Solar panels make up a big percentage of different ways to create electrical energy from renewable sources.
With so many advancements in the industry, solar panels can efficiently absorb the sun’s rays and turn it into electricity or heat.
Therefore, solar panels are a popular solution to power a home if you have enough space for the installation of solar panels.
But how do slip rings help solar panel systems and what is their purpose? Keep on reading as that’s exactly what you’ll find down below!
What is a Slip Ring and What is its Purpose?
Slip ring is a small device that was made with one purpose in mind – to eliminate wire winding problems in devices that feature both a stationary and a rotary aspect.
However, other than its main purpose to eliminate wires from the joints and provide a hazard-free working environment for rotary machines, slip rings have many more benefits thanks to their versatility.
While providing a solid contact while eliminating wires, slip rings can also help transmit an electrical signal, power, data, and other medium types, depending on the type of a slip ring.
Therefore, you can find slip rings in almost any device that has a rotary aspect to it and companies such as Moflon, have been producing various types of slip rings for 30+ years. On top of that, they even do custom slip ring solutions for companies that innovate, so you can find slip rings literally anywhere.
Since they have additional benefits such as the ability to handle high load capacity, provide a smooth start even under heavy load, and even be used to add resistance to motors for example, slip rings are used for various things, and not only to establish a solid contact between two parts of a machine.
How are Slip Rings Built and What are their Benefits
Slip rings are a very simple innovation and two of the main components include a ring that makes the outer case and on the inside, there are brushes (or wipers) placed that help make the contact.
As the rotation happens, brushes slide and brush against the inner of the ring, providing solid contact as long as there’s rotation.
This way, slip rings can help transmit electrical signals, power, and even data without leaving any wiring hanging around the joints of the machine.
However, slip rings are very well built to match the working conditions and environments of almost any industry where a slip ring can be a good fit.
Since slip rings are used in any industry from aerospace, factory automation, aviation, and robotics, to medical imaging equipment, radars, and more, slip rings are built in a way to never be the weakest link in the machine.
Therefore, their benefits are definitely versatility that’s combined with functionality, variations of types, and a great fit for a wide range of industries.
Of course, slip rings are also known for being able to handle a high load capacity while providing a smooth start to machines which is also one reason why it’s used in heavy machinery such as excavating equipment.
How Can Slip Rings Help Solar Energy Industry
So now that you know what slip rings are, how they function, and what it is they do – you might not understand how they fit the solar energy industry just yet.
With slip rings’ high versatility, slip rings are not used only to bridge the gap between a stationary and a rotary part of a device, but they have so many different uses.
For example, one of the most important ways slip rings help the solar energy industry is to provide a reliable way to rotate the solar panels.
The installation of solar panels is mostly based on the way sunlight shines at a certain location.
However, with the invention of slip rings for swiveling panels, now slip rings can help adjust the solar panel to a specific angle. This way, no sunlight is wasted, efficiency is optimized, and conversion is improved by maximizing the investment in solar panels.
Of course, these types of slip rings are built to withstand high temperatures, and corrosion, and even come available in custom solutions to fit customers’ piping systems.
Different Types of Slip Rings
Just now you’ve discovered a very special type of slip ring that helps the solar panel industry. Of course, this solution didn’t exist until there was a need for such a solution.
And even though there are 6 main types of slip rings, there are many more on the rise and there are many variations of a certain type that ensure slip rings can literally fit in almost any device. On top of that, with custom slip ring solutions, they can really fit anywhere which makes slip rings a great choice for innovative ideas.
The following 6 main types of slip rings include:
- Pancake slip ring
- Mercury contact ring
- Through hole ring
- Ethernet ring
- Fiber optic slip ring
- Miniature ring
There are many more sub-types and even custom solutions, so you shouldn’t be surprised if you come across a slip ring you don’t feel like you’ve seen before.
On top of that, there are innovative slip rings such as the wireless power slip ring that comes with an unlimited RPM or the brushless slip ring that provides a much longer lifespan.
Conclusion
Even though not many people even know that slip rings can help the solar panel systems, slip rings proved themselves to be one of the most versatile devices that can fit almost any industry and in almost any type of equipment.
The interesting thing is that both the slip rings and solar panel systems are getting advanced. Slip rings have already been used across a number of industries and yet they’re always making a move into a new industry at a time.
Therefore, for mutual benefits, both slip rings and solar panel systems are working together to make better improvements and more efficient progress where everyone benefits.
