CHAPTER#1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Need for Electricity and a Possible Solution

Not all countries possess all the commodities that are available to humanity. These so called
underprivileged countries lack amenities such as; abundant food, clean water, medicine, wealth,
education, and a healthy environment. The World Bank and other institutions believe that the lack of
access to clean and efficient energy services is a factor involved in underprivileged countries from
gaining more resources associated with higher living quality, such as wealth [1]. There are a few new
forms of advanced energy, but electricity has been proven to be one of the cleanliest and most efficient
forms [1].

One possible solution to unreliable or nonexistent central electricity distribution systems is to have
distributed generation system (DG). A distributed generation system is characterized by the fact that the
electricity is produced locally rather than externally. DG is often used in underprivileged countries;
however, usually in the form of small generators that run on different types of fossil fuels. The use of
renewable types of DG is preferable, since they provide a more sustainable and healthier environment.
The most common DG options include; solar, wind, and thermal. [2]

In comparing the various forms of renewable DG, five factors must be considered: location, ease of
installation, reliability, capacity, and cost. Thermal power is a location dependent, high cost option
whereas wind has a lower cost but is unreliable due to changing wind conditions and requires regular
mechanical maintenance [3]. Solar power has a relatively lower cost, easy to install and maintain, and
for underprivileged countries near the equator, ideal for the location [3].

However the problem with solar power is that it is directly dependent on light intensity. To produce the
maximum amount of energy, a solar panel must be perpendicular to the light source [4]. Because the
sun moves both throughout the day as well as throughout the year, a solar panel must be able to follow
the suns movement to produce the maximum possible power. The solution is to use a tracking system
that maintains the panels orthogonal position with the light source. There are many tracking system
designs available including passive and active systems with one or two axes of freedom [5].

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The goal of our project was to design an active, dual axis, solar tracker that will have a minimum
allowable error of 10 and also be economically feasible to market towards underprivileged countries.
We started by examining the prior work done in solar tracking methods to determine our course of
action. From there we designed and tested several mechanical and electrical options and chose the ones
with the most desirable characteristics. Finally, we built our final tracking system, tested and compared
it to ensure that we met our original goal.

1.2 Solar Technology

As mentioned above in the introduction, the use of a tracking system greatly improves the power gain
from solar radiation. This background goes into further detail on the operation of solar cells and the
reason tracking is needed. The different tracking technologies are also described and how they compare
to one another.

1.3 Solar Power Fundamentals

A fundamental understanding of how a photovoltaic panel works is essential in producing a highly

efficient solar system. Solar panels are formed out of solar cells that are connected in parallel or series.
When connected in series, there is an increase in the overall voltage, connected in parallel increases the
overall current. Each individual solar cell is typically made out of crystalline silicon, although other
types such as ribbon and thin-film silicone are gaining popularity.

PV cells consist of layered silicon that is doped with different elements to form a p-n junction. The p-
type side will contain extra holes or positive charges. The n-type side will contain extra electrons or
negative charges. This difference of charge forms a region that is charge neutral and acts as a sort of
barrier. When the p-n junction is exposed to light, photons with the correct frequency will form an extra
electron/hole pair. However, since the p-n junction creates a potential difference, the electrons cant
jump to the other side only the holes can. Thus, the electrons must exit through the metal connector and
flow through the load, to the connector on the other side of the junction. [4] [6]

Because the PV cells generate a current, cells/panels can be modeled as DC current sources. The amount
of current a PV panel produces has a direct correlation with the intensity of light the panel is absorbing.
Below is a simple drawing of the system:

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 Figure 1: Angle of Incidence to Solar Cell

The normal to the cell is perpendicular to the cells exposed face. The sunlight comes in and strikes the
panel at an angle. The angle of the sunlight to the normal is the angle of incidence (). Assuming the
sunlight is staying at a constant intensity () the available sunlight to the solar cell for power generation
(W) can be calculated as:

W = A cos()

Here, A represents some limiting conversion factor in the design of the panel because they cannot
convert 100% of the sunlight absorbed into electrical energy. By this calculation, the maximum power
generated will be when the sunlight is hitting the PV cell along its normal and no power will be
generated when the sunlight is perpendicular to the normal. With a fixed solar panel, there is significant
power lost during the day because the panel is not kept perpendicular to the suns rays. A tracking
system can keep the angle of incidence within a certain margin and would be able to maximize the
power generated. Mousazadeh et al. calculated the amount of power gained by tracking can come close
to an ideal 57% difference [5]

