Michael Plecinski- Section 023

Solar Panels and Optimization

Introduction:
Our team was asked by Solar Power Inc. to do a consulting job for them. Solar Power Inc. is exploring the idea
of harvesting energy from solar panels on the pacific island of Suluclac located on the equator. The company wants
our team analyze the amount of power collected by the proposed solar panel on the island of Suluclac over the course
of a year.
Our team needs to understand that power captured by the solar panel depends on the solar radiation falling on
the panel. The solar radiation that comes in contact with the face of our solar panel changes depending on the angle of
our panel, the time of day, the season, the weather, how much was absorbed by the atmosphere, among other things.
Thinking about absorption, A, cloudiness, C, and intensity of solar radition on our solar panel, I
p
, we can create a
function that finds the total amount of energy recieved per square meter and per day.
W s, u

t
min
t
max
As, t Cs, t I
p
s, u, t dt (Energy recieved per square meter and per day)
Where t
max
and t
min
are dusk and dawn respectively. The limits of our integral, dusk and dawn, change through-
out the seasons but because we are on the equator, we will keep t
max
and t
min
constant. This will yeild us a very close
approximation. In this equation, we have three variables, s, t, and u. The variable s is the time of year, the variable t is
the time of day, and the variable u is the angle of our solar panel with respect to the ground.
The other critical point to remember is that the Earths axis is tilted relative to the plane in which the earth
revolves around the Sun. This means, over the course of a year, the angle between the axis and the normal to the plane
in which the earth revolves around the Sun oscilates from -23 degrees and 23 degrees. At -23 degrees, the Sun is in the
southernmost point in the sky. This time of the year is also known as the winter solstice. When the Sun is at the
northernmost point in the sky, the summer solstice, the angle formed between the Earths axis and the plane in which
the earth revolves around the Sun is 23 degrees. In this project, the winter solstice occurs on December 21st and the
summer solstice occurs on June 20th. When the angle formed by the Earths axis and the normal to the plane in which
the earth revolves around the Sun is zero degrees, the sun is directly over the equator. In this report, we will be using
radians so the summer and winter solstice will be represented when s is equal to 0.4 and -0.4 respectively.
For Solar Panel Inc., we intend on providing them with information on weather panterns on Suluclac, maxi-
mum and minimum amounts of energy harvested on Suluclac depending on the time of the year and the angle of the
solar panel, as well as energy harvested while maximizing the angle of the solar panels with respect to the sun. Lastly,
well provide Suluclac with the time of the year in which they should change the panel that will result in the least
oppertunity cost of energy harvested.
Cloudiness of Suluclac:
Solar Power Inc already consulted a meteorlogist to map the weather patterns on the island of Suluclac. The
meteorologist deteremined that cloudiness on the island was a function of the time of day as well as the time of the
year. In the function, s is the time of year and t is the time of day. When the function results in 1, there are no clouds,
while a low output of the function close to 0, means there are dark storm clouds.
Solar Power Inc already consulted a meteorlogist to map the weather patterns on the island of Suluclac. The
meteorologist deteremined that cloudiness on the island was a function of the time of day as well as the time of the
year. In the function, s is the time of year and t is the time of day. When the function results in 1, there are no clouds,
while a low output of the function close to 0, means there are dark storm clouds.
Cs, t
31s0.2
2
cos
2
t
3
(Coudiness of Suluclac)
Our team decided to map the function the meterologist came up with so we could get an idea of how cloudi-
ness changes throughout the day as well as throughout the year.
Cloudiness on Suluclac
0.4 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4
Time of year
1
0
1
Time of day
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Cloudiness on Suluclac
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
Time of year
1
0
1
Time of day
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
With the graph and information above, our team was able to determine how cloudiness varied on Suluclac
over the course of the average day and over the course of the average year. Over the course of the average day, there
are no clouds in the sky at dusk and dawn. Clouds start to develop at dawn (when t

2
), continue developing till
noon (when t 0), and then begin to disapate again till dusk (when t

