Design and development of Tilted Single Axis and Azimuth-Altitude Dual Axis Solar Tracking systems

Abstract

The green energy also called the renewable energy, has gained much attention nowadays. Among the renewable energy solutions, solar energy is the very vital source that can be used to generate power. Electricity from the sun can be converted through photovoltaic (PV) module. The efficiency of solar module depends on sun intensity, if the intensity is more then efficiency is more. Since the position of sun continuously changes throughout the day, the intensity of sun rays is not uniform on PV module. So, for getting more sun rays on PV module solar tracker plays a much vital role. A solar tracker is a device for operating a solar photovoltaic panel, especially in solar cell applications and requires high degree of accuracy to ensure that the concentrated sunlight is dedicated precisely on to the power device. This paper describes in detail about the design, development and fabrication of two Prototype Solar Tracking Systems mounted with a single-axis and dual-axis solar tracking controllers to generate 10.3 volts, 1.5 watts capable of charging mobile batteries. The rays from the sun should fall perpendicularly onto the solar panels to maximize the capture of the rays and this is done by pointing the solar panels towards the sun and following its path across the sky. The solar tracking systems - Tilted Single Axis Tracker (TSAT) and Azimuth-Altitude Dual Axis Tracker (AADAT) are designed, implemented and experimentally tested. The design details of TSAT and AADAT are described which detect the sunlight using Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) sensors. The control circuit for the systems is based on Atmega8 Microcontroller which is programmed to detect the sunlight through the LDR sensors and then actuate the DC geared motor using L293D motor driver to position the solar panel where it can receive the maximum sunlight.