Intelligent dual-axis solar tracking system in the Peruvian highlands: Implementation and performance

Abstract

Maximizing electricity production in photovoltaic systems is very important, even more with solar tracking systems, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote a sustainable energy system. The objective of this research was to implement and evaluate the performance of an intelligent dual-axis solar tracking system in the Peruvian highlands. The solar tracker was implemented with double axis (two degrees of freedom), the movement of both axes was driven by two linear actuators, so that, this system was controlled by a programmable logic controller (PLC), following the trajectory of the sun during the day. The results showed that on completely sunny days the solar tracker has a photovoltaic performance 29.48% higher than a fixed system in capturing solar irradiation, on the contrary, on partially cloudy days the solar tracker has a similar performance to a fixed system with no significant increase in photovoltaic performance. Therefore, the Peruvian highlands have a high potential for solar photovoltaic energy on sunny days, which can be better exploited with solar tracking systems, however, the capture of solar irradiance is affected by transient cloud blockage.