Solar cells or photovoltaic cells are semiconductor diodes that convert available sunlight (at least a

portion) into electrical power. They are basically P-N junction photodiodes with very large lightsensitive area. Each photodiode is a solar cell. All these cells are connected inside a module to
form a solar panel. These solar panels are cascaded together to form arrays to generate high power
electricity. To attain the maximum benefit from these solar panels, we need to position them in the
direction that captures most of the energy. This direction depends upon various factors. The panels
are mounted at a fixed tilt, but because sun keeps changing its position due to the rotation as well
as the revolution of earth, these panels can capture more energy if their tilt is adjusted periodically.
A solar tracker is a device for orienting a day lighting reflector, solar photovoltaic panel or
concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun. The sun's position in the sky varies both with
the seasons (elevation) and time of day as the sun moves across the sky. Solar powered equipment
works best when pointed at or near the sun, so a solar tracker can increase the effectiveness of such
equipment over any fixed position, at the cost of additional system complexity. There are many
types of solar trackers, of varying costs, sophistication

COMPONENTS USEDo

HARDWARE USED -

COMPONENT DESCRIPTIONSo

LDR:-Ldr or a photo resistor is a device whose resistivity is a function of the incident

electromagnetic radiation. Hence, they are light sensitive devices. They are also called
as photo conductors, photo conductive cells or simply photocells. They are made up of
semiconductor materials having high resistance. A light dependent resistor works on
the principle of photo conductivity. Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in
which the materials conductivity is increased when light is absorbed by the material.

Solar panel- Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity. A solar panel is a
collection of solar cells. Lots of small solar cells spread over a large area can work together
to provide enough power to be useful. The more light that hits a cell, the more electricity it
produces, so spacecraft are usually designed with solar panels that can always be pointed at
the Sun even as the rest of the body of the spacecraft moves around, much as a tank turret
can be aimed independently of where the tank is going . A photovoltaic (in short PV) module
is a packaged, connected assembly of typically 610 solar cells. Solar Photovoltaic panels
constitute the solar array of a photovoltaic system that generates and supplies solar
electricity in commercial and residential applications.

The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the ATmega328 (Arduino
Nano 3.x) or ATmega168 (Arduino Nano 2.x). It has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino
Duemilanove, but in a different package.
Arduino Nano V3.0

It lacks only a DC power jack, and works with a Mini-B USB cable instead of a standard one.The Arduino
Nano can be powered via the Mini-B USB connection, 6-20V unregulated external power supply (pin 30),
or 5V regulated external power supply (pin 27). The power source is automatically selected to the highest
voltage source.

Technical Specifications
1. Microcontroller: Atmel ATmega168 or ATmega328
2. Operating Voltage(logic level): 5 V
3. Input Voltage(recommended): 7-12 V
4. Input Voltage(limits): 6-20 V
5. Digital I/O Pins: 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
6. Analog Input Pins: 8
7. DC Current per I/O Pin: 40 mA
8. Flash Memory: 16 KB (ATmega168) or 32 KB (ATmega328) of which 2 KB used by bootloader
9. SRAM: 1 KB (ATmega168) or 2 KB (ATmega328)
10. EEPROM: 512 bytes (ATmega168) or 1 KB (ATmega328)
11. Clock Speed: 16 MHz

Arduino Nano Pinouts

\Serial:

0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL
serial data. These pins are connected to the corresponding pins of the FTDI
USB-to-TTL Serial chip.

External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an

interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value. See
the attach Interrupt() function for details.
PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analog
Write() function.

 SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI

communication, which, although provided by the underlying hardware, is
not currently included in the Arduino language.
LED: 13. There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 13. When the pin
is HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off. The Nano has 8
analog inputs, each of which provide 10 bits of resolution (i.e. 1024
different values). By default they measure from ground to 5 volts, though is
it possible to change the upper end of their range using the analog
reference() function. Analog pins 6 and 7 cannot be used as digital pins.
Additionally, some pins have specialized functionality:
I2C: A4 (SDA) and A5 (SCL). Support I2C (TWI) communication using
the Wire library (documentation on the Wiring website).
There are a couple of other pins on the board:
AREF. Reference voltage for the analog inputs. Used
with analogReference().

