ABSTRACT

Solar
energy is
rapidly gaining
notoriety as an
important
means of
expanding
renewable
energy
resources. As
such, it is vital
that those in
engineering
fields
understand the
technologies
associated with
this area. Our
project will
include the
design and
construction of
a
microcontroller
-based solar
panel tracking
system. Solar
tracking allows
more energy to
be produced
because the
solar array is
able to remain
aligned to the
sun. This
system builds
upon topics
learned in this
course. A
working
system will
ultimately be
demonstrated
to validate the
design.
Problems and
possible
improvements
will also be
presented.
4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

CERTIFICATE ..............................................................................................................1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...............................................................................................2

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................4

ABBREVIATIONS .........................................................................................................6

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................7

OVERVIEW .........................................................................................................7

SOLAR POWER IN INDIA ..................................................................................9

LITERATURE REVIEW .....................................................................................11

AIM OF THE PROJECT ...................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2 SOLAR RADIATION & PHOTOVOLTAIC………………........14

CONCEPTS ON SOLAR RADIATION………………………………….........14

INSOLATION ....................................................................................................17

PROJECTION EFFECT ..................................................................................17

WORKING OF PHOTOVOLTAICS ...............................................................18

CHAPTER 3 SOLAR TRACKER…………………………………………… ....20

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................20

NEED FOR SOLAR TRACKER .........................................................................20

TYPES OF SOLAR TRACKERS .................................... ................................22

5
CHAPTER 4 DESIGN OF SOLAR TRACKER ....................................................25

TRACKER DESIGN .............................................................................................25

DC MOTOR AND MOTOR DRIVER THEORY ......................................... ........26
SYSTEM DESIGN………………………………………………………………….........32
SENSORS………………………………………………………………………..............33
.
MICRO CONTROLLER…………………………………………………………..........35
ARDUINO SEVERINO BOARD…………………………………………………........38

REFERENCES………………………………………..………… .....................…...........42

6
 ABBREVIATIONS

PV Photovoltaic

DOF Degrees of Freedom

PV panels Photovoltaic panels

MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracking

SCM Single-chip microcomputer

DC Direct current

HSAT Horizontal single axis trackers

VSAT Vertical single axis trackers

AADAT Azimuth-Altitude dual axis trackers

A Altitude angle torque

B Azimuth angle torque

θz Altitude angle

θA Azimuth angle

MoU Memorandum of understanding

7
 CHAPTER- 1

INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

The world population is increasing day by day and the demand for energy is
increasing accordingly. Oil and coal as the main source of energy nowadays, is
expected to end up from the world during the recent century which explores a
serious problem in providing the humanity with an affordable and reliable source
of energy. The need of the hour is renewable energy resources with cheap running
costs. Solar energy is considered as one of the main energy resources in warm
countries.

. Fig. 1.1 Sun path at latitude of 310

8
 In general, India has a relatively long sunny day for more than ten months
and partly cloudy sky for most of the days of the rest two months. This makes our
country, especially the desert sides in the west, which include Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh etc. very rich is solar energy. Many projects have been done on
using photovoltaic cells in collecting solar radiation and converting it into
electrical energy but most of these projects did not take into account the
difference of the sun angle of incidence by installing the panels in a fixed
orientation which influences very highly the solar energy collected by the panel.

o
As we know that the angle of inclination ranges between -90 after sun rise
o o
and +90 before sun set passing with 0 at noon. This makes the collected solar
radiation to be 0% at sun rise and sun set and 100% at noon. This variation of
solar radiations collection leads the photovoltaic panel to lose more than 40% of
o
the collected energy. Fig. 1.1 shows the yearly sun path at the latitude of30 .
From the figure 1.1, one can estimate the exact position of sun in every

Solar angle of incidence

Fig1. 2 Curve for the relationship between the solar radiation and the solar angle
of incidence.

