scholarly journals Design and Performance Evaluation of a Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System for Rural Applications

Author(s):  
Hachimenum Nyebuchi Amadi ◽  
Sebastian Gutierrez

Most rural dwellers in developing countries do not have access to adequate and regular supply of energy and most of these estimated two billion people are poor with no sustainable means of livelihood and therefore rely on wood fuel for their cooking and heating needs. And due to lack of energy, including electricity, socio-economic development is either absent or at abysmally low level. To foster rural development and improved living conditions among this populace, there is need for a reliable, low cost and environmentally risk-free source of energy. This work designed, implemented and evaluated the performance of a dual axis solar tracking system (DATS) using light dependent resistor (LDR) sensors, direct current (DC) motors and microcontroller to make it capable of uninterruptible electricity supply for rural applications. Results of the experiment show that the proposed system is more cost-effective and produces 31.4 % more energy than the single axis tracking system (SATS) and 67.9 % more than the fixed PV panel system (FPPS). Owing to the unique design of the proposed tracking system, solar energy can be tracked and stored continuously so that there is adequate electricity for the consuming population at all times. Though tested on a rural community in Abia State, Nigeria, the proposed system can be adapted to rural communities anywhere in the world.  

2015 ◽  
Vol 793 ◽  
pp. 353-357
Author(s):  
F.S. Abdullah ◽  
H.M. Nuhafiz ◽  
O. Mardianaliza ◽  
A. Yusof ◽  
Noor Anida

Solar tracker is a device that detects the movement of the sun. Solar tracker receive maximum sun ray in order to produce the maximum power supply by the photovoltaic (PV) panels system. It also depends on the environment factor such as solar irradiation and temperature of the panels. This paper presents the development of the automatic solar tracking system, the construction of the sensor circuit, programming of the control system and also its performance analysis. This automatic solar tracking system is designed with an electronic circuit control using PIC that can trigger the dc motors when the LDR sensors detect sunlight. DC motor will move vertical and 360 ̊ horizontal to increase efficiency of sunlight to the solar panel. Solar panel for the project gets power supply from the battery. The battery will be charged using power from the solar panel.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orlando Soares de Santana Filho ◽  
Carlos Henrique Mota Martins ◽  
Thiago Henrique Felix C. Ribeiro Conceição ◽  
Alex Vinicius dos Reis Freitas Silva ◽  
Adriano Honorato Braga ◽  
...  

Solar energy is a renewable and inexhaustible source, besidescausing damage to nature, being clean and sustainable.Transform the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sunelectrical energy are used solar panels. In order to improveefficiency and performance of this capture, a low-cost wasbuilt, a single-axis solar tracking system for photovoltaicpanels. The solution uses the automation Arduino UNO R3,open hardware, two photosensitive sensors LDR GL-5528, inaddition to a servo motor capable of moving the surface of aphotovoltaic plate according to the detection of the highestincidence of light. The circuit and its components wereprogrammed using the Arduino IDE software, version 1.8.11.As a result, it was possible to follow the movement of thesun, differing from a static panel, thus ensuring greater sunshineon the solar plate, as a result of this traceablecontrol prototype.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
mahdi saeedi ◽  
Reza Effatnejad

The solar tracking system detects the astronomical position of the sun during the day and increases the output power of the PV panel by placing it in a suitable position relative to the angle of the sun’s rays. Many solar tracking systems have been developed so far that either have not been able to move on two axes or have been based on geometric and astronomical equations and artificial intelligence, which are expensive. This study presented a new DAST based on LDRs, which adjusts the PV panel relative to the angle of the sun’s rays by moving simultaneously on two axes. DAST is a very simple and cost-effective control system that utilizes Wheatstone bridge circuit function and LDRs. If this controller is used, it is possible to control PV panels on the metal structure both individually and in an integrated manner. Therefore, the experimental findings of this solar tracking system can help develop solar energy applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
mahdi saeedi ◽  
Reza Effatnejad

