WO2010049661A1

WO2010049661A1 - Solar/wind lighting controller

Info

Publication number: WO2010049661A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/003670
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Brian Quattrucci
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-30
Filing date: 2008-10-30
Publication date: 2010-05-06
Anticipated expiration: 2011-04-30

Abstract

The solar lighting controller allows simple management of lighting effects for use in many applications ranging from gardens to architectural but not limited to. The unique operation of the system breaks down the day into light, dusk and dark. This controls the output of the lights at the correct times, as well as turning on the lights at a predetermined light level for a preset time. During Dusk and Darkness the lights can be manually overridden to different levels independently or collectively as required by the user. The controller remembers the last light level when it is turned off. Light levels can be set in 7 steps or 7 moods, increasing flexibility.

Description

Solar/Wind Lighting Controller

Background

The invention described below is based around the concept of solar and wind energy to store power during the day and then utilise some of that power in providing efficient lighting in any environment. The invention provides this control of power to the lighting by its key feature of breaking the day into 3 stages, stage 1 daylight, stage 2 dusk and stage 3 night time.

Other key features include allowing the user to select the light level, to turn on the lights for a certain period at dusk and allowing zones to be set up where different light patterns can be implemented and controlled. Allows accurate calculations to be performed on the power usage when setting up the Solar Panel/Wind Vane and battery.

Introduction to the drawings

The following drawings explain further an example of the implementation of the demonstration system that has been built.

Figure 1 shows the concept of the Controller and where it is located with Sources, Charge Controller and Battery. Further Lighting Controllers can be cascaded, lighting different quantities of LEDs as well as different areas.

Figures 2 and 3 shows the basic circuit to implement the receiver circuit and transmitter circuit. The basis around these designs is the 8 bit microcontroller.

With the receiver circuit a block diagram shows how the microprocessor is running its normal function of implementing the 3 stages, Daylight, Dusk and Night (Figure 4). When the microprocessor receives information from the RF receiver module it will then call the Interrupt Service Routing (ISR) shown in Figure 5. This then collects the data being sent, jumps out of the ISR if the data is invalid or corrupt and returns to the Main Program when completed,

The transmitter block diagram, shown in Figure 6, shows the basic timing structure of the pulse train sent to the receiver.

Table I₅ shown just before the drawing section, summarises the functionality of the controller over the three stages. For example the lights will be turned off when dawn arrives and any received commands to turn the lights on to a certain level will be stored ready for Dusk.

At Dusk, depending on the setting for the sensor, the lights will turn on for a preset amount of time dictated by the setting of the Time selector. During this time the light level can be changed accordingly to the users requirements. After the selected time the lights will turn off and it will go into the Night Stage.

During the Night stage the lights can be turned on but will not turn off unless it either gets to dawn or the user turns off the lights. What ever light setting the lights are on before the user turns them off will be used to turn on the lights on the next dusk cycle. If the Lights On command is sent with the lights currently off and in either Dusk or Night stages then the lights will turn onto the last known setting.

In Figure 7 the Transmitter is based around the PIC16F84 microprocessor with an RF transmitter. It is a handheld device and draws power from 4 batteries creating 6Volts. To reserve power the transmitter is turned on and off by the microcontroller before and after sending the data. Each of the switches linked to PL2 and PL3 are inputs to control which modules are turned on and to what light level. Channel Zero means all modules will respond to the light level setting desired as well as their own module number set on the receiver boards (Figure 8b PLl)

Figures 8a to 8d show the different sections for the Receiver circuit all of which are based around the PIC16F872 microcontroller (Figure 8a IC2). The "Buck Puck" Wide range LED power module (Figure 8a ICl) takes power from the battery and supplies both the 5 V for the rest of the circuit but also controls the output of the Lights depending on the voltage at the CTRL pin.

Connectors in Figure 8a interface the Light Dependent Resistor (PL3) and the variable resistor (PL9) to set the light level threshold. PL5 is used to cascade further modules. PL2 is used to distinguish what time to turn the lights on for and is used in conjunction with PL4.

Figure 8b shows the RF receiver module and associated connectors PL7 and PL8 for cascading modules together. PL4 is connected to the Time setting switch. PLl determines the Channel of the module when setting up zones.

Figures 8c and 8d are very similar as they set the specific light level. When the output of the Microprocessor is on, to turn the LEDs to a specific level, this turns on a transistor. The transistor then switches a variable resistor to the CTRL line of the ICl which sets the LED output between 0% and 100%.

A simple implementation, a Master Module, which controls one Channel and a set of LEDs on its own, is shown in Figure 9.

To provide more flexibility the boards can be cascaded with more channels with different time settings and one shared receiver chip. For space saving purposes the Channel Selector can be software programmed and therefore can be omitted. An example of the Master Slave set up is shown in Figure 10.

Claims

1. A system that controls lighting which is fed by renewable sources.

2. A system according to Claim 1, that allows easy calculation of power consumption, to ascertain "green" power supply requirements.

3. A system according to Claim 1 , which has a "Set and forget" setting although the user can override and changed settings as required..

4. A system according to Claim 1, which utilises a Flexible light level setting threshold allowing the user to predefine when lights comes on.

5. A system according to Claim 1, which is built of modules that can be cascaded, as required, to accommodate different installations to illuminate other areas.

6. A system according to Claim 1, that defines 7 light level steps (1 is low to 7 being bright) or 7 moods (with custom light levels).

7. A system according to Claim 1 and in addition to Claim 4, which only turns the Lights on at same ambient light level (user selectable) and not at predetermined times.