Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
One of the most promising renewable energy sources characterized by a huge potential
of conversion into electrical power is the solar energy. The conversion of solar radiation
into electrical energy by Photo-Voltaic (PV) effect is a very promising technology, being
clean, silent and reliable, with very small maintenance costs and small ecological impact.
The interest in the Photo Voltaic conversion systems is visibly reflected by the
exponential increase of sales in this market segment with a strong growth projection for
the next decades. According to recent market research reports carried out by European
Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), the total installed power of PV conversion
equipment increased from about 1 GW in 2001up to nearly 23 GW in 2009.
practically no maintenance. A tracking system must be able to follow the sun with a
certain degree of accuracy, return the collector to its original position at the end of the day
and also track during periods of cloud over.
1.1 BACKGROUND
A Solar Tracker is a device onto which solar panels are fitted which tracks the motion
of the sun across the sky ensuring that the maximum amount of sunlight strikes the panels
throughout the day. The Solar Tracker will attempt to navigate to the best angle of
exposure of light from the sun. This report aims to let the reader understand the project
work which I have done. A brief introduction to Solar Panel and Solar Tracker is
explained in the Literature Research section. Basically the Solar Tracker is divided into
two main categories, hardware and software. It is further subdivided into six main
functionalities: Method of Tracker Mount, Drives, Sensors, RTC, Motors, and Power
Supply of the Solar Tracker is also explained and explored. The reader would then be
brief with some analysis and perceptions of the information.
Light gathering is dependent on the angle of incidence of the light source providing
power (i.e. the sun) to the solar cells surface, and the closer to perpendicular, the greater
the power. If a flat solar panel is mounted on level ground, it is obvious that over the
course of the day the sunlight will have an angle of incidence close to 90 in the morning
and the evening. At such an angle, the light gathering ability of the cell is essentially zero,
resulting in no output. As the day progresses to midday, the angle of incidence
approaches 0, causing a steady increase in power until at the point where the light
incident on the panel is completely perpendicular, and maximum power is achieved. As
the day continues toward dusk, the reverse happens, and the increasing angle causes the
power to decrease again toward minimum again. From this background, we see the need
to maintain the maximum power output from the panel by maintaining an angle of
incidence as close to 0 as possible. By tilting the solar panel to continuously face the
sun, this can be achieved. This process of sensing and following the position of the sun is
known as Solar Tracking. It was resolved that real-time tracking would be necessary to
follow the sun effectively, so that no external data would be required in operation.
The aim of the project is to keep the solar photovoltaic panel perpendicular to the
sun throughout the year in order to make it more efficient. The dual axis solar
photovoltaic panel takes astronomical data as reference and the tracking system has the
capability to always point the solar array toward the sun and can be installed in various
regions with minor modifications. The vertical and horizontal motion of the panel is
obtained by taking altitude angle and azimuth angle as reference. The fuzzy controller has
been used to control the position of DC motors. The mathematical simulation control of
dual axis solar tracking system ensures the point to point motion of the DC motors while
tracking the sun.
Chapter 2
OVERVIEW OF SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM
This chapter aims to provide a brief knowledge of Solar Panel, Solar Tracker and the
components which made up Solar Tracker.
Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity. They are called solar
after the sun because the sun is the most powerful source of the light available for use.
They are sometimes called photovoltaic which means "light-electricity". Solar cells or PV
cells rely on the photovoltaic effect to absorb the energy of the sun and cause current to
flow between two oppositely charge layers. A solar panel is a collection of solar cells.
Although each solar cell provides a relatively small amount of power, many solar cells
spread over a large area can provide enough power to be useful. To get the most power,
solar panels have to be pointed directly at the Sun. The development of solar cell
technology begins with 1839 research of French physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel. He
observed the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with a solid electrode in an
electrolyte solution. After that he saw a voltage developed when light fell upon the
electrode.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the first genuine for solar panel was built
around 1883 by Charles Fritts. He used junctions formed by coating selenium (a
semiconductor) with an extremely thin layer of gold. Crystalline silicon and gallium
arsenide are typical choices of materials for solar panels. Gallium arsenide crystals are
grown especially for photovoltaic use, but silicon crystals are available in less-expensive
standard ingots, which are produced mainly for consumption in the microelectronics
industry. Norways Renewable Energy Corporation has confirmed that it will build a
solar manufacturing plant in Singapore by 2010 - the largest in the world. This plant will
be able to produce products that can generate up to 1.5 Giga watts of energy every year.