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CHAPTER#2 : Existing Tracking Technology

As mentioned in the previous sub-section the absorption of light by a PV panel is dependent on its
angular position to the sun. A PV panel must be perpendicular to the sun for maximum solar absorption,
which is done by using a tracking system. Multiple tracking systems exist, which vary in reliability,
accuracy, cost, and other factors. A tracking system must be chosen wisely to ensure that the tracking
method increases the power gained instead of decreasing it.

2.1 Immobile Versus Mobile

Different power applications require different tracking systems. For certain applications a tracking
system is too costly and will decrease the max power that is gained from the solar panel. Due to the fact
that the earth rotates on its axis and orbits around the sun, if a PV cell/panel is immobile, the absorption
efficiency will be significantly less at certain times of the day and year. The use of a tracking system to
keep the PV cell/panel perpendicular to the sun can boost the collected energy by 10 - 100% depending
on the circumstances [5].

If a tracking system is not used, the solar panel should still be oriented in the optimum position. The
panel needs to be placed where no shadow will fall on it at any time of the day. Additionally, the best tilt
angle should be determined based on the geographical location of the panel. As a general guideline for
the northern hemisphere, the PV panel should be placed at a tilt angle equal to the latitude of the site and
facing south [7]. However, for a more accurate position and tilt angel a theoretical model of the suns
iridescence for the duration of a year is created and the angel and position is matched to the model.

Using one axis of tracking can provide a significant power gain to the system. Wikipedia claims that one
axis trackers are placed into the following classifications: horizontal single axis tracker (HSAT), vertical
single axis tracker (VSAT), tilted single axis tracker (TSAT), and polar aligned single axis tracker
(PASAT). However, these terms dont seem to be used in most articles discussing tracking methods. One
article did mention that a TSAT at a tilt angle of 5 increases the annual collection radiation by 10%
compared to a HSAT, a HSAT increases the annual collection radiation by 15% to a VSAT, and finally a

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PASAT increases the annual collection radiation by 10% over a HSAT [5]. Thus for one axis a PASAT
or TSAT configuration would collect the most solar radiation. A few of these tracker types are shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2: Different One Axis Trackers from Left to Right: HSAT and PASAT

For an additional power gain a dual-axis tracking system can be used. The percent gain from going from
a PSAT to a dual-axis system is small [5], but as long as the system doesnt use more power than
gained, it still helps. Again Wikipedia mentions two classifications for dual axis trackers: Tip-Tilt Dual
Axis Tracker (TTDAT) and Azimuth-Altitude Dual Axis Tracker (AADAT). The difference between the
two types is the orientation of the primary axis in relation to the ground. TTDATs have the primary axis
horizontal to the ground and AADATs have theirs vertical. The azimuth/altitude method seems to be
largely used, based on its reference in multiple research articles on tracking. [5]. In the article by Sefa et
al. the following was stated; The results indicated that increases of electrical power gains up to 43.87%
for the two axes, 37.53% for the east west, 34.43% for the vertical and 15.69% for the northsouth
tracking, as compared with the fixed surface inclined 32 to the south in Amman [8]. A prototype
AADAT was made in this project and a picture of it can be seen in Figure 6.

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2.2 DIFFERENT TRACKING SYSTEM

There are three methods of tracking:

1) Active
2) Passive and
3) Chronological tracking.

These methods can then be configured either as

1) single-axis
2) Dual-axis solar trackers.

2.3 ACTIVE TRACKING SYSTEM

In active tracking, the position of the sun in the sky during the day is continuously determined by
sensors. The sensors will trigger the motor or actuator to move the mounting system so that the solar
panels will always face the sun throughout the day. This method of sun-tracking is reasonably accurate
except on very cloudy days when it is hard for the sensor to determine the position of the sun in the sky
thus making it hard to reorient the structure.

