Power Optimization for the 4.5 MW Gold Tree Solar Array
Cal Poly’s Gold Tree Solar Array suffers from interrow shading, an issue that can devastate a solar plant’s power output. The array can control panel tilt angles to avoid such shading, but the current control parameters fail to do so properly, and the problem is made worse by highly skewed topography. Since trial-and-error testing on the site itself is unfeasible, we used site measurements and first principles to construct a functioning model of the array and its power output in MATLAB. This continuing work, upon fulfilling its ultimate objectives, will provide a fast and convenient tool to test tracking parameters for eventual power optimization.