That is enough to power several million households at any one time. Last year the world
as a whole produced products that could generate just 2 GW in total.
Since the sun moves across the sky throughout the day, in order to receive the best
angle of exposure to sunlight for collection energy. A tracking mechanism is often
incorporated into the solar arrays to keep the array pointed towards the sun. A solar
tracker is a device onto which solar panels are fitted which tracks the motion of the sun
across the sky ensuring that the maximum amount of sunlight strikes the panels
throughout the day. When compare to the price of the PV solar panels, the cost of a solar
tracker is relatively low. Most photovoltaic solar panels are fitted in a fixed location- for
example on the sloping roof of a house, or on framework fixed to the ground. Since the
sun moves across the sky though the day, this is far from an ideal solution. Solar panels
are usually set up to be in full direct sunshine at the middle of the day facing South in the
Northern Hemisphere, or North in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore morning and
evening sunlight hits the panels at an acute angle reducing the total amount of electricity
which can be generated each day.
During the day the sun appears to move across the sky from left to right and up
and down above the horizon from sunrise to noon to sunset. Figure 2.1 shows the
schematic above of the Sun's apparent motion as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
To keep up with other green energies, the solar cell market has to be as efficient as
possible in order not to lose market shares on the global energy marketplace. The end-
user will prefer the tracking solution rather than a fixed ground system to increase
their earnings because:
Before talking about the solar tracking systems, we will review some basic
concepts concerning solar radiation and mention some important values to better
understand the results of this work. The sun, at an estimated temperature of 5800 K, emits
high amounts of energy in the form of radiation, which reaches the planets of the solar
system. Sunlight has two components, the direct beam and diffuse beam. Direct radiation
(also called beam radiation) is the solar radiation of the sun that has not been scattered
(causes shadow).
Direct beam carries about 90% of the solar energy, and the "diffuse sunlight" that
carries the remainder. The diffuse portion is the blue sky on a clear day and increases as a
proportion on cloudy days. The diffuse radiation is the sun radiation that has been
scattered (complete radiation on cloudy days). Reflected radiation is the incident radiation
(beam and diffuse) that has been reflected by the earth. The sum of beams, diffuse and
reflected radiation is considered as the global radiation on a surface. As the majority of
the energy is in the direct beam, maximizing collection requires the sun to be visible to
the panels as long as possible.
The declination of the sun is the angle between the equator and a line drawn from
the centre of the Earth to the centre of the sun. The declination is maximum (23.45o) on
the summer/winter (in India 21 June and 22 December) The declination angle, denoted by
, varies seasonally due to the tilt of the Earth on its axis of rotation and the rotation of
the Earth around the sun. If the earth were not tilted on its axis of rotation, the declination
would always be 0. However, the Earth is tilted by 23.45 and the declination angle
varies plus or minus this amount. Only at the spring and fall equinoxes is the declination
angle equal to 0.
The Hour Angle is the angular distance that the earth has rotated in a day. It is
equal to 15 degrees multiplied by the number of hours from local solar noon. This is
based on the nominal time, 24 hours, required for the earth to rotate once i.e. 360 degrees.
Solar hour angle is zero when sun is straight over head, negative before noon, and
positive after noon.(here noon means 12.00 hour)
The solar altitude is the vertical angle between the horizontal and the line
connecting to the sun. At sunset/sunrise altitude is 0 and is 90 degrees when the sun is at
the zenith. The altitude relates to the latitude of the site, the declination angle and the hour
angle.
The azimuth angle is the angle within the horizontal plane measured from true
South or North. The azimuth angle is measured clockwise from the zero azimuth. For
example, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere and the zero azimuth is set to South, the
azimuth angle value will be negative before solar noon, and positive after solar noon.
2.3.5 Insolation
The insolation into a surface is largest when the surface directly faces the
Sun. As the angle increases between the direction at a right angle to the surface
and the direction of the rays of sunlight, the insolation is reduced in proportion to
cosine of the angle; see effect of sun angle on climate.
This 'projection effect' is the main reason why the Polar Regions are much
colder than equatorial regions on Earth. On an annual average the poles receive
less insolation than does the equator, because at the poles the Earth's surface are
angled away from the Sun.
Photovoltaics are the direct conversion of light into electricity at the atomic
level. Some materials exhibit a property known as the photoelectric effect that
causes them to absorb photons of light and release electrons. When these free
electrons are captured, an electric current results that can be used as electricity.
