Changes of Photovoltaic Performance as a Function of Positioning Relative to the Focus Points of a Concentrator PV Module: Case Study

This article examines the positioning features of polycrystalline, monocrystalline, and amorphous silicon modules relative to the focus points of concentrator photovoltaic modules under real meteorological conditions using a dual tracking system. The performance of the photovoltaic modules mounted on a dual-axis tracking system was regarded as a function of module orientation where the modules were moved step by step up to a point where their inclination differed by 30° compared to the ideal focus point position of the reference concentrator photovoltaic module. The inclination difference relative to the ideal focus point position was determined by the perfect perpendicularity to the rays of the sun. Technology-specific results show the accuracy of a sun tracking photovoltaic system that is required to keep the loss in power yield below a defined level. The loss in power yield, determined as a function of the measurement results, also showed that the performance insensitivity thresholds of the monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous silicon modules depended on the direction of the alignment changes. The performance deviations showed clear azimuth dependence. Changing the tilt of the modules towards north and south showed little changes in results, but inclination changes towards northwest, southwest, southeast, and northeast produced results diverging more markedly from each other. These results may make the planning of solar tracking sensor investments easier and help with the estimate calculations of the total investment and operational costs and their return concerning monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous silicon photovoltaic systems. The results also provide guidance for the tracking error values of the solar tracking sensor.

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Evaluation and Design of Power Controller of Two-Axis Solar Tracking by PID and FL for a Photovoltaic Module

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2020/8813732 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joel J. Ontiveros ◽

Carlos D. Ávalos ◽

Faustino Loza ◽

Néstor D. Galán ◽

Guillermo J. Rubio

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Logic ◽

Output Power ◽

Tracking System ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Lower Percentage ◽

Photovoltaic Module ◽

The Sun ◽

Photovoltaic Modules ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Solar Tracker

Solar trackers represent an essential tool to increase the energy production of photovoltaic modules compared to fixed systems. Unlike previous technologies where the aim is to keep the solar rays perpendicular to the surface of the module and obtain a constant output power, this paper proposes the design and evaluation of two controllers for a two-axis solar tracker, which maintains the power that is produced by photovoltaic modules at their nominal value. To achieve this, mathematical models of the dynamics of the sun, the solar energy obtained on the Earth’s surface, the two-axis tracking system in its electrical and mechanical parts, and the solar cell are developed and simulated. Two controllers are designed to be evaluated in the solar tracking system, one Proportional-Integral-Derivative and the other by Fuzzy Logic. The evaluation of the simulations shows a better performance of the controller by Fuzzy Logic; this is because it presents a shorter stabilization time, a transient of smaller amplitude, and a lower percentage of error in steady-state. The principle of operation of the solar tracking system is to promote the orientation conditions of the photovoltaic module to generate the maximum available power until reaching the nominal one. This is possible because it has a gyroscope on the surface of the module that determines its position with respect to the hour angle and altitude of the sun; a data acquisition card is developed to implement voltage and current sensors, which measure the output power it produces from the photovoltaic module throughout the day and under any weather conditions. The results of the implementation demonstrate that a Fuzzy Logic control for a two-axis solar tracker maintains the output power of the photovoltaic module at its nominal parameters during peak sun hours.

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The Impacts of Tracking System Inaccuracy on CPV Module Power

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8101278 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1278

Author(s):

Henrik Zsiborács ◽

Nóra Baranyai ◽

András Vincze ◽

Philipp Weihs ◽

Stefan Schreier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tracking System ◽

Tracking Error ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Cell Diameter ◽

Tracking Accuracy ◽

Optimal Position ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Power Yield ◽

