Development of solar tracking system using imcpid controller. Even though the theory of the controller system is similar to all the applications, there are some differences. Advantages and disadvantages of a solar tracker system. In chapter 21, which is the last chapter of the regular text, we discuss solar fuels, which allow to store solar energy on the long term in the form of chemical energy. An introduction to solar trackers solar power world. Introduction solar tracking system is an electromechanical device that is used to turn the solar devices to face the sun as it moves across the sky. Solar powered equipment works best when pointed at or near the sun, so a solar tracker can increase the effectiveness of such equipment over any fixed pos ition, at the cost of additional system. The purpose of renewable energy from this paper offered new and advanced idea to help the people. Arduino based sun tracking solar panel project using ldr.
The measured tracker angle of the passive tracker was the azimuth angle. The unit is a mobile system aimed to provide energy in remote areas or during emergency conditions. These type of electrical projects are used to identify the position of the sun using a solar tracking system which consists of various solar cells and solar. By accurately tracking the sun, the incident solar irradiance can be effectively increased abdallaha et al, 2008. Solar tracking system reshmi banerjee electrical engineering department, guru nanak institute of technology. Utilityscale and large projects usually use horizontal singleaxis trackers, while dualaxis trackers are mostly used in smaller residential applications and locations with high government feedintariffs. Department of electrical engineering solar panel tracking. Introduction since this project is about creating a solar tracker, some light dependent circuit element.
No studies have been found that determine the accuracy of solar trackers by measuring the tracker angles. When compare to the price of the pv solar panels, the cost of a solar tracker is relatively low. This paper explains and shows results of the experiment done on the zomeworks utr020 passive azimuth tracker fixed at 45. Over the past decades many mppt techniques have been published. Fabrication of dualaxis solar tracking controller project. Auxiliary bifacial solar cell based solar tracker bhupendra gupta et al. Solar tracking enables more solar energy to be generated because the solar panel is able to maintain a perpendicular profile to the suns rays. New approach on development a dual axis solar tracking. Double axis solar trackers have both a horizontal and a vertical axle and so can track the suns apparent motion exactly anywhere in the world. Design of a solar tracker system for pv power plants 24 equipment is still one of top priorities for many academic andor industrial research groups all over the world. In chapter 20 we introduce different concepts related to solar thermal energy. Mainly, the reason why we are focusing on a solar powered tracking device is because of the emergence of solar power in the world as of today.
The kit uses an arduino uno, an arduino sensor shield, two 9g metal gear servos, and four light detecting resistors to achieve active tracking in real time. In addition to our current knowledge, we are adding some new literature surveys which is useful for solar tracker project. Solar energy is received from the suns light rays hitting the earth and is commonly referred to as solar radiation u. Design and construction of an automatic solar tracking system. A study on the effects of solar tracking systems on the. Pdf a seminar project report arduino based solar tracking. Types of solar trackers single axis trackers single axis solar trackers can either have a horizontal or a vertical axle. Solar tracking system nur khuzairy bin jamaludin this thesis.
Nowadays, the highest efficiency of solar panel is 19%. This thesis proposes adaptive control architecture for maximum power point tracking mppt in photovoltaic systems. Solar tracking system is the project that used pic16f877a microcontroller as a brain to control the whole system. Performance of solar tracking systems depends upon the methods of the tracking system, which corresponds to different geographical regions. Someone building a sun tracker can quickly find ephemeris calculations in many programming languages, but other issues. In this thesis, a basintype solar still was designed to investigate the effect of sun tracking in the performance of conventional solar. It does not use any photosensors to orient the pv module. May 09, 2016 trackers generate more electricity than their stationary counterparts due to increased direct exposure to solar rays. Tracking angular step solar tracking angular step on june 21 no. The ldr light dependant resistor had been used to sense. The designed solar tracker is able to maintain a difference angle of 1. This increase can be as much as 10 to 25% depending on the geographic location of the tracking system. In countries like india, solar energy play a major role for daily usage of power consumption as it is a decentralized energy and economically cheap in nature.
Some more information is available about the systems used in solar energy applications but their geometries differ 1720. The light sensors will be mounted to the solar panel rig and be exposed to the sun. The solar tracker can be used for several applications. One frequent question we get from students and hobbyists is how can i m. The use of a highly portable, efficient solar tracker can be very useful to applications of the military, industrial, or residential variety. My thesis explored and expanded beyond the scope of the aforementioned project to research different avenues for improving the efficiency of solar photovoltaic power system from the solar cell level to the solar array mounting, array tracking and dcac inversion system techniques. The suns position in the sky varies both with season and time of day. Mppt technologies have been used in photovoltaic systems to deliver the maximum power output to the load under changes of solar insolation and solar panels. These provide the signal to motor driver ic2 to move the. A solar tracker is a device for orienting solar photovoltaic panel towards the sun. By using thismethod, the solar tracker is found to be successful in maintaining a solararray at a sufficiently perpendicular angle to the sun.