Chapter 3
SOLAR TRACKER
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Solar Tracker is a Device which follows the movement of the sun as it
rotates from the east to the west every day. The main function of all tracking
systems is to provide one or two degrees of freedom in movement. Trackers are
used to keep solar collectors/solar panels oriented directly towards the sun as it
moves through the sky every day. Using solar trackers increases the amount of
solar energy which is received by the solar energy collector and improves the
energy output of the heat/electricity which is generated. Solar trackers can increase
the output of solar panels by 20-30% which improves the economics of the solar
panel project.
150 degrees. A solar panel in a fixed orientation between the dawn and sunset extremes
will see a motion of 75 degrees on either side, and thus, according to the table above, will
lose 75% of the energy in the morning and evening. Rotating the panels to the east and
west can help recapture these losses. A tracker rotating in the east-west direction is
known as a single-axis tracker. The sun also moves through 46 degrees north-south over
the period of a year. The same set of panels set at the midpoint between the two local
extremes will thus see the sun move 23 degrees on either side, causing losses of 8.3% A
tracker that accounts for both the daily and seasonal motions is known as a dual-axis
tracker.
CHAPTER 4
COMPONENTS DESCRIPTION
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Solar Tracker is basically a device onto which solar panels are fitted which tracks
the motion of the sun across the sky ensuring that the maximum amount of sunlight
strikes the panels throughout the day. After finding the sunlight, the tracker will try to
navigate through the path ensuring the best sunlight is detected. The design of the Solar
Tracker requires many components. The design and construction of it could be divided
into six main parts that would need to work together harmoniously to achieve a smooth
run for the Solar Tracker, each with their main function. They are:
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal
which can be read by an observer or by an instrument.
A Light Dependent Resistor is a resistor that changes in value according to the light
falling on it. A commonly used device, the ORP-12, has a high resistance in the dark, and
a low resistance in the light. Connecting the LDR to the microcontroller is very straight
forward, but some software calibrating is required. It should be remembered that the
LDR response is not linear, and so the readings will not change in exactly the same way
as with a potentiometer. In general there is a larger resistance change at brighter light
levels. This can be compensated for in the software by using a smaller range at darker
light levels.
2 Photodiode
Photodiode is a light sensor which has a high speed and high sensitive silicon PIN
photodiode in a miniature flat plastic package. A photodiode is designed to be responsive
to optical input. Due to its water clear epoxy the device is sensitive to visible and infrared
radiation. The large active area combined with a flat case gives a high sensitivity at a
wide viewing angle. Photodiodes can be used in either zero bias or reverse bias. In zero
bias, light falling on the diode causes a voltage to develop across the device, leading to a
current in the forward bias direction. This is called the photovoltaic effect, and is the basis
for solar cells - in fact a solar cell is just a large number of big, cheap photodiodes.
Diodes usually have extremely high resistance when reverse biased. This resistance is
reduced when light of an appropriate frequency shines on the junction. Hence, a reverse
biased diode can be used as a detector by monitoring the current running through it.
Circuits based on this effect are more sensitive to light than ones based on the
photovoltaic effect.
Motor is use to drive the Solar Tracker to the best angle of exposure of light. For this
section, we are using stepper motor.
Stepper Motor
Features
Introduction
This application note describes how to implement an exact linear speed controller
for stepper motors. The stepper motor is an electromagnetic device that converts digital
pulses into mechanical shaft rotation. Many advantages are achieved using this kind of
motors, such as higher simplicity, since no brushes or contacts are present, low cost, high
reliability, high torque at low speeds, and high accuracy of motion. Many systems with
stepper motors need to control the acceleration/deceleration when changing the speed.
This application note presents a driver with a demo application, capable of controlling
acceleration as well as position and speed.
Stepper motor
This application note covers the theory about linear speed ramp stepper motor control
as well as the realization of the controller itself. It is assumed that the reader is familiar
with basic stepper motor operation, but a summary of the most relevant topics will be
given.
