scholarly journals Corrigendum to “A Low-Cost Closed-Loop Solar Tracking System Based on the Sun Position Algorithm”

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury ◽  
Amith Khandakar ◽  
Belayat Hossain ◽  
Rayaan Abouhasera
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury ◽  
Amith Khandakar ◽  
Belayat Hossain ◽  
Rayaan Abouhasera

Sun position and the optimum inclination of a solar panel to the sun vary over time throughout the day. A simple but accurate solar position measurement system is essential for maximizing the output power from a solar panel in order to increase the panel efficiency while minimizing the system cost. Solar position can be measured either by a sensor (active/passive) or through the sun position monitoring algorithm. Sensor-based sun position measuring systems fail to measure the solar position in a cloudy or intermittent day, and they require precise installation and periodic calibrations. In contrast, the sun position algorithms use mathematical formula or astronomical data to obtain the station of the sun at a particular geographical location and time. A standalone low-cost but high-precision dual-axis closed-loop sun-tracking system using the sun position algorithm was implemented in an 8-bit microcontroller platform. The Astronomical Almanac’s (AA) algorithm was used for its simplicity, reliability, and fast computation capability of the solar position. Results revealed that incorporation of the sun position algorithm into a solar tracking system helps in outperforming the fixed system and optical tracking system by 13.9% and 2.1%, respectively. In summary, even for a small-scale solar tracking system, the algorithm-based closed-loop dual-axis tracking system can increase overall system efficiency.


Author(s):  
Anees Abu Sneineh ◽  
Wael A. Salah

This paper presents the design and implementation of a closed-loop solar tracker system. The demand for clean energy sources has increased along with the rising demand for electrical energy and the increasing amount of environment pollution triggered by fuel consumption. Among these sources, solar energy is considered the most feasible given its wide availability and easy operation in different environments. The main purpose of this study is to maximize the generated photovoltaic power and reduce CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by designing an efficient and low-cost solar tracking system. An aligned closed-loop solar tracker is designed and constructed to achieve the best accuracy. The proposed system shows more freedom in its movement to overcome the problems associated with the tilt of the frame-holder. A PIC microcontroller based on the Flowcode programming language is used, the position feedback is detected by using a photo-sensor, and the H-Bridge driver is used to control two DC motors. According to the experimental results, the proposed system shows significant improvements in efficiency compared with stationary solar tracking systems.


Author(s):  
Louis Tersoo Abiem ◽  
Clement Olufemi Akoshile ◽  
Taiye Benjamin Ajibola

A solar tracker is a system that is used for the mechanical orientation of solar payloads (collectors and photovoltaic panels) towards the sun. A simple, low-cost, but effective open-loop dual axis solar tracking system was developed in this work. The tracker is an embedded system that consists of a microcontroller integrated with other components in an electronic circuit to coordinate the activities of the circuit in driving out and in the motor shafts of electrically powered linear actuators used to move the payload. The work is divided into two parts: hardware and software. The hardware part consists of two movable (tilting and axial moving) rectangular frames fixed together and used to hold the payload and two electrically powered linear actuators (jacks) used to move the rectangular frames in the tilting and axial directions. The software part was a code written in the C programming language following an algorithm developed from measured parameters of the jacks and the sun’s position and embedded into a microcontroller. The testing of the dual-axis solar tracker was done by measuring a parabolic trough collector’s position with respect to the sun hour angles and solar declination angles and comparing the values with the calculated angles for two days. The results obtained showed that the tracker followed the sun with deviation of ±2o (percentage errors that ranged between 0.01% and 3.26%).


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-619
Author(s):  
Li Kong ◽  
Yunpeng Zhang ◽  
Zhijian Lin ◽  
Zhongzhu Qiu ◽  
Chunying Li ◽  
...  

Abstract The present work aimed to select the optimum solar tracking mode for parabolic trough concentrating collectors using numerical simulation. The current work involved: (1) the calculation of daily solar radiation on the Earth’s surface, (2) the comparison of annual direct solar radiation received under different tracking modes and (3) the determination of optimum tilt angle for the north-south tilt tracking mode. It was found that the order of solar radiation received in Shanghai under the available tracking modes was: dual-axis tracking &gt; north-south Earth’s axis tracking &gt; north-south tilt tracking (β = 15°) &gt; north-south tilt tracking (β = 45) &gt; north-south horizontal tracking &gt; east-west horizontal tracking. Single-axis solar tracking modes feature simple structures and low cost. This study also found that the solar radiation received under the north-south tilt tracking mode was higher than that of the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode in 7 out of 12 months. Therefore, the north-south tilt tracking mode was studied separately to determine the corresponding optimum tilt angles in Haikou, Lhasa, Shanghai, Beijing and Hohhot, respectively, which were shown as follows: 18.81°, 27.29°, 28.67°, 36.21° and 37.97°.