9
Month and at any time during the day. The position is decided by two angles in
spherical coordinates; the Altitude angle which is the angle of the sun in the
vertical plane in which the sun lies, and the Azimuth angle which represents the
angle of the projected position of the sun in the horizontal plane. These two angles
will be discussed deeply later in this document. Fig. 1.2 shows a curve for the
relationship between the solar radiation and the solar angle of incidence. This
figure shows that solar radiations falling on the solar array will be maximum
0
when the angle of incidence on the panel is 0 which means that the panel is
perpendicular to the sun.

SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

In July 2009, India unveiled a US$19 billion plan to produce 20 GW

(20,000MW) of solar power by 2020. Under the plan, the use of solar-powered
equipment and applications would be made compulsory in all government
buildings, as well as hospitals and hotels. On November 18, 2009, it was reported
that India was ready to launch its National Solar Mission under the National
Action Plan on Climate Change, with plans to generate 1,000 MW of power by
2013.

India's largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants

1. Reliance Power Pokaran Solar PV Plant, Rajasthan, 40MW 02011-06

June 2011 Commissioning in March 2012

2. AdaniBitta Solar Plant, Gujarat, 40MW 02011-06 June 2011 To be

Completed December 2011

3. Moser Baer - Patan, Gujarat,30MW 02011-06 June 2011 Commissioned

July 2011

4. Azure Power - Sabarkantha, Gujarat, 10MW 02011-06 June

2011 Commissioned June 2011

10
 5. Green Infra Solar Energy Limited - Rajkot, Gujarat, 10M W 02011-11-
29 November 29, 2 011 Commissioned November 2011

Fig 1.3 The average solar radiations receiver by different regions in India.

2
The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m
with about 1500–2000 sunshine hours per year (depending upon location), which is
far more than current total energy consumption. For example, assuming the
efficiency of PV modules were as low as 10%, this would still be a

11
thousand times greater than the domestic electricity demand projected for 2015.
Fig 1.3 shows the average solar radiations receiver by different regions in India.

Gujarat government has signed a MoU with Clinton Foundation to build

the world’s largest solar-power plant in the region. The 3,000-megawatt plant near
the border between India and Pakistan would be one of four planned by the
initiative, a William J. Clinton Foundation program to promote renewable energy.
The other proposed sites are in California, South Africa, and Australia.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Sun-synchronous navigation is related to moving the solar powered rover

(robot) in such a way that its solar panel always points toward the sun and which
results into maximum battery charging and hence the rover can work for long
hours. The unique feature of this solar tracking system is that instead of taking the
earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guiding source. Its active sensors
constantly monitor the sunlight and rotate the panel towards the direction where
the intensity of sunlight is maximum. The light dependent resistor’s do the job of
sensing the change in the position of the Sun. The control circuit does the job of
fetching the input from the sensor and gives command to the motor to run in order
to tackle the change in the position of the sun. By using this system the additional
energy generated is around 25% to 30% with very less consumption by the system
itself. The paper gives the design and implementation of a fuzzy logic computer
controlled sun tracking system to enhance the power output of photo voltaic solar
panels. The tracking system was driven by two permanent magnet DC motors to
provide motion of the PV panels in two axis. The project describes the use of a
microcontroller based design methodology of an automatic solar tracker. Light
dependent resistors are used as the sensors of the solar tracker. The tracking
system maximizes solar cell output by positioning a solar panel at

12
the point of maximum light intensity. This paper describe the use of DC motors,
special motors like stepper motors, servo motors, real time actuators, to operate
moving parts of the solar tracker. The system was designed as the normal line of
solar cell always move parallel to the rays of the sun. The Aim of this project is to
develop and implement a prototype of two-axis solar tracking system based on a
microcontroller. The parabolic reflector or parabolic dish is constructed around
two feed diameter to capture the sun’s energy. The focus of the parabolic reflector