The two common types of stepper motors are the bipolar motor and the Unipolar
motor. The bipolar and unipolar motors are similar, except that the Unipolar has a centre
tap on each winding as shown in Figure 4.4
Stepper motors are very accurate motors that are commonly used in computer disk
drives, printers and clocks. Unlike dc motors, which spin round freely when power is
applied, stepper motors require that their power supply be continuously pulsed in specific
patterns. For each pulse the stepper motor moves around one step often 15 degrees giving
24 steps in a full revolution.There are two main types of stepper motors - Unipolar and
Bipolar. Unipolar motors usually have four coils which are switched on and off in a
particular sequence. Bipolar motors have two coils in which the current flow is reversed
in a similar sequence. Each of the four coils in a Unipolar stepper motor must be switched
on and off in a certain order to make the motor turn. Many microprocessor systems use
four output lines to control the stepper motor, each output line controlling the power to
one of the coils. As the stepper motor operates at 5V, the standard transistor circuit is
required to switch each coil. As the coils create a back emf when switched off, a
suppression diode on each coil is also required. The table below show the four different
steps required to make the motor turn.
Look carefully at the table 4.1 and notice that a pattern is visible. Coil 2 is always
the opposite or logical NOT of coil 1. The same applies for coils 3 and 4. It is therefore
possible to cut down the number of microcontroller pins required to just two by the use of
two additional NOT gates. Fortunately the Darlington driver IC l298N can be used to
provide both the NOT and Darlington driver circuits. It also contains the back emf
suppression diodes so no external diodes are required.
The bipolar stepper motor has two coils that must be controlled so that the current
flows in different directions through the coils in a certain order. The changing magnetic
fields that these coils create cause the rotor of the motor to move around in steps.
The bipolar motor needs current to be driven in both directions through the windings,
and a full bridge driver is needed as shown in Figure 4.5 (a). The centre tap on the
Unipolar motor allows a simpler driving circuit shown in Figure 4.5 (b), limiting the
current flow to one direction. The main drawback with the Unipolar motor is the limited
capability to energize all windings at any time, resulting in a lower torque compared to
the bipolar motor. The Unipolar stepper motor can be used as a bipolar motor by
disconnecting the centre tap.
(a) (b)
Implementation
needed data and generates step pulses to make the stepper motor follow the desired speed
profile. Smdriver.c counts the steps and outputs the correct signals to control the stepper
motor.
The dot-matrix liquid crystal display controller and driver LSI displays alphanumeric,
characters, and symbols. It can be configured to drive a dot-matrix liquid crystal display
under the control of a 4 or 8-bit microprocessor. Since all the functions such as display
RAM, character generator, and liquid crystal driver, required for driving a dot-matrix
liquid crystal display are internally provided on one chip, a minimal system can be
interfaced with this controller/driver. A single HD44780U can display up to two 8-
character lines 16 x 2. A 16 x 2 line LCD module to display user information.
A bridge rectifier makes use of four diodes in a bridge arrangement to achieve full-
wave rectification. This is a widely used configuration, both with individual diodes wired
as shown and with single component bridges where the diode bridge is wired internally.
Basic operation
When the input connected to the left corner is negative, and the input connected to the
right corner is positive, current flows from the lower supply terminal to the right along the
red path to the output, and returns to the upper supply terminal via the blue path.
In each case, the upper right output remains positive and lower right output negative.
Since this is true whether the input is AC or DC, this circuit not only produces a DC
output from an AC input, it can also provide what is sometimes called "reverse polarity
Dept of ECE, NCET Page 22
ARM BASED SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM 2015-16
Output smoothing
For many applications, especially with single phase AC where the full-wave bridge
serves to convert an AC input into a DC output, the addition of a capacitor may be desired
because the bridge alone supplies an output of fixed polarity but continuously varying or
pulsating magnitude.
The function of this capacitor, known as a reservoir capacitor is to lessen the variation
in the rectified AC output voltage waveform from the bridge. One explanation of
smoothing is that the capacitor provides a low impedance path to the AC component of
the output, reducing the AC voltage across, and AC current through, the resistive load. In
less technical terms, any drop in the output voltage and current of the bridge tends to be
cancelled by loss of charge in the capacitor. This charge flows out as additional current
through the load. Thus the change of load current and voltage is reduced relative to what
would occur without the capacitor. Increases of voltage correspondingly store excess
charge in the capacitor, thus moderating the change in output voltage / current. The
simplified circuit shown has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous, because, in
some applications, the capacitor can retain a lethal charge after the AC power source is
removed. If supplying a dangerous voltage, a practical circuit should include a reliable
way to safely discharge the capacitor. If the normal load cannot be guaranteed to perform
this function, perhaps because it can be disconnected, the circuit should include a bleeder
resistor connected as close as practical across the capacitor. This resistor should consume
a current large enough to discharge the capacitor in a reasonable time, but small enough
to minimize unnecessary power waste. Because a bleeder sets a minimum current drain,
the regulation of the circuit, defined as percentage voltage change from minimum to
maximum load, is improved. However in many cases the improvement is of in significant
magnitude. capacitor and the load resistance have a typical time constant = RC where C
and R are the capacitance and load resistance respectively. As long as the load resistor is
large enough so that this time constant is much longer than the time of one ripple cycle,
the above configuration will produce a smoothed DC voltage across the load.