2014 ◽  
Vol 704 ◽  
pp. 350-354
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ikram Mohd Rashid ◽  
Nik Fadhil bin Nik Mohammed ◽  
Suliana binti Ab Ghani ◽  
Noor Asiah Mohamad

The energy extracted from photovoltaic (PV) or solar thermal depends on solar insolation. For the extraction of maximum energy from the sun, the plane of the solar collector should always be normal to the incident radiation. Sun trackers move the solar collector to follow the sun trajectories and keep the orientation of the solar collector at an optimal tilt angle. Energy efficiency of solar PV or solar thermal can be substantially improved using solar tracking system. In this paper, an automatic solar tracking system has been designed and developed using DC motor on a mechanical structure with gear arrangement. The movements of two-axis solar trackers for the elevation and azimuth angles are programmed according to the mathematical calculation by using the Borland C++ Builder. Performance of the proposed system over the important parameter like solar radiation received on the collector, maximum hourly electrical power has been evaluated and compared with those for fixed tilt angle solar collector.


Author(s):  
Balaji K ◽  
Dharshan T R ◽  
Mahendran P ◽  
Priyadharsini R

The renewable energies, solar energy is the only energy gained its popularity and importance quickly. Through the solar tracking system, we can produce an abundant amount of energy which makes the solar panel’s workability much more efficient. Perpendicular proportionality of the solar panel with the sun rays is the reason lying behind its efficiency. Pecuniary, its installation charge is high provided cheaper options are also available. The main control circuit is based upon NodeMcu microcontroller. Programming of this device is done in the manner that the LDR sensor, in accordance with the detection of the sun rays, will provide direction to the DC Motor that in which way the solar panel is going to revolve. Through this, the solar panel is positioned in such a manner that the maximum amount of sun rays could be received. Though a hike in the efficiency of the solar panel had a handsome increase still perfection was a far-fetched goal for it. Below 40%, most of the panels still hover to operate. Consequently, peoples are compelled to purchase a number of panels in order to meet their energy demands or purchase single systems with large outputs. Availability of the solar cells types with higher efficiencies is on provided they are too costly to purchase. Ways to be accessed for increasing solar panel efficiencies are a plethora in number still one of the ways to be availed for accomplishing the said purpose while reducing costs, is tracking. Tracking helps in the wider projection of the panel to the Sun with increased power output. It could be dual or single axis tracker


Author(s):  
Fawzi M. Al-Naima ◽  
Ramzy S. Ali ◽  
Ahmed J. Abid

This article presents the design of a reliable, accurate, and easy to install solar dual axis tracking system. The system utilizes the GPS for fixing the time, date and location in terms of longitude and latitude. Approximations having high accuracy of the astronomical equations to represent the declination angle and the equation of time are selected to determine the sun locations needed by the designed tracking system in any chosen location on earth. The proposed system is standalone, accurate, durable, reliable, and cost efficient. Annual energy assessments of the system are also given.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raúl Gregor ◽  
Yoshihiko Takase ◽  
Jorge Rodas ◽  
Leonardo Carreras ◽  
Derlis Gregor ◽  
...  

The smart grid and distributed generation based on renewable energy applications often involve the use of information and communication technology (ICT) coupled with advanced control and monitoring algorithms to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electrical grid and renewable generation systems. Photovoltaic (PV) systems have been recently applied with success in the fields of distributed generation due to their lower environmental impact where the electrical energy generation is related to the amount of solar irradiation and thus the angle of incident ray of the sun on the surface of the modules. This paper introduces an integration of ICTs in order to achieve the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) using a biaxial solar tracking system for PV power applications. To generate the references for the digital control of azimuth and elevation angles a Global Positioning System (GPS) by satellites is used which enables acquiring the geographic coordinates of the sun in real-time. As a total integration of the system a communication platform based on the 802.15.4 protocol for the wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is adopted for supervising and monitoring the PV plant. A 2.4 kW prototype system is implemented to validate the proposed control scheme performance.


Author(s):  
Sohaib R Awad ◽  
Mamoon A Al Jbaar ◽  
Mohammed A M Abdullah

2013 ◽  
Vol 724-725 ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu En Wu ◽  
Kuo Chan Huang

This paper presents a smart dual-axis solar tracking system, its architecture includes sensors, embedded controllers, AC motors, Integrated electric putter design biaxial institutions, and the GSM automatic report of fault notification, to achieve autonomous tracking solar track system and adjust the solar panels to reach the maximum smooth by tracking the solar azimuth angle and elevation angle, and ensure that the solar panels with the sun to maintain the vertical in any time and any place, thus achieving the best power efficiency. This system proposed a dual-axis design, and an embedded controller used as the main system controller to detect voltage difference and determine the solar azimuth angle with four groups of CDS as a sensing element. To lock the sun, the solar panels be perpendicular via the moving of AC motor (EW) and motorized faders (north-south). The control system software using C language can be extremely fast and accurate tracking of the solar angle, and dual-axis operation with recovery mode to save the power loss. Finally, we have the actual analysis and verification of benefit of power generation in this paper, from this experimental results, we can verify the integration of build dual-axis solar tracking system and solar power system have promoted 30% generating power capacity more than fixed solar power system and has low failure rate. It can improve the problem of traditional tracking system reliability and greatly enhance the usefulness of this system.


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