Solar Tracking Device

Project Discription

Abstract

The   following   document  details  the   research  and  development of  an Automatic  Solar  radiation  tracker.  Fossil fuels are a relatively short-term energy  source consequently, the  uses of alternative sources such as solar energy   are   becoming  more  wide spread. To  make  solar  energy  more viable ,  the   efficiency  of   solar  array  systems  must  be  maximized. A feasible  approach to  maximizing the  efficiency of  solar array systems is sun   tracking.   Proposed  in  this  report  is  a  system  that   controls    the movement  of  a solar array  so  that  it  is  constantly aligned  towards  the direction  of  the  sun.

Solar  modules are  devices  that   cleanly convert  sunlight   into electricity and  offer  a  practical  solution  to  the  problem  of   power  generation  in   remote   areas . The  solar tracker  designed  and constructed in this  project offers  a  reliable and  affordable  method of  aligning  a  solar module with  the  sun  in  order to maximize its energy  output .

Automatic Sun  Tracking  System  is   a   hybrid  hardware/software  prototype,  which   automatically provides  best  alignment  of   solar panel  with  the  sun, to  get   maximum output (electricity).

 Conclusion

In this work,  the sun tracking  system was  implemented  which  is  based  on PIC microcontroller.   After  examining  the information  obtained  in  the  data  analysis section, it can be said that the proposed sun tracking solar array system is a feasible method of maximizing the energy received from solar radiation. The controller circuit used  to  implement  this  system  has  been  designed   with  a  minimal  number  of components and has been integrated onto a single PCB for simple assembly. The use of stepper motors enables accurate tracking of the sun while keeping track of  the array's current position in relation to its initial position. The automatic solar radiation tracker is an efficient system for solar energy collection. It has been shown that the sun tracking systems can collect about 8% more energy than what a fixed panel system collects and thus high efficiency is achieved through this tracker. 8% increase in efficiency is not the most significant figure; it can be more prominent in concentrating type reflectors.

Project Sample Image