is pointed to a small area to get extremely high temperature. The temperature at

the focus of the parabolic reflector is measured with temperature probes. This
auto-tracking system is controlled with two 12V, 6W DC gear box motors. The
five light sensors (LDR) are used to track the sun and to start the operation
(Day/Night operation). The paper adopts the PWM DC motor controller. It is
capable of archiving the timeliness, reliability and stability of motor speed
control, which is difficult to implement in traditional analog controller. The
project concentrates on the design and control of dual axis orientation system for
the photovoltaic solar panels. The orientation system calculations are based on
astronomical data and the system is assumed to be valid for any region with small
modifications. The system is designed to control the Altitude angle in the vertical
plane as well as the Azimuth angle in the horizontal plane of the photovoltaic
panel workspace. And this system is expected to save more than 40% of the total
energy of the panels by keeping the panel’s face perpendicular to the sun. In the
previous solutions, each tracking direction is controlled by using a Sun sensor
made by a pair of phototransistors. The single matrix Sun sensor (MSS) controls
both axes of the tracking system. The inspiration for the MSS is the antique solar
clock. MSS comprises 8 photo resistors and a cylinder The difference between a
shaded photo resistor cell and a lighted cell is recognized using an electronic
circuit and corresponding output voltage signals are given to the DC motors
which will move the array toward sun. In order to improve the solar tracking
accuracy, the author comes up with

13
combining program control and sensor control. Program control includes
calendar-check tracking and the local longitude, latitude and time, to calculate the
solar altitude and solar azimuth by SCM (single-chip microcomputer), servo
motor is used to adjust the attitude of the solar panel. Sensor control is that sunray
is detected by photoelectric detector and then the changed signal is transmitted to
control step motor to adjust the attitude of the solar. The paper discusses the
technology options, their current status and opportunities and challenges in
developing solar thermal power plants in the context of India. The National Solar
Mission is a major initiative of the Government of India and State Governments
to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy
security challenge. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the
global effort to meet the challenges of climate change.

AIM OF THE PROJECT

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.

14
 CHAPTER-2

SOLAR RADIATION & PHOTOVOLTAIC

CONCEPTS ON SOLAR RADIATION

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.

Declination Angle-
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
0
maximum (23.45 ) on the summer/winter (in India 21 June and 22 December)
The declination angle, denoted by δ, 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

15
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°.

Figure 2.1: The Declination Angles

Hour Angle-
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)

16
Solar Altitude (θz)-

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.

Figure 2.2 Solar altitudes and azimuths typical behavior of sun path

Solar Azimuth (θA)- 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.

17
INSOLATION

Insolation is a measure of solar radiation energy received on a given

surface area and recorded during a given time. It is also called solar irradiation
and expressed as hourly irradiation if recorded during an hour, daily irradiation if
recorded during a day, for example. The unit recommended by the World
2 2
Meteorological Organization is MJ/m (mega joules per square meter) or J/cm

(joules per square centimeter).Practitioners in the business of solar energy may

2
use the unit Wh/m (watt-hours per square meter). If this energy is divided by the
recording time in hours, it is then a density of power called irradiance, expressed
2
in W/m (watts per square meter). Over the course of a year the average solar
radiation arriving at the top of the Earth's atmosphere at any point in time is
roughly 1366 watts per square meter. The Sun's rays are attenuated as they pass
through the atmosphere, thus reducing the irradiance at the Earth's surface to
−2
approximately 1000 W m for a surface perpendicular to the Sun's rays at sea
level on a clear day. The insolation of the sun can also be expressed in Suns,
2
where one Sun equals 1000 W/m

PROJECTION EFFECT

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.
18
 Figure 2.3One beam one mile wide shines on the ground at a 90° angle,
and another at a 30° angle. The one at a shallower angle distributes the same
amount of light energy over twice as much area.

WORKING OF PHOTOVOLTAICS

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.

A solar cell (also called photovoltaic cell or photoelectric cell) is a solid

state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by
the photovoltaic effect. Crystalline silicon PV cells are the most common
photovoltaic cells in use today.
A number of solar cells electrically connected to each other and mounted
in a support structure or frame are called a photovoltaic module. Modules are
designed to supply electricity at a certain voltage, such as a common 12 volts
system. The current produced is directly dependent on how much light strikes the
19
module. Multiple modules can be wired together to form an array. In general, the
larger the area of a module or array, the more electricity will be produced.
Photovoltaic modules and arrays produce direct-current (DC) electricity. They can
be connected in both series and parallel electrical arrangements to produce any
required voltage and current combination.