In some designs, a series resistor at the load side of the capacitor is added. The
smoothing can then be improved by adding additional stages of capacitorresistor pairs,
often done only for sub-supplies to critical high-gain circuits that tend to be sensitive to
supply voltage noise. The idealized waveforms shown above are seen for both voltage
and current when the load on the bridge is resistive. When the load includes a smoothing
capacitor, both the voltage and the current waveforms will be greatly changed. While the
voltage is smoothed, as described above, current will flow through the bridge only during
the time when the input voltage is greater than the capacitor voltage. For example, if the
load draws an average current of n Amps, and the diodes conduct for 10% of the time, the
average diode current during conduction must be 10n Amps.
This non-sinusoidal current leads to harmonic distortion and a poor power factor in
the AC supply. In a practical circuit, when a capacitor is directly connected to the output
of abridge, the bridge diodes must be sized to withstand the current surge that occurs
when the power is turned on at the peak of the AC voltage and the capacitor is fully
discharged. Sometimes a small series resistor is included before the capacitor to limit this
current, though in most applications the power supply transformer's resistance is already
sufficient. Output can also be smoothed using a choke and second capacitor. The choke
tends to keep the current rather than the voltage more constant. Due to the relatively high
cost of an effective choke compared to a resistor and capacitor this is not employed in
modern equipment.
4.6 REGULATOR IC
Normally we get fixed output by connecting the voltage regulator at the output of the
filtered DC see in above diagram. It can also be used in circuits to get a low DC voltage
from a high DC voltage for example we use 7805 to get 5V from 12V. There are two
types of voltage regulators 1. fixed voltage regulators 78xx, 79xx 2. Variable voltage
regulators in fixed voltage regulators there is another classification 1. + ve voltage
regulators 2.vevoltage regulators positive voltage regulators this include 78xx voltage
regulators. The most commonly used ones are 7805 and 7812. 7805 gives fixed 5V DC
voltage if input voltage is in 7.5V, 20V. 7805 is a voltage regulator integrated circuit. It
is a member of 78xx series of fixed linear voltage regulator ICs. The voltage source in a
circuit may have fluctuations and would not give the fixed voltage output. The voltage
regulator IC maintains the output voltage at a constant value. The xx in 78xx indicates
the fixed output voltage it is designed to provide. 7805 provides +5V regulated power
supply. Capacitors of suitable values can be connected at input and output pins depending
upon the respective voltage levels.
ground. This side usually also has a shorter leg. In order to prevent too much current
flowing through an LED and damaging it, it should be connected in series with a resistor.
Resistors are coated with paint or enamel, or covered in moulded plastic to protect
them. Because they are often too small to be written on, a standardized color-coding
system is used to identify them. The first three colors represent ohm value, and a fourth
indicates the tolerance, or how close by percentage the resistor is to its ohm value. This is
important for two reasons: the nature of its construction is imprecise, and if used above its
maximum current, the value can change or the unit itself can burn up. The circuit element
used to model the current-resisting behavior of a material is the resistor. For the purpose
of constructing circuits, resistors shown in Figure 4.22 are usually made from metallic
alloys and carbon compounds. The resistor is the simplest passive element.
1 1
Fig 4.10:from top to bottom: 4 W, 2 W, and 1-W resistors
TYPES OF RESISTER
Different types of resistors have been created to meet different requirements. Some
resistors are shown in Figure 4.23. The primary functions of resistors are to limit current,
divide voltage and dissipate heat. A resistor is either fixed or variable. Most resistors are
of the fixed type that is their resistance remains constant. The two common types of fixed
resistors wire wound and composition are shown in Figure 4.24. Wire wound resistors are
used when there is a need to dissipate a large amount of heat while the composition
resistors are used when large resistance is needed.
