Choosing the efficient tracking method for real time tracking system in Jordan and it's neighbors to get maximum gained power based on experimental data

Solar power is an alternative technology that will hopefully decrease our dependence on petroleum energy sources. However, one major problem with solar panel systems is that the efficiencies for such systems are still poor and the costs per kilo-watt-hour (kWh) are not competitive, in most cases, to compete with petroleum energy sources. Using solar cells to get electrical energy is a complicated method. This is due to many factors that affect the performance of solar systems including the material that is used to manufacture solar cells themselves, the orientations of a group of cells (panel), and the angle of sun incidence.The aim of this research is to choose the efficient tracking method for real solar tracking system in the northern area of Jordan to get the maximum gained power based on real time data. The proposed tracking system was located at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) campus in northern Jordan. Data were collected at different days of the year to find the maximum gained power. Three tracking techniques were evaluated, namely, Fixed-due-south, tracking_to_the sun, and no-side-shadow. Tracking using no-side-shadow method achieved the maximum gained power compared to both of tracking_to_the sun and fixed_due_south methods, it's also better and efficient than both of techniques by 13.8% and 29.1% respectively.