Figure 2.4: Photovoltaic panel or array

20
 CHAPTER-3

SOLAR TRACKER

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.

NEED FOR SOLAR TRACKER

The energy contributed by the direct beam drops off with the cosine of the
angle between the incoming light and the panel. The table no. 2.1 shows the
Direct power lost (%) due to misalignment (angle i).
Table no-2.1 Direct power lost (%) due to misalignment (angle i)
Misalignment (angle i ) Direct power lost (%)=1-cos(i)
0
0 0
0
1 .015
0
3 .14
0
8 1
0
23.4 8.3
0
30 13.4
0
45 30
0
75 >75
21
The sun travels through 360 degrees east-west a day, but from the perspective of any
fixed location the visible portion is 180 degrees during a 1/2 day period. Local
horizon effects reduce this somewhat, making the effective motion about 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.

22
TYPES OF SOLAR TRACKERS

PASSIVE TRACKING SYSTEMS

The passive tracking system realizes the movement of the system by

utilizing a low boiling point liquid. This liquid is vaporized by the added heat of
the sun and the center of mass is shifted leading to that the system finds the new
equilibrium position.

ACTIVE TRACKING SYSTEMS

The two basic types of active solar tracker are single-axis and double-axis.

23
 Figure 2.5: Passive tracking system

Single axis trackers

The single axis tracking systems realizes the movement of either elevation
or azimuth for a solar power system. Which one of these movements is desired,
depends on the technology used on the tracker as well as the space that it is
mounted on. For example the parabolic through systems utilize the azimuthally
tracking whereas the many rooftop PV-systems utilize elevation tracking because
of the lack of space. A single-axis tracker can only pivot in one plane – either
horizontally or vertically. This makes it less complicated and generally cheaper
than a two-axis tracker, but also less effective at harvesting the total solar energy
available at a site. Trackers use motors and gear trains to direct the tracker as
commanded by a controller responding to the solar direction. Since the motors
consume energy, one wants to use them only as necessary.

Single axis trackers have one degree of freedom that acts as an axis of
rotation. There are several common implementations of single axis trackers.
These include horizontal single axis trackers (HSAT) and vertical single axis
trackers (VSAT).

24
 A horizontal-axis tracker consists of a long horizontal tube to which solar
modules are attached. The tube is aligned in a north-south direction, is supported
on bearings mounted o n pylons or frames, and rotates slowly on its axis to follow
the sun's motion across the sky. This kind of tracker is most effective at equatorial
latitudes where the sun is more or less overhead at noon. In general, it is effective
wherever the solar path is high in the sky for substantial parts of the year, but for
this very reason, does not perform well at higher latitudes. For higher latitude, a
vertical-axis tracker is better suited. This works well wherever t he sun is typically
lower in the sky and, at least in the summer months, the days are long.

Dual Axis Trackers

Dual axis trackers as shown in the figure 2.6 have two degrees of freedom
that act as axes of rotation. Double-axis solar trackers, as the same suggest, can
rotate simultaneously in horizontal and vertical directions, and s o are able to
point exactly at the sun at all times in any location.

Dual axis tracking systems realize movement both along the elevation- and
azimuthally axes. These tracking systems naturally provide the best performance,
given that the components have high enough accuracy as well.

Fig2.6 Dual axis solar tracker

25
 CHAPTER-4

DESIGN OF SOLAR TRACKER

TRACKER DESIGN

A solar tracker is a device that orient photovoltaic array toward the sun. In
flat-panel photovoltaic (PV) applications trackers are used to minimize the angle
of incidence between the incoming light and a photovoltaic panel. This increases
the amount of energy produced by the photovoltaic array.

Here we can use azimuth-altitude dual axis trackers (AADAT). Dual axis
trackers extract the maximum solar energy levels due to their ability to follow the
sun vertically and horizontally. No matter where the sun is in the sky, dual axis
trackers are able to angle themselves to be in direction toward the sun.