Auxiliary bifacial solar cell systems are the simplest of the four active systems. A bifacial auxiliary solar
cell (sensor cell) is fixed to the rotary axle of the tracker and is placed perpendicular to the main bifacial
solar panel array. The sensor cell is connected directly to a motor, usually a DC electromotor. When the
sun moves, the angle of incidence increases on the sensor cell, which eventually produces enough power
to move the motor and the solar panel array. The example by Poulek and Libra claimed their system was
able to collect 95% of the energy with a 5 tolerance. [9] This example can be seen in Figure 3.

The electro-optical system is also another relatively simple system. Typically two photo resistors or PV
cells are used as sensors for one-axis systems. These sensors are positioned near one another and have a
divider, a tilted mount at a calculated angle, or use a collimator to create a useful current and/or voltage
difference between the two sensors. These different setups are seen in Figure 4.

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 Figure 3: Auxiliary Bifacial Solar Tracker

Figure 4: Tracker Sensor Setups from Left to Right: Divider, Tilted Mount, and Collimator

2.3 PASSIVE TRACKING SYSTEM

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Passive Tracking unlike active tracking which deter-mines the position of the sun in the sky, a passive
tracker moves in response to an imbalance in pressure between two points at both ends of the tracker.
The imbalance is caused by solar heat creating gas pressure on a low boiling point compressed gas
fluid that is driven to one side or the other which then moves the structure. How-ever, this method of
sun-tracking is not accurate.

2.4 CHRONOLOGICAL TRACKING SYSTEM

Chronological tracker is a timer-based tracking system whereby the structure is moved at a fixed rate
throughout the day. The theory behind this is that the sun moves across the sky at a fixed rate. Thus the
motor or actuator is programmed to continuously rotate at a slow average rate of one revolution per day
(15 degrees per hour). This method of sun-tracking is very accurate. However, the continuous rotation
of the motor or actuator means more power consumption and tracking the sun on a very cloudy day is
unnecessary.

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CHAPTER# 3: DETAILS OF ACTIVE TRACKING SYSTEM

3.1 COMPONENTS USED

1) Four LDRs
2) Two 3.5 RPM DC motor
3) Control Of DC motor Using Relays
4) Arduino UNO R3

3.2 BLOCK DIAGRAM

2 WORM 4 LDR Arduino

chronological UNO
tracker is a timer-

4 Relay for Forward

Two 3.5 RPM
& Reverse Control
DC motor

12V DC
supply

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3.3 DESCRIPTION

For the purpose of clarity, the east-west of the tracker will be called the horizontal tracking while the
angular height tracker will be referred to as vertical tracking.

An active, dual-axis tracking system prototype has al-ready been designed and built by [4], which
consists of the sensor system to determine the position of the sun and a control system which reads data
from the sensors to command the movement of the tracker. A program to control the tracking system has
been also developed [4]. The sensor system consists of two sensors: one to deter-mine the position of the
sun in the sky and another to determine the position of the suns movement from east to west. Each
sensor consists of two Cadmium Sulphate (CdS) light dependent resistors (LDRs).

The LDRs were placed as shown in Figure 6, a shadow will fall on one of the LDRs when the sensor is
not pointing directly toward the sun resulting in difference of the level of resistance between the two
LDRs. This difference will be detected by the Arduino in the control system and will move the tracker
accordingly so that both LDRs are pointing towards the sun.

Figure 6: Sensor response once a shadow is cast on one LDR

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3.4 SUN MOVEMENT THROUGHOUT YEAR

To decide how the tracker would move, it is important to consider the movement of the sun in the sky
through-out the year. The sun path diagram of Figure 7 shows the annual variation of the path of the sun
in Gandhinagar.

Figure 7: Sun path diagram for Gandhinagar, India

From the sun path diagram, the movement of the sun in the sky throughout the year in Gandhinagar can
be divided into three different scenarios. As the sun rises from the East to sets to the West, the sun path
may move in the Southern or Northern region, or it may move almost directly overhead.

If the path of the sun is in the Northern region, the structure must be able to track the sun from East to
West in anti-clockwise direction. If the path of the sun is in the Southern region, the structure must be
able to track the sun from East to West in clockwise direction. If the sun is moving overhead, only the

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axis which tracks the angular height of the sun will move. In all three situations, there must be a way to
turn back the tracker to its original position after it has followed the movement of the sun from morning
to dusk. To achieve this, limit switches are added to the system. When the limit switch is triggered at the
end of the day, the tracker will move back to its original position.