2
). Over the course of the average year, its
cloudy in winter and as summer approaches, less and less clouds are formed during the day on Suluclac. The most
clouds appear during the winter solstice and the least clouds appear during the summer solstice.
Harvesting Energy:
Luckily for us, Solar Power Inc. hired a physicist to create a function describing the energy captured by the
solar panel every day. The energy collected, W, was a function of time of the year, s, and the angle of our solar panel,
u, with respect to the ground. When the panel is flat on the ground, the angle formed between the ground and the
plane is zero, so u is zero. When our panel is facing directly north or directly south, our u

2
and u

2
repsec-
tively.
2 Project Report.nb
Luckily for us, Solar Power Inc. hired a physicist to create a function describing the energy captured by the
solar panel every day. The energy collected, W, was a function of time of the year, s, and the angle of our solar panel,
u, with respect to the ground. When the panel is flat on the ground, the angle formed between the ground and the
plane is zero, so u is zero. When our panel is facing directly north or directly south, our u

2
and u

2
repsec-
tively.
Ws, u 1 1 0.65 s 1.2 s
2
0.4 s
3
0.35 s
4
cos u 1.4 s 0.4 s
2
1.5 s
3
0.35 s
4
sin u (Energy collected
by the solar panel each day)
Energy Harvested
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
Time of year
1
0
1
Angle of the solar panel
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
The energy collected is measured in
kWh
m
2
day
.
Our team created a contour plot of the energy harvestest so we could get a good guess as to where a critical
point might occur so we can find the maximum and/or minimum energy harvested at any point of the year relative to
the angle of the solar panel. Where the plot is darker, we are harvesting less energy. As the plot becomes lighter and
lighter, we are harvesting more and more energy.
0.4 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
Time of year
Angle of the solar panel
Energy Harvested
By using the contour plot, it is possible to see that we harvest the most energy going into or right before the
the summer equinox. This location is a good guess for a maxima. To find a local maxima or minima, find the critical
points of our function which occur when the gradient of the function is the zero vector. The critical point represents
both the day of the year and the angle of our panel that will give us the most energy. Our team found a critical point
when s .324 and u .324. A more accurate approximation can be found in the appendix of the report. Once we
found the critical point, we needed to determine if it was a local maxima, local minima, or saddle point. By looking at
our contour plot, we can see the point (0.324,0.324) seems to have a high value. To make sure it was a local maxima,
we used the second derivative test. The second derivative test resulted in the point (0.324,0.324) being a local max-
ima. At our local maxima, we harvest 2.13253
kWh
m
2
day
. The domain goes from the winter solstice and the summer
solstice so it is important to keep in mind, the second part of the year is going from the summer solstice to the winter
solstice so this function is mirrored over the summer soltice as the Sun goes back to the winter solstice.
Project Report.nb 3
By using the contour plot, it is possible to see that we harvest the most energy going into or right before the
the summer equinox. This location is a good guess for a maxima. To find a local maxima or minima, find the critical
points of our function which occur when the gradient of the function is the zero vector. The critical point represents
both the day of the year and the angle of our panel that will give us the most energy. Our team found a critical point
when s .324 and u .324. A more accurate approximation can be found in the appendix of the report. Once we
found the critical point, we needed to determine if it was a local maxima, local minima, or saddle point. By looking at
our contour plot, we can see the point (0.324,0.324) seems to have a high value. To make sure it was a local maxima,
we used the second derivative test. The second derivative test resulted in the point (0.324,0.324) being a local max-
ima. At our local maxima, we harvest 2.13253
kWh
m
2
day
. The domain goes from the winter solstice and the summer
solstice so it is important to keep in mind, the second part of the year is going from the summer solstice to the winter
solstice so this function is mirrored over the summer soltice as the Sun goes back to the winter solstice.
To really determine if the local maxima we found above was actually our global maxima, we needed to find
critical poitns along the edges of our functions as well as the corners. Looking at the graph, it is easy to tell that there
are no critical points when our panels are facing directly north or directly south. This makes sense because when the
solar panel is facing directly south, most of the suns rays will come in contact with the face of the panel when the Sun
is at the most southern (lowest) point in the sky (winter solstice) and as the Sun moves further and further north, the
face of the panel will have less and less rays coming into contact with it. Likewise, when the face of the panel is facing
directly north the sun moves from the summer solstice to the winter solstice. To determine local maxima and local
minima during the summer and winter solstice, we simply fixed our variable s to those values and made the function
of the energy captured by the solar panel a function of a single variable. From there, we found critical points for both
solstices. During the summer solstice, when s .4, we found a critical point when the angel of our solar panel,
u 0.356083. During the winter solstice, when s=-.4, our team found a critical point of u 0.744689.
The extreme points along the edges of our domain have the energy values as follows:

W.4, .356083= 2.12173
kWh
m
2
day
(summer solstice critical point)
W(-.4, .744689)= 1.06443
kWh
m
2
day
(winter solstice critical point)
W(.4, pi/2) = 1.39104
kWh
m
2
day
(summer solstice, panel facing north)
W(.4, -pi/2)= 0.60896
kWh
m
2
day
(summer solstice, panel facing south)
W(-.4, -pi/2)= 1.53696
kWh
m
2
day
(winter solstice, panel facing south)
W(-.4,pi/2)=0.46304
kWh
m
2
day
(winter solstice, panel facing north)
When we plug the values (0.324,0.324) into our energy captured function, we get a value of 2.13253
kWh
m
2
day
,
which is more energy harvested than our critical points along the edges as well as the corners of our function. So, the
global maxima of our function is W(0.324,0.324)=2.13253
kWh
m
2
day
. Its important to note that our domain is only from
the winter solstice to the summer solstice. So, in June, when we begin to go from the summer solstice, we will
encounter this maxima again when we go back towards the winter solstice. The global minima of our function is when
the panel is facing directly north and the sun is furthest south. At the global minima, we harvest only 0.46304
kWh
m
2
day
of
energy.
Moving the Solar Panel:
Realizing we can maximize the energy captured if we hired someone to change the angle of our solar panel
every day with respect to the Sun. We determined we would capture most of the energy in summer because their are
fewer clouds than in winter. From our cloud graph, the winter seems to be the cloudiest season and then as summer
approaches, there are fewer and fewer clouds. Our team has made calculations and provided a graph below to repre-
sent the best angles for the solar panel to be at respect to the ground. The purpose of these calculations is our client,
Solar Power Inc. graphically the ideal angles for the maximum energy absorbtion with respect to the time of year.
4 Project Report.nb
Realizing we can maximize the energy captured if we hired someone to change the angle of our solar panel
every day with respect to the Sun. We determined we would capture most of the energy in summer because their are
fewer clouds than in winter. From our cloud graph, the winter seems to be the cloudiest season and then as summer
approaches, there are fewer and fewer clouds. Our team has made calculations and provided a graph below to repre-
sent the best angles for the solar panel to be at respect to the ground. The purpose of these calculations is our client,
Solar Power Inc. graphically the ideal angles for the maximum energy absorbtion with respect to the time of year.
0.4 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
Time of year
Angle of the solar panel
Energy Harvested
This graph makes since. During the winter solstice, the most power gained is going to be when the plane of the
solar panel is orthgonal to the suns rays. So, the solar panel will be facing some south in the winter (because sun is in
the south) and the solar panel will be facing more north during the summer to capture more of the suns rays. From
winter to summer, it gets less and less cloudy. So during the winter, the max output will be less and as summer
approaches, more and more energy will be harvested.
Damaged Panels:
Solar panels may get damaged throughout the course of the year, replacing them is the best thing to do in order
to keep harvesting energy. It would be very wise to replace the solar panels yearly at a specific time. The graph below
represents the energy collected through out the year.
0.4 0.2 0.2 0.4
Time of year
1.80
1.85
1.90
1.95
2.00
2.05
2.10
Energy Harvested
Energy Harvested Over the Year
As you can see at s -.4, the winter solstice, the energy collected is at its lowest levels. The energy collected