(a) (b)
Fig 4.12: Fixed resistors: (a) wire wound type (b) Carbon film type
4.9 MICROCONTROLLER
Features
1. 16-bit/32-bit ARM7TDMI-S microcontroller in a tiny LQFP64 package.
6. One or two (LPC2141/42 vs. LPC2144/46/48) 10-bit ADCs provide a total of 6/14
analog inputs, with conversion times as low as 2.44 s per channel.
8. Two 32-bit timers/external event counters (with four capture and four compare
channels each), PWM unit (six outputs) and watchdog.
9. Low power Real-Time Clock (RTC) with independent power and 32 kHz clock
input.
10. Multiple serial interfaces including two UARTs (16C550), two Fast I2C-bus (400
kbit/s), SPI and SSP with buffering and variable data length capabilities.
11. Vectored Interrupt Controller (VIC) with configurable priorities and vector
addresses.
12. Up to 45 of 5 V tolerant fast general purpose I/O pins in a tiny LQFP64 package.
14. 60 MHz maximum CPU clock available from programmable on-chip PLL with
settling time of 100us.
15. On-chip integrated oscillator operates with an external crystal from 1 MHz to 25
MHz.
18. Processor wake-up from Power-down mode via external interrupt or BOD.\
19. Single power supply chip with POR and BOD circuits:
Pin Diagram:
Chapter 5
CIRCUIT AND WORKING
Our design of Solar Tracker is to develop and implement a active tracker method
type of solar tracker fitted to a panel. It will be able to navigate to the best angle of
exposure of light from the sunlight. A pair of sensors is used to point the East and West of
the location of the light. A scaled-down model of a prototype will be designed and built to
test the workability of the tracking system. The center of the drive is a stepper motor.This
will be controlled via microcontroller program. The designed algorithm will power the
motor drive after processing the feedback signals from the sensor array.
The Microcontroller program will also include monitoring and display of light
intensity output from the photodiodes. The light detected by the Eastward-facing sensor is
at a lower intensity to that detected by the Westward-facing sensor. Hence, the sensor
must be turned westwards (by the motor controlled by the solar tracker circuit) until the
levels of light detected by both the East and the West sensors are equal. At the point of
the solar panel will be directly facing the light and generated electricity optimally.
Obviously real world solar trackers are not so simple. A solar tracker must be able to reset
itself at sunset so it is ready for sunrise, it must cope with heavy cloud, and it. In addition
a mount for the solar panel must be constructed which can cope with strong winds and a
suitable motor found.
Program :
#include <lpc21xx.h>
#include "adc.h"
#include "LCD.h"
#define COIL_A 24
void motor_cw(void);
void motor_ccw(void);
int main(void)
int result=0;
init_lcd();
while(1)
lcd_command(0x01);
lcd_command(0x80);
printlcd("Solar Tracker");
delayms(100);
AD0CR |= START_NOW;
//Start new Conversion
ldr1 = result*VREF;
AD0CR |= START_NOW;
//Start new Conversion
ldr2 = result*VREF;
if(Angle <180)
motor_cw();
Angle++;
else
Angle = 180;
if(Angle >0 )
motor_ccw();
Angle--;
else
Angle =0;
delayms(100);
printf("Angle :%d\n",Angle);
return 0;
delayms(100);
delayms(100);
i++;
int i = 7;
while (i >= 0)
delayms(100);
delayms(100);
i--;
CONCLUSION
From the design of experimental set up with Micro Controller Based Solar
Tracking System Using Stepper Motor If we compare Tracking by the use of LDR with
Fixed Solar Panel System we found that the efficiency of Micro Controller Based Solar
Tracking System is improved by 30-45% and it was found that all the parts of the
experimental setup are giving good results. Moreover, this tracking system does track the
sun in a continuous manner. And this system is more efficient and cost effective in long
run. From the results it is found that, by automatic tracking system, there is 30 % gain in
increase of efficiency when compared with non-tracking system. The solar tracker can be
still enhanced additional features like rain protection and wind protection which can be
done as future work.
A modeling and optimization method from a new point of view is proposed. More
factors can be taken into consideration in the future modeling and optimization, such as
the sensitivity range of the controlling system which determines when the solar tracker
should operate to generate more power or stay still to save energy. The research provides
references for solar tracking system designing, and the modeling and optimization method
can be modified and applied in other mechanical and electronic systems.
FUTURE SCOPE:
REFERENCES
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