Two axis solar tracker design and implementation

Abstract

The energy extracted from a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel depends on solar insolation. For extraction of maximum energy from the sun, the plane of PV panel should always be normal to the incident solar rays. The seasonal movement of the earth affects the radiation intensity received on the PV panel. Sun trackers move the PV panel to follow the sun trajectories and keep the orientation of the solar panel at an optimal tilt angle. Energy efficiency of a solar PV panel can be substantially improved by using solar tracking systems. In this work, two axis solar tracking system has been designed and realized by using LDR sensors and DC motors with gear arrangements. The tracking (azimuth angle and altitude angle) has been implemented via microcontroller based control logic. Important points of this design are using minimum energy while tracking, stability of trajectory, maximum energy efficiency with gear arrangements and being cheaper than the other tracker systems.