Reset. Bring this line LOW to reset the microcontroller. Typically used to
add a reset button to shields which block the one on the board.

Pin No.
1-2, 5-16

Name
D0-D13

Type

Description

I/O

Digital input/output port 0 to 13

3, 28

RESET

Input

Reset (active low)

4, 29

GND

PWR

Supply ground

17

3V3

Output

18

AREF

Input

19-26

A7-A0

Input

27

+ 5v

Output or Input

30

VIN

PWR

+3.3V output (from FTDI)

ADC reference
Analog input channel 0 to 7
+5V output or +5V input
Supply voltage

Servomotor:-Servo motors are available at different shapes and sizes. A servo motor will have
mainly there wires, one is for positive voltage another is for ground and last one is for position
setting. The RED wire is connected to power, Black wire is connected to ground and YELLOW wire
is connected to signal.

A servo motor is a combination of DC motor, position control system, gears. The position of the
shaft of the DC motor is adjusted by the control electronics in the servo, based on the duty ratio of
the PWM signal the SIGNAL pin.
Simply speaking the control electronics adjust shaft position by controlling DC motor. This data
regarding position of shaft is sent through the SIGNAL pin. The position data to the control should
be sent in the form of PWM signal through the Signal pin of servo motor.
The frequency of PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) signal can vary based on type of servo motor.
The important thing here is the DUTY RATIO of the PWM signal. Based on this DUTY RATION
the control electronics adjust the shaft.

As shown in figure below, for the shaft to be moved to 9o clock the TURN ON RATION must be
1/18.ie. 1ms of ON time and 17ms of OFF time in a 18ms signal.
For the shaft to be moved to 12o clock the ON time of signal must be 1.5ms and OFF time should
be 16.5ms. This ratio is decoded by control system in servo and it adjusts the position based on
it. This PWM in here is generated by using ARDUINO BOARD.

HOW THE SOLAR TRACKER FOLLLOW THE SUN?

1. Sunrise "Wake- Up-The Track Rack begins the day facing west. As the morning sun rises in
the east, it heats the unshaded west-side canister with both direct and reflected rays (from the inter
surface of the "shadow plate") forcing liquid into the shaded east-side cannister.

2. Mid-Morning The Track Rack moved by the shifting weight of liquid flowing from one side of
the tracker to the other through a copper tube that connects the east and west canisters .When one
canister is exposed to the sun more than the other, its vapor pressure increases, forcing liquid to the
cooler, shaded side.

3. Mid-Afternoon-As the sun moves, the Track Rack follows (at approximately 15o per hour,
continually seeking equilibrium as liquid moves from one side of the tracker to the other

4. Sunset -The Track Rack completes its daily cycle facing west. It remains in this position
overnight until it is "awakened" by the rising sun the following morning

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AUTOMATIC SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM-

Advantages and disadvantages of a solar tracker system

Advantages:

Solar trackers generate more electricity than their stationary counterparts due to an increased
direct exposure to solar rays.

There are many different kinds of solar tracker, such as single-axis and dual-axis trackers,
which can help you find the perfect fit for your unique jobsite. Installation size, local weather,
degree of latitude, and electrical requirements are all important considerations that can influence
the type of solar tracker thats best for you.
Solar trackers generate more electricity in roughly the same amount of space needed for fixed tilt
systems, making them ideal optimizing land usage.

Disadvantages:

Solar trackers are slightly more expensive than their stationary counterparts, due to the more
complex technology and moving parts necessary for their operation.
Some ongoing maintenance is generally required, though the quality of the solar tracker can
play a role in how much and how often this maintenance is needed.

Conclusion
The tracker not only follows sun from east to west and back to east in a cyclic manner(Horizontal
Motor Module),but also tracks the Angular Movement of the sun with respect to its zenith angle to the
Horizon(Vertical Motor Module and eye).This is a versatile quality for which the tracker could easily
be used in conjunction with Solar Panels to derive maximum Solar Energy.