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CHAPTER#4: INTERFACING OPENSOURCE HARDWARE WITH
MATLAB

4.1 Open Source Hardware

Open-source hardware (OSHW) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered in the
same manner as free and open-source software (FOSS). Open-source hardware is part of the open-
source culture movement and applies a like concept to a variety of components. The term usually means
that information about the hardware is easily discerned. Hardware design (i.e. mechanical
drawings, schematics, bill of materials, PCBlayout data, HDL source code and integrated circuit layout
data), in addition to the software that drives the hardware, are all released with the FOSS approach.

Different Open source hardware

Arduino
LEGO Mind storm Nxt
Panda Board
Beagle Board etc.

4.2 Arduino
Arduino is a tool for making computers that can sense and control more of the physical world than your
desktop computer. It's an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple microcontroller
board, and a development environment for writing software for the board.

Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking inputs from a variety of switches or sensors,
and controlling a variety of lights, motors, and other physical outputs. Arduino projects can be stand-
alone, or they can be communicating with software running on your computer (e.g. Flash,
Processing, Max MSP.) The boards can be assembled by hand or purchased preassembled; the open-
source IDE can be downloaded for free.

The Arduino programming language is an implementation of Wiring, a similar physical computing

platform, which is based on the Processing multimedia programming environment.

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 Why Arduino?

There are many other microcontrollers and microcontroller platforms available for physical computing.
Parallax Basic Stamp, Netmedia's BX-24, Phidgets, MIT's Handyboard, and many others offer similar
functionality. All of these tools take the messy details of microcontroller programming and wrap it up in
an easy-to-use package. Arduino also simplifies the process of working with microcontrollers, but it
offers some advantage for teachers, students, and interested amateurs over other systems:

Inexpensive - Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to other microcontroller

platforms. The least expensive version of the Arduino module can be assembled by hand, and even the
pre-assembled Arduino modules cost less than $50

Cross-platform - The Arduino software runs on Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux operating
systems. Most microcontroller systems are limited to Windows.

Simple, clear programming environment - The Arduino programming environment is easy-to-use

for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users to take advantage of as well. For teachers, it's
conveniently based on the Processing programming environment, so students learning to program in that
environment will be familiar with the look and feel of Arduino.

Open source and extensible software- The Arduino software is published as open source tools,
available for extension by experienced programmers. The language can be expanded through C++
libraries, and people wanting to understand the technical details can make the leap from Arduino to the
AVR C programming language on which it's based. Similarly, you can add AVR-C code directly into
your Arduino programs if you want to.

Open source and extensible hardware -The Arduino is based on

Atmel's ATMEGA328 microcontroller. The plans for the modules are published under a Creative
Commons license, so experienced circuit designers can make their own version of the module, extending
it and improving it. Even relatively inexperienced users can build the breadboard version of the module
in order to understand how it works and save money.

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 Figure 8: Arduino

4.3MATLAB Interface for Arduino:

MATLAB and Simulink support Arduino, an inexpensive,
open-source microcontroller board. Arduino boards
provide flexibility for introducing concepts such as signal
processing and mechatronics.

Features of the Arduino platform include:

Wide adoption and useful support from numerous websites, newsgroups, and user forums Extensibility
through plug-in boards for a broad range of applications, such as motor control, wireless
communication, audio processing, and data logging Easy setup of simple signal processing or motor
control projects

MATLAB and Simulink support two Arduino boards:

Arduino Mega 2560 board (recommended), which features:

ATmega2560 processor running at 16 MHz

128 KB of flash memory
16 analog and 54 digital I/O channels with 14 PWM outputs
Built-in USB, SPI, and I2C/TWI connectivity
Arduino Uno board, which features:

ATmega328 processor running at 16 MHz

32 KB of flash memory
6 analog and 14 digital I/O channels with 6 PWM outputs
Built-in USB, SPI, and I2C/TWI connectivity

Required Code For Arduino Interface With MATLAB:

This lets you control your Arduino board over USB from a MATLAB session, in either Windows, Mac
or Linux. For example you can instantiate an Arduino object from MATLAB using:

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>> a=arduino('COM32');

Figure 9: Arduino Initialization

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17
CHAPTER#5: INTERFACING LDRs WITH MATLAB

5.1 CONNECTION DESCRIPTION

A light sensor (LDR or Light Dependent Resistor) is a simple component that provides a variable
resistance those changes with light, which we can read into the Arduino board as an analog value. if
light intensity increases value of resistant is decreases.