The Difference

The accuracy and reliability of solar tracking greatly impacts the performance of concentrator photovoltaic modules (CPV). Thus, it is of utmost significance to know how deviations in tracking influence CPV module power. In this work, the positioning characteristics of CPV modules compared to the focus points were investigated. The performance of CPV modules mounted on a dual-axis tracking system was analysed as a function of their orientation and inclination. The actual experiment was carried out with CPV cells of 3 mm in diameter. By using a dual tracking system under real weather conditions, the module’s position was gradually modified until the inclination differed by 5° relative to the optimal position of the focus point of the CPV module. The difference in inclination was established by the perfect perpendicularity to the Sun’s rays. The results obtained specifically for CPV technology help determine the level of accuracy that solar tracking photovoltaic systems are required to have to keep the loss in power yield under a certain level. Moreover, this power yield loss also demonstrated that the performance insensitivity thresholds of the CPV modules did not depend on the directions of the alterations in azimuthal alignment. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that earlier, no information had been found regarding the tracking insensitivity point in CPV technologies. A further analysis was carried out to compare the yield of CPV to other, conventional photovoltaic technologies under real Central European climate conditions. It was shown that CPV needs a sun tracking accuracy of at least 0.5° in order to surpass the yield of other PV technologies. Besides providing an insight into the tracking error values of solar tracking sensors, it is believed that the results might facilitate the planning of solar tracking sensor investments as well as the economic calculations related to 3 mm cell diameter CPV system investments.

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Perancangan dan Implementasi Tracking Solar Cell System dengan Menggunakan Overload Protection

Jurnal Serambi Engineering ◽

10.32672/jse.v6i4.3522 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Agung Wijaya ◽

Bengawan Alfaresi ◽

Feby Ardianto

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Cell Tracking ◽

Tracking System ◽

Average Power ◽

Cell System ◽

Overload Protection ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Charging Current ◽

Power Yield

Solar cell tracking system is a system that uses the latest technology with combining solar tracking, the intensity of sunlight absorbed by solar cells can be optimized automatically. The purpose of this study is to make the Arduino-based solar monitoring system and load protection tool. The device is also equipped with an LDR sensor that detects the presence of sunlight, sends data from the LDR to Arduino and delivers signals to linear actuators. When the charge supplied by the battery exceeds the capacity of the battery, the INA219 sensor detects overload and a signal sent to Arduino asking for a relay to release the load. The results showed that tracking solar cell systems were successful in improving the efficiency of solar cells with an average power yield of 0.87 ampere of 12.62 watts from before without tracking the average obtained 0.62 ampere 8.83 atts. The performance of the protection system indicates that the load is cut off when the charging current exceeds the specified limit of 2.6 ampere.

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Sunflower Mimic Robot for Development of Dual Axis Solar Tracking System

International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering - 2 ◽

10.35940/ijrte.b1101.0782s319 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2S3) ◽

pp. 554-557

Keyword(s):

Solar Energy ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Tracking System ◽

Region Of Interest ◽

Solar Panel ◽

The Sun ◽

It Use ◽

Dc Motors ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Power Yield

This Today's world depends upon utilization of some form of energy. Be it use of mobiles, vehicles, power supply in houses etc., everything functions on the basis of energy input. The use of energy derived from fossil fuels began in early 1800 and is used till date. In the current theme that calls for saving energy and reducing pollution, it’s undoubtedly of great significance to make full use of solar energy. The solar panel system sprouted with the use of a simple magnifying glass to concentrate solar energy which has now revolutionized by using a much higher solar panel system. The framework consists of webcam, electronic circuit, Microprocessor and two DC motors. This solar tracking system is autonomous, dual axis and hybrid type. This tracking system is camera-based and can track the sun continuously. By using Region of Interest algorithm, we can get the sun coordinates from the frame. These values are sent to the microcontroller to actuate the motors and reposition the panel. This framework works free of its primary settings and can be utilized in any geological area. It holds the solar panel opposite to illumination of sun to get the most extreme solar energy and hence produce most effective power yield for the duration of the day. This study yields an output of up to 2-3% increase from a stationary solar panel.

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Implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) Technique on Solar Tracking System Based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS)

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20184301014 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 01014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Imam Abadi ◽