Fig. 3.1 Setup of a squared solar panel

26
The Fig. 3.1 shows a setup of a squared solar panel with two degrees of freedom.
Here Two DC motors are used to drive the two rotational degrees of freedom. The
motors can mounted directly on the rotation pins of the rotational joints to reduce
losses caused by linkages and joints and to avoid using more linkages and
mechanisms

DC MOTOR AND MOTOR DRIVER THEORY

Introduction
The tracking systems would need to consist of two motors, which control
the position of the array, and a control circuit (either analog or digital) to direct
these motors. The following sections discuss some possible types of motors that
could be used for this type of application.

DC Motors

Figure 3.2: Inner Workings of a DC Motor

27
 Figure 3.2 shows the inner workings of a basic DC motor. The outside
section of the motor is the stator (stationary part), while the inside section is the
rotor (rotating part).The stator is comprised of two (or more) permanent magnet
pole pairs, while the rotor is comprised of windings that are connected to a
mechanical commutator. The opposite polarities of the energized winding and the
stator magnet attract each other. When this occurs the rotor will rotate until
perfect alignment with the stator is achieved. When the rotor reaches alignment,
the brushes move across the commutator contacts (middle section of rotor) and
energies the next winding.

There are two other types of DC motors: series wound and shunt wound.
These motors also use a similar rotor with brushes and a commutator. However,
the stator uses windings instead of permanent magnets. The basic principle is still
the same. A series wound DC motor has the stator windings in series with the
rotor. A shunt wound DC motor has the stator windings in parallel with the rotor
winding.

DC Servomotors

By itself the standard DC motor is not an acceptable method of controlling a

sun tracking array. This is due to the fact that DC motors are free spinning and
subsequently difficult to position accurately. Even if the timing for starting and

stopping the motor is correctly achieved, the armature does not stop
immediately. DC motors have a very gradual acceleration and deceleration curves,
therefore stabilization is slow. Adding gearing to the motor will help to reduce this
problem, but overshoot is still present and will throw off the anticipated stop
position. The only way to effectively use a DC motor for precise positioning is to use
a servo

.The servomotor is actually an assembly of four things: a normal DC motor, a gear

reduction unit, a position-sensing device (usually a potentiometer), and a control
circuit. The function of the servo is to receive a control signal that represents a

28
desired output position of the servo shaft, and apply power to its DC motor until
its shaft turns to that position. It uses the position-sensing device to determine the
rotational position of the shaft, so it knows which way the motor must turn to
move the shaft to the command position. The solar panel that attached to the
motor will be reacted according to the direction of the motor.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL

The fig. 3.3 shows a typical behavior for the sun path in December
(winter) and June (summer). The rotational angle of the orientation system in
the vertical plane can be calculated from the following equation:

29
Fig. 3.3Typical behavior for the sun path in December (winter) and
June (summer)

Sin  Sin.Sin Cos.Cos.Cos

where
o
z is the altitude angle of the system.
o
z  90 -Zenith angle of the sun

is the latitude (  30o for our example)

 is the hour angle(15 o/hour), where  =0 at local noon.

 is the solar declination.

the is calculated from Cooper’s equation.

  23.45.Sin[360/ 365(284  N)]

Here, N is the day of the year (1 to 365),

st
N=1 on the 1 of January

30
 The rotational angle of the system in the horizontal plane (θA)
is calculated from the equation:
where

Sin Cos.Sin/ Cos

A Z

 A is the azimuth angle of the system.

KINEMATICS

2
Earth receives energy of 1000w/m which means we can generate 1000 watts of
2
energy from 1m area. If we assume a 10% total efficiency of the photovoltaic
panels, the predicted output power from the panel will be 100 Watt. Although, it
is known that there are panels with higher efficiency but it is preferable to
calculate for the least case. Earth complete its one rotation around its axis in 24
hours which means that it rotate by 360 degrees in 24 hour or one day. Therefore
0 0 0
one hour cover 360 /24=15 , which means one hour angle =15 . The system can
be designed to move discretely to cover the total daily track in desired steps to
reduce the operating time. After sunset, the panel can be designed to return back
pointing towards the east to collect the sun radiation next morning. This return
process can be done in desired time interval. While the maximum needed power is
required by the motors forms 1% of the output of the panel. So it is feasible to
rotate the panel using electric motors fed by the output of the panel itself.