It was able to keep the solar panel aligned with the sun, or any light source repetitively. A solar energy proposal for the university of kansas. The solar stills have often been used in the tropics where there is abundant supply of solar energy. This method of power generation is simple and is taken from natural resource. We can use solar energy as an electrical energy to operate an electrical appliance. Solar tracker is a device which follows the movement of the sun as it rotates from the east to the west each day. Advantage of this project is that solar panel will always follow the sun light will always face towards the sun to get charge all the time and can.
The paper overviews the design parameters, construction, types and drive system techniques covering different usage application. Ldr is used as photo sensor to sense the incident solar radiation. The reference 4 shows an optimized design for a photovoltaic plant with a tracking. The cost and reliability of this solar tracker creates it suitable for the rural usage. To produce an efficient solar generation system, a scaled down dualaxis solar tracker was designed, built and tested. Lightdependent resistors ldr1 through ldr4 are used as sensors to detect the panels position relative to the sun. A microcontroller based design methodology of an automatic solar tracker is presented in this paper. Dualaxis solar tracker worcester polytechnic institute. New approach on development a dual axis solar tracking prototype. Solar tracking system full circuit diagram available. Design of a solar tracker system for pv power plants 26 3 design of the proposed solar tracking system the proposed solar tracking system should satisfy certain technical requirements specific to the studied application, as follows. A chronological tracker is a timerbased tracking system. Concentrated solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar thermal have optics that directly accept sunlight, so trackers must be angled. The dual axis solar tracker was designed as a project that integrated simple arduino programing and solar energy creation.
A seminar project report arduino based solar tracking. This system collects free energy from the sun and stores it in the battery and then converts this. Many studies have used the power produced by the solar trackers as a measure to define and determine a tracker s accuracy. The problem that we can see now is most of the solar panel that had been use by a user just only in a static direction.
Solar energy is a technology that has been increasing in popularity as it is further developed. The direct understanding of the expression accuracy of solar trackers is that the trackers follow the sun. The imbalance is caused by solar heat creating gas pressure on a low boiling point compressed gas fluid that is driven to one side or the other 2 which then moves the structure. A seminar project report arduino based solar tracking system. Solar tracking systems and heating engineering essay. In this thesis, we have constructed a 2 axis solar tracker which can. Nov 29, 2016 then, in 2001, bp solar granted ati its first utilityscale project, to install a 250 kw solar tracker system. Project report on solar tracking system electrical projects. In this project, we will be utilizing solar energy to provide the supply for an outdoor charging station for devices. Jan 19, 2018 benefits and drawbacks of solar trackers. We at love using solar energy with our electronics projects. The solar trackers were a zomeworks utr200 passive one inclined axis solar tracker and a wattsun az225 active electrooptical two axis azimuthaltitudes solar tracker. So, the efficiency can be enhancing by using solar tracker. For the most part its extremely easy to work into small, low voltage, projects.
Using solar trackers upturns the amount of solar energy which is received by the solar energy collector and develops the energy output of the heatelectricity which is generated. There are many different kinds of solar trackers, such as singleaxis and dualaxis trackers, all of which can be the perfect. Solar trackers move the payload towards the sun throughout the day. Department of electrical engineering solar panel tracking control. In this arduino solar panel tracker, arduino is powered by the 9v battery and all the other parts are powered by the arduino. Photovoltaic systems provide promising ways to generate clean electric power. It studies both the irradiance and the tracking errors under varying conditions. Describing the process in short, the position of the sun is first calculated based on time and location information. Solar powered charging station american society for. Jun 03, 20 a solar tracker is a device onto which solar panels are fitted which tracks themotion of the sun across the sky ensuring that the maximum amount of sunlight strikes the panels throughoutthe day. Mainly, we have seen that solar power is becoming dominant not only with. Dual axis solar tracker study lim zi chao this thesis. Dual axis solar tracker study lim zi chao this thesis is. By examining which light sensor is exposed to the most sunlight, the solar panel will change both the direction it is pointing and its angle relative to the ground so that it.
