responsibilities for coding and project management of each member. It also goes into more depth of how the senior design paper will be managed and the breakdown of who will be responsible for what part of coding and software issues. The coding will actually take place in the senior design II, but we decided to discuss the programming and play with several different programming languages beforehand so that all the group members can become familiar and semi-proficient in coding by the end of senior design 1. Hence the details of the programming and fully working code cannot be provided until senior design II. There are the three parts where we will need to code, solar array, base station and the website. Ahmad was responsible for coding the website and displaying the real time data. Ali was responsible for the coding between wireless and the base station. Mike P. was responsible for the coding at the solar panel and Mike G. took the responsibility for coding of the base station. Figure 1.6-1: Code and Management Division
Figure 1.12-1: Coordinates of Solar Field Reprinted with permission from Mechanical Engineering Team Lat 28.591 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec OPTANG 51.0 42.0 29.0 14.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 7.0 22.0 38.0 49.0 53.0 Radiation Incident 4.58 4.88 5.37 5.91 6.24 5.53 5.43 5.09 4.76 4.95 4.81 4.52 Table 1.12-1: Optimal Angle and Monthly Averaged Radiation Incident from NASA Lat Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ann Avg Tilt0 5.78 6.24 5.33 5.43 5.06 4.52 4.15 3.47 3.02 4.60 Tilt13 5.91 6.14 5.39 5.32 5.08 4.72 4.60 4.07 3.63 4.86 Tilt28 5.79 5.75 4.99 4.97 4.87 4.74 4.9 4.55 4.16 4.93 Tilt43 5.38 5.09 4.38 4.39 4.45 4.53 4.94 4.79 4.46 4.76 Tilt90 3.3 2.65 2.15 1.93 1.96 2.19 2.66 3.5 3.85 3.79 2.94 Table 1.12-2: Monthly Averaged Radiation Incident at Different Tilt Angles from NASA 1.13 AVAILABLE SPACE: The current space set aside for the farm amounts to just over 3 acres. The 3 acres were enough for 15 rows of 16 in-series arrays. This amounts to 2,880 panels mounted on 240 total arrays. Each array accommodates approximately 200 square feet (5’ x 40’) of field space. Five feet separate each row in order to prevent shadows from covering neighboring rows Figure 1.13-1. 6 4 5 7 5 0 9 7 8 3.2 5.2 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 4.5 4.2 4.4 4.7 4.8
Wireless Technology Radio Band Frequency Data Transfer Rate Range Cost (GHz) (Mbps) (ft) (m) WiFi 802.11a 5 54 300 91.5 Low 802.11b 2.4 11 400 122 Low 802.11g 2.4 54 400 122 Low 802.11n 2.4/5 600 800 244 Medium Bluetooth Class 1 2.402-2.480 1 Up to 329 Up to 100 Low Class 2 2.402-2.480 3 Up to 33 Up to 10 Low Class 3 2.402-2.480 24 0.1- 3.28 0.1-1 Low ZigBee Standard 2.4 250 kbps 300 90 Medium Pro 2.4 250 kbps 5280 1.6k High Table 2.6-3 : Direct Comparisons of Wireless Technologies For our project it was determined by the group to design our system with a ZigBee XBee-Pro. We decided to go with an XBee-PRO because of its range. This is the only wireless technology that is able to send a signal far enough for our project. 2.7 WIRE TRANSMITTION TECHNOLOGY: 2.7.1 DIRECT WIRE COMMUNICATION: Wired technology has been around since the early 1900’s with the introduction of the telephone network. The use of wired connections created many other technologies, included multiplexing and SONET. Wired technology is a very