Material needed:

Arduino board
LDR
1 k ohm resistor
3 cables

We connect three wires to the Arduino board. The first goes to ground from one of the pins of the LDR.
The second goes from 5 volts to one of the pins of the 1 k ohm resistor, the other pin of the resistor goes
to the free pin in the LDR. The third goes from analog input 2 to the LDR pin that is connected to the
resistor.

5.2 CIRCUITE DIAGRAM AND CONNECTION ON BRADBORD

FIGURE 10: CIRCUIT CONNECTION OF LDR

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If change in the amount of light incident on the LDR, we change the amount of resistance on the LDR,
witch changes the voltage value, giving us a different analog input. We'll read different values between 0
(for 0V) and 1023 (for 5V).

For read this value MATLAB provide following code:

ar=a.analogRead(2)

here Arduino convert analog value to digital value by using AtoD converter, which is already configured
on board. So MATLAB get the value between 0 to 1023. Now from above command MATLAB save
LDR save the value of resistance in ar. So like this we can stored values of four LDR and compare
them with each other in pair. So by comparing two LDRs we can sense change in light intensity from
both direction horizontal as well as vertical.

FIGURE 11: CONNECTION OF LDR WITH ARDUINO

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 4

3.5 RPM 12V

DC servo

Forward/Rev
erse control
relays

Arduino UNO
R3

Figure 12: connection of whole project

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CHAPTER#6 CODING

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 CHAPTER#7 FUTURE SCOPE

Circuit of comparison of two values of LDR resistance using Microcontroller

AT89c51 is very complicated.

So, we use the Arduino and MATLAB program where Arduino works as channel

between LDRs, two motors & MATLAB.

We can also provide RTC by just programming in MATLAB which switch rotation of

motor to set plate at its original position.

We can also make GUI for simple operation for start and stop the whole program and also we

can also monitor continuously value of LDRs.

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CONCLUSION

At maximum, the solar tracker was perpendicular to the light source by 1.5 degrees. The
built system had a calculated annual energy gain of 48.982% compared to an immobile
solar panel. Compared to a single axis tracker, the dual-axis tracker had an annual energy
gain of 36.504%.

Furthermore, testing showed that the power used by the tracking system built was much
less than the power gained by tracking the sun accurately. This means that if the tracking
system were to charge its own batteries, it would be entirely self-sufficient except for
maintenance.

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REFRANCE

[1] Bailis, Robert. Wood in Household Energy Use. Encyclopedia of Energy. 2004.
Pages 516, & 518.

[2] Ackermann, T., Andersson, G., Sder, L. Distributed generation: a definition.

Electric Power Systems Research. April 2000. Page 195.

[3] Banerjee, Comparison of Options for Distributed Generation in India. Energy

Policy. Pages 105-110.

[4] Goetzberger, A., Hebling, C., Schock, H.. Photovoltaic materials, history, status and
outlook. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports. 2002.

[5] Mousazadeh, H., Keyhani, A., Javadi, A., Mobli, H., Abrinia, K., Sharifi, A.. A
review of principle and sun-tracking methods for maximizing solar systems output.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. January 2009. Pages 1800, 1800, 1804,
1806, & 1812.

[6] Krauter, Stefan. Solar Electrical Power Generation: Photovoltaic Energy Systems.
Springer. 2006. Pages 21-22.

[7] Mehleri, E., Zervas, P., Sarimveis, H., Palyvos, J., Markatos, N.. Determination of
the optimal tilt angle and orientation for solar photovoltaic arrays. Renewable Energy.
April 2010. Page 2469.

[8] Sefa, I., Demirtas, M., olak, I.. Application of One-Axes sun Tracking System.
Energy Conversion and Management. 2009. Page 2710.

[9] Poulek, V., Libra, M.. A Very Simple Solar tracker for Space and Terrestrial
Applications. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 2009. Pages 99-101.

[10] http://arduino.cc/en/

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_tracker

[13] http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/gandhinagar.html

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