If the solar panel located at east and the sun is located at west, the solar panel cannot be charging. It provides a development in the performance and the efficiency of the motion controller driving system positioning system interconnection in a typical solar tracking system as well. However, this method of suntracking is not accurate. Determining the accuracy of solar trackers a thesis by. The two major categories for these structures are dual axis and single axis. Department of electrical engineering solar panel tracking control tracking the variations caused due to reflection from snow and other factors. Design of the solar tracker from this project is also a reference and a starting point for the development of. Arduino based sun tracking solar panel project using ldr and. Design of a solar tracker system for pv power plants. Pdf solar tracking, sun tracking, sun tracker, solar. Alternative methods of solar energy are discussed in part v.
The solar tracker comprises comparator ic lm339, hbridge motor driver ic l293d ic2 and a few discrete components. Solar radiation can be harnessed and converted to electricity by photovoltaic pv technologies. Selecting a solar tracker depends on system size, electric rates, land constraints, government incentives, latitude and weather. Abstract solar tracking system is a power generating method from sunlight. The solar panel in this project gives an output of 5 v and 100 ma. Design of a lowcost solar tracking photovoltaic pv. Trackers generate more electricity than their stationary counterparts due to increased direct exposure to solar rays. Solar tracker is an electromechanical device for orienting a solar photovoltaic panel toward the sun trackers. In this thesis, a basintype solar still was designed to investigate the effect of sun tracking in the performance of conventional solar still using actual environmental conditions.
Among the proposed solutions for improving the efficiency of pv conversion, we. How to write an application letter to a school in nigeria. Pv photovoltaic generator tracker, heliostat, solar furnace and so on. The measured tracker angles of the active tracker were the azimuth and the. Generally, a solar panel system with a singleaxis solar tracker installed sees a performance gain of 25 to 35 percent. The mostcommon applications for solar trackers are positioning photovoltaic pv panels solar panels so that they remain perpendicular to the suns rays and positioning space telescopes so that they can determine the suns direction. Albeit, the price of various solar tracker are still costly because solar tracker is still fresh. This paper presents the hardware design and implementation of a system that ensures a perpendicular profile of the solar panel with the sun in order to extract maximum energy falling on it renewable energy is rapidly gaining. Mar 25, 2016 need of solar tracker increase solar panel output max. Nevertheless, solar tracking systems increase the capital cost, operation and maintenance cost due to complication of the projects due to moving parts including bears and motors. A solar tracker is a device for orienting a day lighting reflector, solar photovoltaic panel or concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun.
Several methods and designs of sun tracking systems have been proposed, designed and implemented, main are included in 2 4 and 5. Arduino recommended input voltage is from 7 to 12 volts but you can power it within the range of 6 to 20 volts which is the limit. Pv solar trackers adjust the direction that a solar panel is facing. In this thesis, we examine a schematic to extract maximum obtainable solar power from a pv module and use the energy for a dc application.
A dualaxis tracker bumps performance up by another five to 10 percent. This type of system is used to control astronomical telescopes, and so there is plenty of software available to automatically predict and track. At the end of the project, a functional solar tracking system was designed and implemented. This is why the controllers of all solar power electronic converters employ some method for maximum power point tracking mppt. Maximum power point tracking and solar power for developing countries around the world christopher m. So, the project that wants to develop here is called solar tracking system. In this article we are going to make a sun tracking solar panel using arduino, in which we will use two ldrs light dependent resistor to sense the light and a servo motor to automatically rotate the solar panel in the direction of the sun light. In this paper, the effects of the accessibility of the related components, the single axis tracker and climate changes on this farm have been studied. In photovoltaic systems, trackers help minimize the angle of incidence the angle that a ray of light makes with a line perpendicular to the surface between the incoming light and the panel, which increases the amount of energy the installation produces. Saroj pandey master thesis in electrical engineering, july 2016. Though initial cost of setting up a solar tracking system is high, this paper proposes a cheaper solution. This needs only maximum sunlight to generate power.
This contract itself led to further innovation of the ati solar tracker. Solar tracking system using arduino pratik pawar, ashish yadav, pritam makwana, shubham patil abstract in this paper, a solar tracking system using arduino is designed and built. This solar tracker works solely based on the output power of the pv panel mounted to it. This report presents the design and simulations of a dualaxis solar tracker. The biggest benefit of a solar tracking system is that it offers a boost in electricity production. At most, the solar tracker was perpendicular to the light source within 3 degrees. The aim of this dual axis solar tracker study is to prove that the accuracy and consistency of the sun tracking is much more efficient compared to other solar tracking systems such as single axis tracker. In this context solar tracking system is the best alternative to increase the efficiency of the photovoltaic panel. This project investigates in detail the concept of maximum power point tracking mppt which significantly increases the efficiency of the solar.