Analysis of A Two-Axis Solar Tracker System: Case Study

The environmental pollution that arose from the 20th century has led to the search for clean and renewable energies, so this research aims to determine the efficiency of a two-axis solar tracker system, through the analysis of the data obtained. In view of the fact that it remains perpendicular to the solar rays for a longer time, which automatically moves to the point where the radiation source is. Mathematical models were considered for this study based on parameters of time, voltage, solar radiation, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, inclination angles, and cardinal points, to which the panel was directed during the test days. The efficiency given by the solar panel was obtained as 15.34% on average among monocrystalline silicon solar panels. It was concluded with the analysis of the most relevant data that are, the voltage, the solar radiation, and the angle of inclination to determine with these three parameters if the dual-axis tracker system had an excellent capture of solar radiation in the test days, in order to make the collection and production of solar energy more efficient.

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ANN for Assessment of Energy Consumption of 4 kW PV Modules over a Year Considering the Impacts of Temperature and Irradiance

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11236802 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (23) ◽

pp. 6802 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Adel Alblawi ◽

M. H. Elkholy ◽

M. Talaat

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Relative Error ◽

Average Energy ◽

Office Building ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Tracking Model ◽

One Year

Solar energy is considered the greatest source of renewable energy. In this paper, a case study was performed for a single-axis solar tracking model to analyze the performance of the solar panels in an office building under varying ambient temperatures and solar radiation over the course of one year (2018). This case study was performed in an office building at the College of Engineering at Shaqra University, Dawadmi, Saudi Arabia. The office building was supplied with electricity for a full year by the designed solar energy system. The study was conducted across the four seasons of the studied year to analyze the performance of a group of solar panels with the total capacity of a 4 kW DC system. The solar radiation, temperature, output DC power, and consumed AC power of the system were measured using wireless sensor networks (for temperature and irradiance measurement) and a signal acquisition system for each hour throughout the whole day. A single-axis solar tracker was designed for each panel (16 solar panels were used) using two light-dependent resistors (LDR) as detecting light sensors, one servo motor, an Arduino Uno, and a 250 W solar panel installed with an array tilt angle of 21°. Finally, an artificial neural network (ANN) was utilized to estimate energy consumption, according to the dataset of AC load power consumption for each month and the measurement values of the temperature and irradiance. The relative error between the measured and estimated energy was calculated in order to assess the accuracy of the proposed ANN model and update the weights of the training network. The maximum absolute relative error of the proposed system did not exceed 2 × 10−4. After assessment of the proposed model, the ANN results showed that the average energy in the region of the case study from a 4 kW DC solar system for one year, considering environmental impact, was around 8431 kWh/year.

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Analysis of influence of climatic factors on selecting types of solar panels

VESTNIK OF ASTRAKHAN STATE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ◽

10.24143/1812-9498-2020-2-21-26 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (2) ◽

pp. 21-26

Author(s):

Sergey Vladimirovich Golovko ◽

Dmitry Anatolyevich Zadorkin

Keyword(s):

Solar Cell ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Cell Surface ◽

Alternative Energy ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Efficient Operation ◽

The Impact ◽

Solar Rays

The article outlines the problem of the influence of climatic factors on the efficiency of solar panels operation. Not long ago the idea of free electricity seemed incredible. However, the development of technologies rapidly progresses, and the alternative energy captures more and more supporters every day. The popularity of solar panels is growing quite rapidly, since photovoltaic converters are an efficient source of electricity. But for more efficient operation of solar cells it is necessary to create the specific conditions, taking into account the location of the unit. There have been considered the factors of more efficient operation of the photovoltaic converters: the hash climatic conditions and the intensity of solar radiation depending on the angle of reducing the impact of the solar rays onto the solar cell surface.