DYNAMICS
The solar array can be rotated in two directions, horizontal and vertical
direction by taking azimuth and inclination angle as reference.
Two control techniques can be applied here:

1. Open-loop control technique that depends on calculating the voltage

corresponding to the output angles and feeding them into the DC motors (to which
our work is concerned).
2. Closed-loop technique which depends mainly on the signals sent by the two

31
solar tracking sensors attached at the surface of the panel. The function of these
sensors is to detect the position of the sun and feed the signal back to the
electronic control circuit which in turn sends the signals to the motor to correct
the real position of the panel perpendicular to the sun.

Each technique has its advantages and drawbacks, where the open-loop
technique is safe and continuous but it needs to keep the motors operating all the
time even when there is no sun in the cloudy days. The closed-loop technique
saves power because it turns the motors on when the sun is shining only, while the
system stops working in cloudy periods. The main disadvantage of the closed-
loop technique is that it is expensive to be applied that it needs sensors,
electronics and control kits. A timer can be used to return the whole system
pointing towards the east after sunset to put the panel in a ready position facing
the sun in the next morning. Consider the solar panel drawing shown in Fig. 3.4.
In this drawing, a and b are the dimensions of the rectangular plate panel, d is the
perpendicular distance from the center of gravity of the panel to the point of

action of the rotating motor. θz and θA are the Altitude and Azimuth angles,

respectively.  A and B are the torques produced by the motors around the
Altitude and the Azimuth directions respectively. These torqueses are responsible
for the rotation of the two degrees of freedom of the system.

Fig 3.4 Configuration and angles of panel

32
 o
z is the altitude angle of the system.
o
z 90 -Zenith angle of the sun

is the latitude (   30o for our example)

o
 is the hour angle (15 /hour), where  =0 at local noon.

 is the solar declination.

where  is calculated from Cooper’s equation.

SYSTEM DESIGN

The purpose of a solar tracker is to accurately determine the position of the

sun. This enables solar panels to interface to the tracker to obtain the maximum
solar radiation. With this particular solar tracker a closed loop system was made.

Block Diagram of overall system

33
 The electrical system consists of five LDR sensors which provide feedback
to a micro controller. This micro controller processes the sensor input and
provides two PWM signals for the movement of servo motors.
This servo motor moves the solar panel towards the higher density of solar light.
The entire electrical system is powered by a 12volt source power supply.

Initially five different analog values are obtained from LDR’s, and then
they are feed to micro controller. Micro controller gives two different PWM
signal for the movement of solar panel through servo motor.

SENSORS
We are using Five Light Dependent Resistor’s as a sensor. They sense the
higher density area of sun light. The solar panel moves to the high light density
area through servo motors.

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 Each LDR is connected to power supply forming a potential devider. Thus
any change in light density is proportional to the change in voltage across the
LDR’s.

LDR is a passive transducer hence we will use potential divider circuit to obtain
corresponding voltage value from the resistance of LDR.
LDRs resistance is inversely proportional to the intensity of light falling on it i.e.
Higher the intensity or brightness of light the Lower the resistance and vice
versa. Interfaces:
Input(ADC):
Arduino has an inbuilt 10-bit Analog to Digital converter(ADC), hence it
can provide Digital values from 0-1023.(since 2^10=1024). We can also set the
ADC reference voltage in arduino, but here we’ll let it use default value. LDR’s
has two pins, and to get voltage value from it we use potential divider circuit. In
potential divider we get Vout corresponding to resistance of LDR which in turn is
a function of Light falling on LDR. The higher the intensity of light, lower the

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LDR resistance and hence lower the Output voltage (Vout) And lower the light
intensity, higher the LDR resistance and hence higher the Vout.

Output(PWM):
Arduino has a 8-bit PWM generator, so we can get up to 256 distinct PWM
signal. To drive a servo we need to get a PWM signal from the board, this is
usually accomplished using timer function of the microcontroller but arduino
makes it very easy. Arduino provides a servo library in which we have to only
assign servo angle (0-1800) and the servo rotates by that angle, all the PWM
calculations are handled by the servo library and we get a neat PWM signal
according to the desired angle.

