A Mini Project Report on

AUTOMATIC SOLAR GRASS CUTTER

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree Bachelor
of Technology in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
By
G.Sai Thanuja 16251A0218
A.Meghana Chowdary 16 251A0201
K.Radhika 17255A0201
C.JayaChandrika 16251A0209
P.Srujana 16251A0255
Under the esteemed guidance of
Mr.P.Suresh
Assistant professor, Dept. of EEE

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

G. NARAYANAMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE
(For Women(ISO Certified & NBA accredited Institution)
(Affiliated to JNTUH, Kukatpally, Hyderabad) HYDERABAD – 500 008, TS.,
INDIA
September, 2019

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 G. NARAYANAMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
(FOR WOMEN)
Shaikpet, Hyderabad - 500 008

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Mini Project Report on “AUTOMATIC SOLAR GRASS CUTTER” which
is being submitted by G.Sai Thanuja(16251A0218), A.Meghana Chowdary(16251A0201), K.Radhika
(17255A0201), C.Jayachandrika(16251A0209) and P.Srujana(16251A0255) in partial fulfilment for
the award of Bachelor of Technology Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering to the
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University is a record of bonafide work carried out by them under
our guidance and supervisions. The results embodied in this thesis have not been submitted to other
University or Institution for the award of any Degree.

Mrs. K.Swarna Latha Mr P.Suresh

Asst. Professor, Dept. of EEE Asst. Professor, Dept. of EEE

Mini Project Coordinator Mini Project Guide

Dr. N.Malla Reddy

Professor and HOD

Dept. of EEE

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are extremely thankful and indebted to our guide Mr.P.Suresh, Asst.Prof of EEE,
GNITS for his constant guidance, encouragement and moral support throughout the project. We are
extremely thankful to Mrs. K.SwarnaLatha, Asst.Prof of EEE, GNITS, Mini Project Coordinator for
her encouragement and support throughout the project.
Our sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr.N.Malla Reddy, Prof and HOD of EEE, GNITS for
all the timely support and valuable suggestions during the period of our project.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr.K.Ramesh Reddy, Principal, GNITS for
providing working facilities in the college.
Finally, we would also like to thank all the faculty and staff of EEE department who helped
us directly or indirectly, parents and friends for their cooperation in completing the project work.

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 ABSTRACT

These days we face problems like shortage of work labour, electricity etc. In order to Overcome
these problems we came up with an idea of a device which helps in cutting the grass without any
human interaction. A Solar grass cutter is a machine that uses sliding blades to cut a lawn at an even
length. Even more sophisticated devices are there in every field. Power consumption becomes essential
for future. Solar grass cutter is a very useful device which is very simple in construction. It is used to
maintain and upkeep lawns in gardens, schools, college’s etc. We have made some changes in the
existing machine to make its application easier at reduced cost. This system uses Renewable energy
sources like Solar energy.

This project aims to develop a portable “Solar Operated Grass Cutter”. In this, a solar panel is
connected to battery which is connected to the motor and the motor is connected to a blade shaft.
This will rotate the blade in high speed and cuts the grass. This project also involves automation,
obstacle detector and a solar panel is attached on Robotic Chassis as to reduce the power problems.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction..................................................................................................1
1.1. Objective of the project ..…..…………………………………………2
1.2. Why Solar Energy?................................................................................3
2. Hardware Components..................................................................................4
2.1. Solar panel…………….........................................................................4
2.1.1 Types of Solar panel............................................................................5
2.1.2. How Solar Panel works......................................................................6
2.2. Batteries……….....................................................................................7
2.3. Ultra sonic sensor..................................................................................8
2.4. Arduino UNO........................................................................................9
2.5. DC Motor .…........................................................................................10
2.6. Cutter....................................................................................................11
2.7. Wheels..................................................................................................12
2.8. Motor driver………..............................................................................13
3. Circuit diagram and Working......................................................................14
3.1. Circuit Diagram....................................................................................14
3.2. Working of solar powered grass cutter................................................14
4. Software……………………………………………………………......…15
5. Advantages and Disadvantages…………………………………….…….27
6. Output of the project……………………………………………………...28
7. Future Scope………………………………………………………....…..29
8. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..30
9. References……...……………………………………………………..…31

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 LIST OF FIGURES

1) Fig 2.1.Solar Panel....................................................................................4

2) Fig 2.1.2 Photovoltaic module ..…..….……..………………………….6
3) Fig 2.2 Battery…………..........................................................................7
4) Fig 2.3 Ultrasonic sensor.........................................................................8
5) Fig 2.4 Ardunio UNO.……......................................................................9
6) Fig 2.5 DC Motor....................................................................................10
7) Fig 2.6 Types of Cutter……..................................................................11
8) Fig 2.7 Wheels………............................................................................12
9) Fig 2.8 Motor driver interfacing with Micro controller.........................13
10) Fig 3.0 Circuit........................................................................................14
11) Fig 6.0 Output of the project……………………………………….....28

LIST OF TABLES
1) Table 2.4 Summary of Arduino UNO Microcontroller Board ……….9

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 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 WHAT IS NANOTECHNOLOGY?

The pursuit of nanotechnology comprises a wide variety of disciplines: chemistry, physics,

mechanical engineering, materials science, molecular biology, and computer science.

Fig.1.Structur of Nanotechnology

In order to the miniaturization of integrated circuits well into the present century, it is likely
that present day, nano-scale or nano electronic device designs will be replaced with new designs for
devices that take advantage of the quantum mechanical effects that dominate on the much smaller
,nanometer scale .