continues to increase as we go from winter solstice to summer solstice. Thus, it would be most effecient for Solar
Power Inc. to change the solar panels yearly during the winter solstice.
Project Report.nb 5
As you can see at s -.4, the winter solstice, the energy collected is at its lowest levels. The energy collected
continues to increase as we go from winter solstice to summer solstice. Thus, it would be most effecient for Solar
Power Inc. to change the solar panels yearly during the winter solstice.
Conclussion:
By hiring our team, Solar Power Inc. now has an idea of how much energy they can harvest on the island of
Suluclac. Using calculus, we were able to plot the cloud behavior over the island of Suluclac over both the day and
year. Using that we made generalizations of the time of day and time of year when Suluclac will have both the most
and least amount of clouds. Also, we helped Solar Power Inc. find the time of the year when they will harvest the most
and least amount of energy with relation to the angle of the panel. Our team also showed Solar Power Inc. the power
that they would harvest if they maximized the angle of the panel with relation to the Sun. Lastly, our team informed
Solar Power Inc. of the specific time of year when changing the solar panels would result in the least oppertunity cost.
Using the information we provided, Solar Power Inc. can now decide if they want to continue with the project of
harvesting energy on the island of Suluclac.
Appendix:
1)
c[s_, t_] [3 [1 (s .2)
2
| (Cos[t])^2| / 3;
Plot3D[c[s, t], {s, .4, .4}, {t, / 2, / 2}, PlotRange All,
AxesLabel {"Time of year", "Time of day"}, PlotLabel "Cloudiness on Suluclac"]
2)
W[s_, u_] [1 [1 0.65 s 1.2 s
2
.4 s
3
.35 s
4
| Cos[u]
[1.4 s .4 s
2
1.5 s
3
.35 s
4
| Sin[u]|;
Plot3D[W[s, u], {s, .4, .4}, {u, / 2, ( / 2)}, PlotRange All,
AxesLabel {"Time of year", "Angle of the solar panel"}, PlotLabel "Energy Harvested"]
WContours ContourPlot[W[s, u], {s, .4, .4}, {u, / 2, / 2}, Contours 20,
Axes True, AxesLabel {"Time of year", "Angle of the solar panel"},
PlotLabel "Energy Harvested"]
Gradient of W[s,u]:
gradW[s_, u_] {D[W[s, u], s], D[W[s, u], u]};
FindRoot[gradW[s, u] 0, {s, .3}, {u, .2}]
s 0.32402, u 0.320456
Second Derivative Test:
D[(D[W[s, u], s]), u];
Dee[s_, u_] (D[W[s, u], {s, 2}]) (D[W[s, u], {u, 2}]) (D[(D[W[s, u], s]), u])^2;
6 Project Report.nb
Dee[.32, .32];
Wss[s_, u_] D[W[s, u], {s, 2}];
Wuu[s_, u_] D[W[s, u], {u, 2}];
Wss[.32, .32];
Wuu[.32, .32];
W[0.3240203349438536, 0.32045607931360837];
2.1325318046254385;
3.)
FindRoot[D[W[.4, u], u], {u, .25}];
FindRoot[D[W[.4, u], u], {u, .6}];
FindRoot[D[W[s, / 2], s], {s, 5}];
FindRoot[D[W[s, / 2], s], {s, 5}];
4)
a.)
When sun is fixed at .4 (sun over northern hemisphere, summer solstice )
W[.4, .356083];
When sun is fixed at -.4 (sun over southern hemisphere, winter solstice)
W[.4, .744689];
Sun over northern hemisphere (summer solstice), panel facing north
W[.4, / 2];
Sun over southern hemisphere, panel facing north
W[.4, / 2];
Sun over southern hemisphere, panel facing south
W[.4, / 2];
Sun over northern hemisphere, panel facing south
W[.4, / 2];
6.)
a.)
sVals Table[s, {s, 0.4, 0.4, 0.02}];
b.)
uVals Table[FindRoot[D[W[s, u], u], {u, 0}], {s, 0.4, 0.4, 0.02}];
c.)
coords Table[{sVals[[i]], u} /. uVals[[i]], {i, Length[sVals]}];
IdealPointsPlot ListPlot[coords, PlotStyle Red];
Show[WContours, IdealPointsPlot]
Project Report.nb 7
7.)
Wvals Table[W[sVals[[i]], u] /. uVals[[i]], {i, Length[sVals]}];
Coords2 Table[{sVals[[i]], Wvals[[i]]}, {i, Length[sVals]}];
ListPlot[Coords2, PlotStyle Red, AxesLabel {"Time of year", "Energy Harvested"},
PlotLabel "Energy Harvested Over the Year"]
8 Project Report.nb