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Estimating the Optimum Tilt Angles for South-Facing Surfaces in Palestine

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13030623 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 623 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ramez Abdallah ◽

Adel Juaidi ◽

Salameh Abdel-Fattah ◽

Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Model ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

Tilt Angle ◽

Peak Power ◽

Horizontal Surface ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Energy Gains ◽

The Mathematical Model

The optimum tilt angle of solar panels or collectors is crucial when determining parameters that affect the performance of those panels. A mathematical model is used for determining the optimum tilt angle and for calculating the solar radiation on a south-facing surface on a daily, monthly, seasonal, semi-annual, and annual basis. Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) and Photovoltaic Software (PVWatts) is developed by the NREL (US National Renewable Energy Laboratory) are also used to calculate the optimum monthly, seasonal, semi-annual, and annual tilt angles and to compare these results with the results obtained from the mathematical model. The results are very similar. PVGIS and PVWatts are used to estimate the solar radiation on south-facing surfaces with different tilt angles. A case study of a mono-crystalline module with 5 kWP of peak power is used to find out the amount of increased energy (gains) obtained by adjusting the Photovoltaic (PV) tilt angles based on yearly, semi-annual, seasonal, and monthly tilt angles. The results show that monthly adjustments of the solar panels in the main Palestinian cities can generate about 17% more solar energy than the case of solar panels fixed on a horizontal surface. Seasonal and semi-annual adjustments can generate about 15% more energy (i.e., it is worth changing the solar panels 12 times a year (monthly) or at least 2 times a year (semi-annually). The yearly optimum tilt angle for most Palestinian cities is about 29°, which yields an increase of about 10% energy gain compared to a solar panel fixed on a horizontal surface.

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Estimation of the Optimum Energy Received by Solar Energy Flat-Plate Convertors in Greece Using Typical Meteorological Years. Part I: South-Oriented Tilt Angles

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11041547 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1547 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Harry D. Kambezidis ◽

Basil E. Psiloglou

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Maximum Efficiency ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Optimum Energy ◽

Geographical Latitude ◽

New Energy ◽

Inclination Angles ◽

First Time ◽

Inclined Surface ◽

Of Greece

The optimal solar radiation received on an inclined surface is always critical for energy purposes at a location or in an area. Therefore, many attempts have been made worldwide to calculate the optimum tilt angle for this purpose. The present study gives an answer about the south-oriented inclination or inclinations of solar panels in Greece for maximum efficiency. The analysis shows that an angle of 25° (and 30° in some cases) facing south is the most appropriate. To calculate this, the energy sums received on surfaces with inclination angles of 0–60° with a step of 5°, including φ° (φ being the geographical latitude) facing south at 33 locations in Greece were analyzed monthly, seasonally, and annually. The solar radiation data used in this work comes from corresponding typical meteorological years (TMYs) generated for the above locations. TMYs are used for the first time worldwide for the study of the optimum energy received by solar panels tilted south. Four new energy zones are defined to cover the whole of Greece.

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Construction and Automation of a Microcontrolled Solar Tracker

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr8101309 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 1309

Author(s):

Juliano da Rocha Queiroz ◽

Anacreone da Silva Souza ◽

Maurício Klein Gussoli ◽

Júlio César Dainezi de Oliveira ◽

Cid Marcos Gonçalves Andrade

Keyword(s):

Control Systems ◽

The Other ◽

Automation System ◽

Solar Panels ◽

Dc Motors ◽

Solar Tracking ◽

Solar Tracker ◽

And Control ◽

Cross Structure ◽

Solar Rays

A solar tracker can be defined as an electromechanical system capable of following the apparent path of the Sun, in order to orient an array of solar panels and/or collectors directly to the solar rays, maximizing the collected energy. Accordingly, the present work describes the process of building and automating a micro-controlled solar tracker. Two mobile structures were built, one equipped with high-precision step motors and four luminosity sensors separated in quadrants by a cross structure, and the other equipped with DC motors and the 275 Wp solar panel, allowing the design and evaluation of the behavior of each structure separately. The control and automation system is centralized in an Arduino MEGA2560 microcontroller, which runs the tracking and positioning algorithms. The built prototype allows us to carry out studies of solar tracking strategies based on sensor and control systems applied to DC motors.

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