Choirul Imron ◽

Mardlijah ◽

Ronny D. Noriyati

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Inference ◽

Tracking System ◽

Maximum Power ◽

Solar Irradiation ◽

Maximum Power Point ◽

Inference System ◽

Photovoltaic Modules ◽

Point Tracking ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Power Point

Characteristic I-V of photovoltaic is depended on solar irradiation and operating temperature. Solar irradiation particularly affects the output current where the increasing solar irradiation will tend to increase the output current. Meanwhile, the operating temperature of photovoltaic module affects the output voltage where increasing temperature will reduce the output voltage. There is a point on the I-V curve where photovoltaic modules produce maximum possible output power that is called Maximum Power Point (MPP). A technique to track MPP on the I-V curve is known as Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). In this study, the MPPT has been successfully designed based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and integrated with solar tracking system to improve the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic modules. The designed ANFIS MPPT system consists of current and voltage sensors, buck-boost converter, and Arduino MEGA 2560 microcontroller as a controller. Varying amounts of lamp with 12V 10W rating arranged in series is used as load. Solar tracking system that is equipped with MPPT ANFIS able to increase the output power of photovoltaic modules by 46.198% relative to the fixed system when 3 lamps is used as load.

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Design and Realisation of Automated Solar Tracking System

International Innovative Research Journal of Engineering and Technology ◽

10.32595/iirjet.org/v4i1.2018.71 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Wong Seng Yue

Keyword(s):

Tracking System ◽

Solar Tracking

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Performansi aktual modul photovoltaik dengan pengarah matahari

Jurnal Teknik Mesin Indonesia ◽

10.36289/jtmi.v12i2.80 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 98 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jalaluddin . ◽

Baharuddin Mire

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Local Time ◽

Performance Characteristic ◽

Electrical Energy ◽

Photovoltaic Module ◽

Experiment Data ◽

Actual Performance ◽

Pv Module ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Pv Modules

Actual performance of photovoltaic module with solar tracking is presented. Solar radiation can be converted into electrical energy using photovoltaic (PV) modules. Performance of polycristalline silicon PV modules with and without solar tracking are investigated experimentally. The PV module with dimension 698 x 518 x 25 mm has maximum power and voltage is 45 Watt and 18 Volt respectively. Based on the experiment data, it is concluded that the performance of PV module with solar tracking increases in the morning and afternoon compared with that of fixed PV module. It increases about 18 % in the morning from 10:00 to 12:00 and in the afternoon from 13:30 to 14:00 (local time). This study also shows the daily performance characteristic of the two PV modules. Using PV module with solar tracking provides a better performance than fixed PV module.

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RESULTS OF THE PERFORMANCE NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF A SOLAR CONCENTRATOR MODULE WITH A THERMAL-PHOTOVOLTAIC RECEIVER

Elektrotekhnologii i elektrooborudovanie v APK ◽

10.22314/2658-4859-2020-67-4-51-56 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (41) ◽

pp. 51-56

Author(s):

DMITRIY STREBKOV ◽

◽

NATAL’YA FILIPPCHENKOVA ◽

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Photovoltaic Cells ◽

Calculated Data ◽

Electrical Performance ◽

Research Purpose ◽

Photovoltaic Module ◽

Solar Concentrator ◽

Ansys Fluent ◽

Photovoltaic Modules ◽

Agroindustrial Complex

In the field of energy supply to agro-industrial facilities, there is an increasing interest in the development of structures and engineering systems using renewable energy sources, including solar concentrator thermal and photovoltaic modules that combine photovoltaic modules and solar collectors in one structure. The use of the technology of concentrator heat and photovoltaic modules makes it possible to increase the electrical performance of solar cells by cooling them during operation, and significantly reduces the need for centralized electricity and heat supply to enterprises of the agroindustrial complex. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in numerical modeling of thermal processes occurring in a solar concentrator heat-photovoltaic module. (Materials and methods) Authors used analytical methods for mathematical modeling of a solar concentrator heat and photovoltaic module. Authors implemented a mathematical model of a solar concentrator heat and photovoltaic module in the ANSYS Fluent computer program. The distribution contours of temperature and pressure of the coolant in the module channel were obtained for different values of the coolant flow rate at the inlet. The verification of the developed model of the module on the basis of data obtained in an analytical way has been performed. (Results and discussion) The results of comparing the calculated data with the results of computer modeling show a high convergence of the information obtained with the use of a computer model, the relative error is within acceptable limits. (Conclusions) The developed design of the solar concentrator heat and photovoltaic module provides effective cooling of photovoltaic cells (the temperature of photovoltaic cells is in the operating range) with a module service life of at least twenty-five years. The use of a louvered heliostat in the developed design of a solar concentrator heat and photovoltaic module can double the performance of the concentrator.

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