The solar tracking system detects the astronomical position of the sun during the day and increases the output power of the PV panel by placing it in a suitable position relative to the angle of the sun’s rays. Many solar tracking systems have been developed so far that either have not been able to move on two axes or have been based on geometric and astronomical equations and artificial intelligence, which are expensive. This study presented a new DAST based on LDRs, which adjusts the PV panel relative to the angle of the sun’s rays by moving simultaneously on two axes. DAST is a very simple and cost-effective control system that utilizes Wheatstone bridge circuit function and LDRs. If this controller is used, it is possible to control PV panels on the metal structure both individually and in an integrated manner. Therefore, the experimental findings of this solar tracking system can help develop solar energy applications.


Author(s):  
Hemant Kumar Nayak ◽  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
Nagendra Prasad ◽  
Rashmi Rekha Behera

This paper presents the design and experimental study of a two axis (azimuth and Polar) automatic control solar tracking system to track solar PV panel according to the direction of beam propagation of solar radiation. The designed tracking system consists of sensor and Microcontroller with built in ADC operated control circuits to drive motor. Two steeper motors are used to move the system panel, keeping the sun’s beam at the center of the sensor. The measured variables are compared with the fixed axis. The results indicate that the energy surplus becomes about (45-56%) with atmospheric influences. In case of seasonal changes of the sun’s position there is no need to change in the hardware and software of the system. . Considering all above aspects of this tracking system it can be concluded that, it is a flexible tracking system with low cost electromechanical set-up, low maintenance requirements and ease on installation and operation.


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 > north-south Earth’s axis tracking > north-south tilt tracking (β = 15°) > north-south tilt tracking (β = 45) > north-south horizontal tracking > 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°.


2015 ◽  
Vol 787 ◽  
pp. 893-898
Author(s):  
Suneetha Racharla ◽  
K. Rajan ◽  
K.R. Senthil Kumar

Recently renewable energy sources have gained much attention as a clean energy. But the main problem occurs with the varying nature with the day and season. Aim of this paper is to conserve the energy, of the natural resources. For solar energy resource, the output induced in the photovoltaic (PV) modules depends on solar radiation and temperature of the solar cells. To maximize the efficiency of the system it is necessary to track the path of sun in order to keep the panel perpendicular to the sun. This paper proposes the design and construction of a microcontroller-based solar panel tracking system. The fuzzy controller aims at maximizing the efficiency of PV panel by focusing the sunlight to incident perpendicularly to the panel. The system consists of a PV panel which can be operated with the help of DC motor, four LED sensors placed in different positions and a fuzzy controller which takes the input from sensors and gives output speed to motor. A prototype is fabricated to test the results and compared with the simulation results. The results show the improved performance by using a tracking system


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Carlin ◽  
Kevin Curran

Indoor radio frequency tracking systems are generally quite expensive and can vary in accuracy due to interference, equipment quality or other environmental factors. Due to these limiting factors of the technology, many businesses today find it hard to justify investing in RFID tracking technologies to improve the safety, efficiency and security of their working environments. The aim of this project was to provide a budget RFID tracking system that was capable of tracking a person or object through an indoor environment. To minimize the cost of the RFID tracking system, the components of the system were built from existing electronic equipment and hardware. The software was also written to minimize licensing and support fees allowing a cost effective budget RFID tracking system to be developed. The tracking system consists of a tag, reader nodes and a PC reader which utilize synapse RF 100 engines with python scripts embedded on to the chips. The tracking system software operates through a web portal utilizing web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript and PHP to allow the tags location to be represented on a two dimensional map using scalable vector graphics. During development of the system a new trilateration algorithm was developed and used convert the signals received from the tag to a virtual position on the map correlating to the actual physical position of the tag. A unique contribution of this system is the low cost of building which we estimate as less than £200 UK sterling for a five node system.


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