MICRO CONTROLLER

The ATMEGA-168 is a modified Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC single chip

microcontroller which was developed by Atmel. It uses on-chip flash memory
for program storage, as opposed to one-time programmable ROM, EPROM, or
EEPROM used by other microcontrollers at the time.

Features: -

Flash : 16KB

EEPROM : 1024B

SRAM : 512B

Clock freq. : upto 20MHz

Supply voltage : 2.8-5.5v
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  Ext. Interrupt : 24
 PWM : 6

Pin descriptions

 VCC
Digital supply voltage
 GND
Ground
 Port B (PB7:0) XTAL1/XTAL2/TOSC1/TOSC2

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 Port B is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors
(selected for each bit). The Port B output buffers have symmetrical drive
characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port B
pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors
are activated. The Port B pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes
active,even if the clock is not running. Depending on the clock selection fuse
settings, PB6 can be used as input to the inverting Oscillator amplifier and
input to the internal clock operating circuit. Depending on the clock selection
fuse settings, PB7 can be used as output from the inverting Oscillator
amplifier. If the Internal Calibrated RC Oscillator is used as chip clock source,
PB7.6 is used as TOSC2.1 input for the Asynchronous Timer/Counter2 if the
AS2 bit in ASSR is set.

 Port C (PC5:0)
Port C is a 7-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors
(selected for each bit). The PC5..0 output buffers have symmetrical drive
characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port C
pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors
are activated. The Port C pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes
active, even if the clock is not running.
 PC6/RESET
If the RSTDISBL Fuse is programmed, PC6 is used as an I/O pin. Note
that the electrical characteristics of PC6 differ from those of the other pins of
Port C. If the RSTDISBL Fuse is unprogrammed, PC6 is used as a Reset input.
A low level on this pin for longer than the minimum pulse length will generate
a Reset, even if the clock is not running.
 Port D (PD7:0)
Port D is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors
(selected for each bit). The Port D output buffers have symmetrical drive
characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port D

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 pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors
are activated. The Port D pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes
active, even if the clock is not running.
 AVCC
AVCC is the supply voltage pin for the A/D Converter, PC3:0, and
ADC7:6. It should be externally connected to VCC, even if the ADC is not
used. If the ADC is used, it should be connected to VCC through a low-pass
filter. Note that PC6.4 use digital supply voltage, VCC.

 AREF
AREF is the analog reference pin for the A/D Converter.
 ADC7:6 (TQFP and QFN/MLF package only)
In the TQFP and QFN/MLF package, ADC7.6 serve as analog inputs to the
A/D converter. These pins are powered from the analog supply and serve as
10-bit ADC channels.

ARDUINO SEVERINO BOARD:

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PRO-E DESIGN

40
MY FINAL PROJECT

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REFERENCES

1. Wettergreen D., Benjamin Shamah, Paul Tompkins, William Whittaker,

“Robotic
th
Planetary Exploration by Sun-Synchronous Navigation”, 6 International
Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics & Automation in Space,i-
SAIRAS 2001, Canadian Space Agency, St-Hubert, Quebec, Canada, June 18-
22, 2001.
2. Saravanan C. , Dr .M.A. Panneerselvam, I. William Christopher, “A Novel
Low Cost Automatic Solar Tracking System”, International Journal of
Computer
Applications (0975 – 8887) Volume 31– No.9, October 2011.
3. Hasan A Yousaf, “Design And Implementation of a Fuzzy Logic Computer-
Controlled Sun Tracking System”, Proceedings of the IEEE International
Symposium on Industrial Electronics, Volume 3, 12-16 July 1999, pp 1030-
1034.
4. Tanvir Arafat Khan Md., S.M. ShahrearTanzil, RifatRahman, S M
ShafiulAlam,
“Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking System”,presented
at
6th International Conference on Electrical and Computer EngineeringICECE
2010, 18-20 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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