Performance Analysis of a Constructed Dual Axis Solar Tracker

Abstract

A major drawback to photovoltaic system is the fact that solar cells become useless at night. In the quest to overcome this, use of batteries, converters, backup generator and addition of extra panels at higher cost to PV grid have been proposed but the performance of the system with integration of the said components is still very much dependent how much solar energy directly reach the solar cell surface. A feasible approach to achieve this is solar tracking. In this study, performance evaluation of a constructed dual axis solar tracker integrated PV system was carried out for five weeks and compared with that of a flat fixed PV system installed at Ogbomoso, Nigeria (8° 08’ N, 4° 16’ E). It was discovered that the power and performance of dual axis system obtained averagely was 62.91 W compared to that of flat fixed PV System which was 47.88 W thereby improving the power output by 31.4%. Keywords : Solar Energy, Dual Axis System, Photovoltaic, Performance, Tropical region, Nigeria. DOI : 10.7176/APTA/75-01