IAUS's new louver design eliminates nearly 80% of the maximum wind load pressure on both the panels and the steel structure

Louvers in the Closed Position

In the process of wrapping up its last stage of engineering and design for large-scale deployment of its dual-axis solar tower, IAUS added a new feature to its system that eliminates nearly 80% of the maximum wind load effects. This latest advancement furthers IAUS's advantages in the key areas of price and longevity.

 

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Louvers in the Open Position

 

Figure (1) and Figure (2) are the latest engineered drawings of IAUS's new louvering solar panels. Figure (1) depicts the panels fixed in their standard operating position. Figure (2) demonstrates the panels louvering or opening up when they are perpendicular to a high-speed wind. IAUS's new louver design eliminates nearly 80% of the maximum wind load pressure on both the panels and the steel structure. This new addition significantly decreases the weight and cost of the steel structure as well as the dual-axis tracking drive system. It also reduces the material handling, shipping installation and maintenance costs. In addition, lenses should almost never incur damage from extreme wind conditions. These new hinged panels are currently being installed in the field.

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Figure (3) and Figure (4) are actual screen snapshots of IAUS's proprietary automated dual-axis tracking drive control software. This software and combined control system was developed by IAUS and is designed to monitor thousands of solar towers at one time. By simply entering in the fixed GPS coordinates of each tower, IAUS's control system instantly knows where the sun is in relation to the tower within 0.001 degree of accuracy. View Larger Image

The control system also monitors wind speeds, wind direction, cloud cover, temperatures, watts of energy from the sun per square meter and other data. In addition to the new solar panel louver design, which allows the panels to open when facing extreme winds, the control software will still automatically stow or turn the panels out of the wind when average wind gusts begin reaching a constant speed of 45 mph.  View Larger Image