Energy crisis is the most important issue in today's world Conventional energy resources are not only limited but also the prime culprit for environmental pollution Renewable energy resources are getting priorities in the whole world to lessen the dependency on conventional resources Solar energy is rapidly gaining the focus as an important means of expanding renewable energy uses Solar cells those convert sun's energy into electrical energy are costly and inefficient Different mechanisms are applied to increase the efficiency of the solar cell to reduce the cost Solar tracking system is the most appropriate technology to enhance the efficiency of the solar cells by tracking the sun A microcontroller based design methodology of an automatic solar tracker is presented in this paper Light dependent resistors are used as the sensors of the solar tracker The designed tracker has precise control mechanism which will provide three ways of controlling system A small prototype of solar tracking system is also constructed to implement the design methodology presented here

Design and construction of an automatic solar tracking system

Review of dual axis solar tracking and development of its functional model

The principles and key technologies of automatic sun-tracking control system in PV generation are introduced. In general for PV application, the automatic sun-tracking system is needed to operate reliably in poor environment for a long time. A stepper active tracking control technology is adopted. Based on control core of microprocessor, the automatic sun-tracing system is developed. The system has perfect protection (windy, vibration, off grid detection, cloudy, position limit) and reliable anti- disturbance functions (signal isolation, filtering in software and hardware). The PV generator station with multiple types of tracking forms has been built in Yang Bajin of Tibet. Field experience shows that the designed system is stable and reliable, and can greatly improve the efficiency of PV power generation system and reduce electricity costs.

Study on automatic sun-tracking technology in PV generation

Solar Energy is a clean and renewable power resource and is on its way to high level penetration in the world electricity energy basket. However, there are several challenges associated with Solar Energy, like intermittency, limited dispatch ability and non-storability. Non-storability in a standalone PV system can be mitigated by incorporating energy storage devices like battery to store the electrical energy produced by solar panel when the sun is shining and to supply power when the sun is not shining. Batteries are, therefore, one of the critical component in the standalone PV system. And often the weakest link in PV systems as it influences the maintenance cost and reliability of the system. This paper involves designing and development of a low cost, microcontroller based, solar powered battery charging system. The developed system incorporates (i) MPPT (ii) Arduino Uno interface for battery management functions Arduino Uno interface, (iii) LCD display for information to the user about the system regarding the systems overall capacity to charge at any given time, (iv) data storage and incorporates Wi-Fi module for remote surveillance and uploading live data which can further be used for studying the health of the battery and help in maintenance of battery. The developed solar powered battery charging system for DC loads has been designed for use in Solar Home Systems (SHS). The individual SHS can be connected to form a low voltage DC micro grid for the remotely located rural population for sustainable provision of electric energy services.

Arduino based solar powered battery charging system for rural SHS

The invention comprises the appropriate elements for the conversion of the energy of a photovoltaic inverter (2) and a controller (3) which implements a control interface (5) for a solar tracker (9) together with a MPPT method for locating the maximum power point of a photovoltaic generator (1), using which it is capable of placing the generator (1) in optimum position thereof with respect to the sun and obtaining at each moment the maximum possible power that said generator (1) is capable of supplying. Both the appropriate elements for conversion of the energy of a photovoltaic inverter (2) and the controller (3) whereto it is connected can be integrated using a single communications interface (4), thereby forming a single device.

Device for conversion of direct current into alternating current and for control of the maximum power for solar panels

In order to increase the efficiency of PV system, it is generally used three method the first is the increasing the efficiency of solar cell, the second is the energy conversion system included MPPT control algorithm and the third is the using solar tracking system. In solar tracking system, it is used DC motors, special motors like step motors, servo motors, real time actuators, to operate moving parts. DC motors are normally used to operate solar tracking system but it is highly expensive to maintain and repair. In this paper, it is proposed 150 W solar tracking system. Proposed system designed as the normal line of the solar cell always runs parallel the ray of the sun. In this paper proposed system can minimize the solar cosign loss of the photovoltaic system

J.M. Park

Papers

A study on the tracking photovoltaic system by program type