JP6500749B2 - Solar panel dirt detector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a solar panel dirt detection device.

  There is known a solar power generation system including a light receiving surface photographing unit that photographs a light receiving surface of a solar power generation unit, and a dirt detection unit that detects dirt on the solar power generation unit from an image of the light receiving surface shooting unit For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP, 2014-026556, A

  However, in a configuration without an imaging unit for imaging the light receiving surface of the solar power generation unit, it is difficult to detect dirt on the light receiving surface of the solar power generation unit and notify the user of the detection.

  Then, this invention aims at provision of the solar panel dirt detection apparatus which can detect the dirt of a solar panel and notify a user even when there is no imaging part which images a solar panel.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a solar panel dirt detection device for detecting dirt on a solar panel of a solar power generation system mounted on a vehicle,
A wiper operation detection unit that detects a wiper operation for operating the wiper while injecting a cleaning solution onto the front windshield glass;
A power generation determination unit that determines whether the power generated by the solar power generation system is equal to or greater than a predetermined value;
There is provided a solar panel dirt detection device including: an output unit for outputting notification information for notifying solar panel dirt when the wiper operation is detected when the generated power is equal to or higher than the predetermined value. Ru.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a solar panel dirt detection device capable of detecting the dirt of the solar panel and notifying the user even when there is no imaging unit for imaging the solar panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows an example of the vehicle-mounted system 1 to which a solar panel dirt detection apparatus is applied. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the control device 10.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an in-vehicle system 1 to which a solar panel dirt detection device is applied.

  The on-vehicle system 1 includes a control device 10, a wiper device 20, a solar power generation system 30, and a display 40. The control device 10, the wiper device 20, the solar power generation system 30, and the display 40 are connected via a bus such as a controller area network (CAN), for example.

  The controller 10 is formed by a computer. Control device 10 includes a wiper operation detection unit 12, a generated power determination unit 14, an index value calculation unit 16, and an output unit 18. The wiper operation detection unit 12, the generated power determination unit 14, the index value calculation unit 16, and the output unit 18 are realized by the CPU included in the hardware of the control device 10 executing one or more programs.

  The wiper operation detection unit 12 is a wiper operation (hereinafter, referred to as “front glass cleaning operation”) that operates the wiper while spraying a cleaning liquid (washer liquid) onto a windshield (hereinafter, simply referred to as “windshield glass”). ) To detect. For example, the wiper operation detection unit 12 can detect the windshield cleaning operation based on information from the wiper device 20 that operates the wiper while injecting the cleaning liquid in response to the operation.

  The generated power determination unit 14 calculates the generated power by the solar power generation system 30. The calculation of the generated power can be realized based on the information (current value and voltage value) from the solar power generation system 30. The generated power determination unit 14 may be incorporated in the solar power generation system 30.

  The index value calculation unit 16 calculates an index value that represents the degree of soiling of the solar panel of the solar power generation system 30. The index value is calculated based on the number of times of detection of the windshield cleaning operation and the generated power of the solar power generation system 30. The method of calculating this index value will be described later.

  The output unit 18 displays the dirt notification information on the display 40. The dirt notification information is information indicating that the solar panel of the solar power generation system 30 is dirty or that there is a possibility of the dirt, and may be, for example, the lighting of a warning light or a message. Also, the dirt notification information may be output by voice instead of or in addition to the display.

  The wiper device 20 operates the wiper while spraying the cleaning liquid toward the windshield glass in response to the windshield cleaning operation. The windshield cleaning operation is realized, for example, by the driver pulling a lever provided on the steering column to the front side.

  The solar power generation system 30 includes a solar panel, and the solar panel is provided, for example, on the ceiling of the vehicle. The solar power generation system 30 generates power based on the sunlight received by the solar panel. The electrical energy obtained by the power generation of the solar power generation system 30 may be used, for example, to charge an on-board battery (not shown).

  The display 40 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or a meter of a navigation device, or a display of a portable device of a user brought into the car. In the case of the display of the portable device of the user, the portable device wirelessly communicates with the control device 10 to realize display of dirt notification information described later.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the control device 10. The process shown in FIG. 2 is executed, for example, at predetermined intervals while dirt notification information is not displayed.

  In step S200, the wiper operation detection unit 12 determines whether a windshield cleaning operation has been detected. If the determination result is "YES", the process proceeds to step S202; otherwise, the process ends.

  In step S202, the generated power determination unit 14 calculates the current generated power by the solar power generation system 30.

  In step S204, the generated power determination unit 14 determines whether or not the generated power calculated in step S202 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The generated power equal to or higher than the predetermined value corresponds to the possible range of the generated power when the weather is sunny, and the predetermined value may be adapted based on the test result of the generated power when the weather is sunny. If the determination result is "YES", the process proceeds to step S206; otherwise, the process ends.

  In step S206, the index value calculation unit 16 increments the dirt degree counter C, which is an index value representing the dirt degree of the solar panel of the solar power generation system 30, by "1".

  In step S208, the output unit 18 determines whether the contamination degree counter C is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold is a value of one or more. If the determination result is "YES", the process proceeds to step S210. Otherwise, the process ends.

  In step S210, the output unit 18 displays the dirt notification information on the display 40. This can prompt the user to remove the dirt on the solar panel of the solar power generation system 30. The display of the dirt notification information may be maintained continuously, for example, until the non-display instruction from the user is received. For example, after removing dirt on the solar panel of the solar power generation system 30 manually or the like, the user inputs a non-display instruction to erase the display of the dirt notification information.

  In step S212, the index value calculation unit 16 resets the contamination degree counter C to the initial value "0".

  By the way, that the windshield cleaning operation is detected when the generated power is equal to or more than a predetermined value (ie, when it is sunny) means that the windshield glass is highly likely to be dirty. This also means that the solar panels of the solar power system 30 are likely to be dirty at the same time.

  In this respect, according to the present embodiment, when the generated power when the windshield cleaning operation is detected is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the index value representing the degree of soiling of the solar panel is incremented, so the index value is , Can represent the degree of soiling of the solar panel. That is, since the degree of contamination of the windshield glass and the degree of contamination of the solar panel tend to be correlated, an index value representing the degree of contamination of the solar panel can be calculated using this point. In addition, it is possible to calculate an index value that represents the degree of contamination of the solar panel without using a special component such as a camera that directly images the solar panel. As a result, the user can output the dirt notification information at an appropriate timing.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. It can be added.

Reference Signs List 1 in-vehicle system 10 control device 12 wiper operation detection unit 14 generated power determination unit 16 index value calculation unit 18 output unit 20 wiper device 30 solar power generation system 40 display

Claims (2)

A solar panel dirt detection device for detecting dirt on a solar panel of a solar power generation system mounted on a vehicle, comprising:
A wiper operation detection unit that detects a wiper operation for operating the wiper while injecting a cleaning solution onto the front windshield glass;
A power generation determination unit that determines whether the power generated by the solar power generation system is equal to or greater than a predetermined value;
A solar panel dirt detection device, comprising: an output unit that outputs notification information for notifying soiling of a solar panel when the wiper operation is detected when the generated power is equal to or higher than the predetermined value. The solar panel according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs the notification information when the number of times the generated power is equal to or more than the predetermined value when the wiper operation is detected is equal to or more than a predetermined number. Dirt detection device.

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