A short behind-the-scenes tour of how the Sabal Solar Canopy works
So how does a Sabal Solar Canopy work?
We built the Sabal Solar Canopy from concept to fabrication as a way to provide durable electrical power in built-environment public spaces. It is highly wind resilient, uses few post mounts, and has sufficient clearance to clear most vehicles (12 - 18ft). The 130ft system offers 33kW STC capacity using high efficiency monocrystalline panels.
The system has four major components: A main post, an opposing post, an opposing crossmember, and a panel container with the solar panel canopy folded up inside.
Each post is made of high strength steel 3/8" thick and 20" in diameter. It is a flanged system that uses J bolts embedded in concrete as deep as it needs to go. This is a conventional mounting system, used for utility poles all over the world.
Installers (Sky Overturf) putting up the Opposing Post
Both main and opposing posts have large, high torque, low speed motors on them that rotate the entire canopy a fraction of a degree at a time. These motors have super large crankcases and weigh more than 500 pounds each. In the picture above you can see the bottom of the opposing post tilt motor.
The Solar Panel Container is mounted on the main post. In the picture below, you can see the main post with the mounted container, and a 30kW three phase inverter mounted to the main post in the reverse position.
Jimi Thompson checking out the new Inverter
The inside of the solar panel container has a floor, an open grate so you can't get too comfortable in it.
There are two array motors mounted on either side that turn the cable suspension pulleys to fold and unfold the array (see below). In the center of the container, mounted to the back plane, are variable frequency drives that control the motors, a power management panel, and the control computer. The doors are controlled with 400lb actuators for opening and closing.
service gangway when the panels are unfolded
The array rows themselves are carefully spring-loaded so they have a slight bias in the direction of the fold when the array is pushed in or pulled out by the leading edge of the array. They don't lay completely flat and still have a 5 degree angle when unfolded. This has no impact on production, and the panels themselves have a prismatic coating that allows them to take in light rays at a much greater angle than conventional panels.
The single axis tracking is performed with the two large tilt motors that can rotate the canopy to a maximum of 90 degrees, but are limited to about 30 - 35 degrees in software. The control computer adjusts the angle about every 10 minutes or so during tracking and you'll hear the tilt motors kick in for just a second to move the shaft as the sun arcs across the sky.
At night the area underneath the canopy is lit quite bright - much brighter than conventional parking lot lighting because of the white reflective surface of the panels.
Nighttime lighting
The neat thing about the Sabal Canopy: only has two posts for a 130 foot length. You can string two canopies in series where the center post supports both opposing and solar container on one post, so that would have three posts every 260 feet in length. A 200kW parking lot power plant is held up by six posts! This minimizes the impact on lot utilization, simplifies installation, and reduces accident chances. The combination of low surface utilization plus 25% greater power production vs conventional canopies makes this a big winner for storm exposed areas.