SunTrackingSolarPanel

JUNE12,2014BYEHMODERATORSTEAM3COMMENTS

Contents[hide]
0.1SunTrackingSolarPanelPrinciple:
1SunTrackingSolarPanelCircuitDiagram:
1.1AutomatedSunTrackingSolarPanelCircuitDesign:
1.2HowSunTrackingSolarPanelWorks?
1.3AdvantagesofSunTrackingSolarPanel:
1.4SunTrackingSolarPanelApplications:
1.5LimitationsofSunTrackingSolarPanelCircuit:

Asthenonrenewableenergyresourcesaredecreasing,useofrenewableresourcesforproducingelectricityisincreasing.Solarpanels
arebecomingmorepopulardaybyday.Wehavealreadyreadapostabouthowtoinstallsolarpanelforhome.Solarpanelabsorbs
theenergyfromtheSunandisstoredinthebattery.Thisenergycanbeutilizedwhenrequired.Utilizationoftheenergystoredin
batteriesismentionedinbelowgivenapplications.Solarpanelsshouldabsorbenergytoamaximumextent.Thiscanbedoneonlyifthe
panelsarecontinuouslyplacedtowardsSundirection.SosolarpanelshouldcontinuouslyrotateinthedirectionofSun.Thisarticle
describesaboutcircuitthatrotatessolarpanel.

SunTrackingSolarPanelPrinciple:
TheSuntrackingsolarpanelconsistsoftwoLDRs,solarpanelandsteppermotorandATMEGA8Microcontroller.
Twolightdependentresistorsarearrangedontheedgesofthesolarpanel.Lightdependentresistorsproducelowresistancewhenlight

fallsonthem.ThesteppermotorconnectedtothepanelrotatesthepanelinthedirectionofSun.Panelisarrangedinsuchawaythat
lightontwoLDRsiscomparedandpanelisrotatedtowardsLDRwhichhavehighintensityi.e.lowresistancecomparedtoother.
Steppermotorrotatesthepanelatcertainangle.
WhentheintensityofthelightfallingonrightLDRismore,panelslowlymovestowardsrightandifintensityontheleftLDRismore,
panelslowlymovestowardsleft.Inthenoontime,Sunisaheadandintensityoflightonboththepanelsissame.Insuchcases,panelis
constantandthereisnorotation.

SunTrackingSolarPanelCircuitDiagram:

CircuitDiagramofSunTrackingSolarPanelElectronicsHub

ComponentsintheCircuit:
Solarpanel

ATmega8microcontroller
LightDependentResistor.
MotordriverIC
StepperMotor.

AutomatedSunTrackingSolarPanelCircuitDesign:
TheproposedsystemconsistsofATmega8microcontroller,Solarpanel,LightDependentresistorsandmotordriverIC.
ATmega8isAVRfamilymicrocontroller.ItisbasedonadvancedRISCarchitecture.Itisan8bitcontroller.Ithas4KBFlashmemory,
512bytesofEEPROMand1KbofSRAM.Ithas23programmablepins.Itsupportsperipheralfeaturesliketwo8bittimers,one16bit
timer,6channelADCwith10bitresolution,programmableUSART,Serialperipheralinterface,2wireserialinterface,etc.
SolarpanelisconnectedtoSteppermotor.Solarpanelconsistsofphotovoltaiccellsarrangedinanorder.Photovoltaiccellisnothing
butasolarcell.Photoresembleslightandvoltaiciselectricity.Solarcellismadeupofsemiconductormaterialsilicon.Whenalightray
fromSunisincidentonthesolarcell,someamountofenergyisabsorbedbythismaterial.Theabsorbedenergyisenoughforthe
electronstojumpfromoneorbittootherinsidetheatom.Cellshaveoneormoreelectricfieldthatdirectstheelectronswhichcreates
current.Byplacingmetalcontactenergycanbeobtainedfromthesecells.
LightDependentResistorsaretheresistorswhoseresistancevaluesdependonintensityofthelight.Astheintensityoflightfallingon
theLDRincreases,resistancevaluedecreases.Indark,LDRwillhavemaximumresistance.LDRwilloutputananalogvaluewhich
shouldbeconvertedtodigital.Thiscanbedoneusinganalogtodigitalconverter.ATmega8hasanalogtodigitalconverterinternally.It
hassixADCchannelsfromADC0toADC5.ThetwoLDRsareconnectedtoADCpinsi.e.PC0andPC1.ADCconversionisdoneusing
successiveapproximationmethod.
Steppermotorrotatesthepanelinastepwiseangle.TodrivethismotoradriverICisused.DriverICamplifiestheinputvoltageand

protectsthemicrocontrollerfrombackEMF.Generally,motorsgeneratebackEMF.Thismaydamagethecontroller.ThedriverICused
isL293D.IthasHbridgeinternallymadeupoftransistors.ThisIChas16pins.Outputpinsareconnectedtothesteppermotorpins.
Inputpinsareconnectedtothecontrollerpinsasshownincircuitdiagram.
Byconnectingabatterytothesolarpanel,onecanstoretheenergygeneratedbythesolarcellsandthisenergycanbeusedwhen
required.

HowSunTrackingSolarPanelWorks?
Initiallypowerthecircuit.
Placethesetupindark
WhenthetwoLDRsareindark,thereisnomovementinthepanel.
NowplaceatorchinfrontoftheleftLDR.Panelsslowlymovetowardsitsleft.
Nowmovelightfromlefttoright.Youcanobservethepanelmovingslowlywiththetorchtowardsright.
Inthemiddle,whenintensityonbothLDRsisequal,panelwillnotmoveuntilthereisdifferencebetweenthelightintensityfalling
ontheLDRs.

AdvantagesofSunTrackingSolarPanel:
Thesolarenergycanbereusedasitisnonrenewableresource.
Thisalsosavesmoneyasthereisnoneedtopayforenergyused.

SunTrackingSolarPanelApplications:
1. Thesepanelscanbeusedtopowerthetrafficlightsandstreetlights
2. Thesecanbeusedinhometopowertheappliancesusingsolarpower.
3. Thesecanbeusedinindustriesasmoreenergycanbesavedbyrotatingthepanel.

LimitationsofSunTrackingSolarPanelCircuit:
1. Thoughsolarenergycanbeutilizedtomaximumextentthismaycreateproblemsinrainyseason.
2. Althoughsolarenergycanbesavedtobatteries,theyareheavyandoccupymorespaceandrequiredtochangetimetotime.
3. Theyareexpensive.