Silicon CPV plc
Akhter House, Perry Road, Harlow, Essex, CM18 7PN, UK
Tel +44 (0) 1279 821200 Email [email protected]
Page 8 of 32
Theory of Operation
The Silicon CPV Solar Light is based on a pair of state-of-art embedded
ultra-low power processing units.
Using a highly adaptive and predictive algorithm, the first processing unit
looks after the Energy Management System (EMS). This unit is
responsible for extracting and storing the maximum amount of solar
energy available during daylight hours. Using the available stored energy
the unit then manages a custom user light output profile during the night
time period (Dusk to Dawn).
The second processing unit is the Communications Management
System (CMS). This unit provides all the necessary facilities for a meshed
local and wide area network communications. This unit then provides
users with local or remote wide area light cluster management and local
light-to-light connectivity for wide area network communications.
When the light is first switched on the system has to build a solar light
model and environmental profile. This process is fully automatic but takes
2-3 days to complete.
The system will need to discover a number of key parameters to
maximise performance, these will include the following;
Solar PV Panel Output Power
LED Light Output
Battery Capacity
Daylight Hours
Night-time Hours
Following switch on, the system will detect the “dusk” period and enter
the “First Night” period. During this period the LED light will be turned
onto maximum brightness for a period dependant on the current battery
“state of charge”.
The system will then automatically detect dawn on the “Second Day”; the
system can then start calculating additional parameters including PV
panel power, battery capacity and night and day time hours.