Nanotechnology is often referred to as general purpose technology. That is because in its

mature form it will have significant impact on almost all industries and all areas of society. It offers
better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer and smarter products for the home, for ammunition, for
medicine and for industries for ages. These properties of nanotechnology have been made use of in
solar cells. Solar energy is really an abundant source that is renewable and pollution free. This form
of energy has very wide applications ranging from small household items, calculators to larger things
like two wheelers, cars etc. they make use of solar cell that coverts the energy from the sun into
required form.

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 2. CONVENTIONAL SOLAR CELL

Basically conventional type solar cells Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made of special materials
called semiconductors such as silicon, which is currently the most commonly used. Basically, when
light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means
that the energy of the absorbed light is transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons
loose, allowing them to flow freely. PV cells also all have one or more electric fields that act to force
electrons freed by light absorption to flow in a certain direction. This flow of electrons is a current,
and by placing metal contacts on the top and bottom of the PV cell, we can draw that current off to
use externally.

For example, the current can power a calculator. This current, together with the cell's voltage
(which is a result of its built-in electric field or fields), defines the power (or wattage) that the solar
cell can produce.

Conventional semiconductor solar cells are made by polycrystalline silicon or in the case of
highest efficiency ones crystalline gallium arsenide.

But by this type of solar cell, it is observed that, only 35% of the suns total energy falling on it
could be judiciously used. Also, this is not so favorable on cloudy days, thus creating a problem. This
major drawback led to the thought of development of a new type of solar cell embedded with
nanotechnology. The process involved in this is almost the same as explained earlier. But the basic
difference lies in the absorption of the wavelength of light from the sun.

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 Fig.2. Conventional Solar Cell

2.1 HOW DO SOLAR PANEL WORKS??

The Earth intercepts a lot of solar power:173 thousand terawatts.That’s then thousand times more
power than the planet’s population uses.So is it possible that one day the world could be completely
reliant on solar energy?To answer that question we first need to examine how solar panels convert
solar energy to electrical energy.

Solar panels are made up of smaller units called solar cells.The most common solar cells are
made from silicon, a semiconductor that is the second most abundant element on Earth.In a solar cell,
crystalline slicon is sandwiched between conductive layers.Each silicon atom is connected to its
neighbours by four strong bonds,which keep the electrons in place so no current can flow.A silicon
solar cell uses two different layers of silicon.An n-type silicon ha extra electrons, and p-type silicon
has extra spaces for electrons,called holes. Where the two types of silicon meet, electron can wander
across the p/n junction, leaving a positive charge on one side and creating negative charge on the
other.Light is a flow of tiny particles called Photons, shooting out from the sun.When one of these
photons strikes the silicon cell wth enough energy, it can knock an electron from its bond,leaving a
hole.The negatively charged electron and location of the positively charged hole are now free to ove

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around.But because of the electric field at the p/n junction, they will only go one way. The electron is
drawn in the n-side, while the hole is drawn to the p-side. The mobile electrons are collected by thin
metallic fingers at the top of the cell. From there ,they flow through an external circuit, doing electric
work like powering a lightbulb, before returning to conductive aluminum sheet on the back.

Each silicon cell only puts out half a volt, but you can string them together in modules to get
more power. Twelve photovoltaic cells are enough to charge a cellphone, while it takes many modules
to power an entire house.Electrons are only moving particles in a solar cell, and they all go back where
they came from.There’s nothing to get worn out or used up, so solar cells last for decades.

If sunlight is reflected instead of absorbed,

Fig.3 Working of Conventional Solar Cell

3. INFRARED PLASTIC SOLAR CELL

Scientists have invented a plastic solar cell that can turn the suns power into electric energy even on
a cloudy day.

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 Fig.4.Infrared Plastic Solar Cell

Plastic solar cells are not new .But existing materials are only able to harness the sun’s visible light. While half
of the sun’s power lies in the visible spectrum, the other half lies in the infrared spectrum. The new material
is first plastic compound that is able to harness infrared portion. Every warm body emits heat. This heat is
emitted even by man and by animals, even when it is dark outside.

The plastic material uses nanotechnology and contains the 1stgeneration solar cells that can harness
the sun’s invisible infrared rays. This breakthrough made us to believe that plastic solar cells could one day
become more efficient than the current solar cell. The researchers combined specially designed nano particles
called quantum dots with a polymer to make the plastic that can detect energy in the infrared.

With further advances the new plastic solar cell could allow up to 30% of sun’s radiant energy to be
harnessed completely when compared to only 6% in today plastic best plastic solar cells.

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 A large amount of sun’s energy could be harnessed through solar farms and used to power all our
energy needs. This could potentially displace other source of electrical production that produce green house
gases like coal.

Solar energy reaching the earth is 10000 times than what we consume. If we could cover 0.1% of the
earth’s surface with the solar farms we could replace all our energy habits with a source of power which is
clear and renewable.

The first crude solar cells have achieved efficiencies of today’s standard commercial photovoltaic’s
the best solar cell, which are very expensive semiconductor laminates convert at most, 35% of the sun’s energy
into electricity.

3.1. WORKING OF PLASTIC SOLAR CELL

The solar cell created is actually a hybrid, comprised of tiny nanorods dispersed in an organic polymer
or plastic. A layer only 200 nanometers thick is sandwiched between electrodes and can produce at present
about .7 volts. The electrode layers and nanorods /polymer layers could be applied in separate coats, making
production fairly easy. And unlike today’s semiconductor-based photovoltaic devices, plastic solar cells can be
manufactured in solution in a beaker without the need for clean rooms or vacuum chambers.

The technology takes advantage of recent advances in nanotechnology specifically the production of
nanocrystals and nanorods. These are chemically pure clusters of 100 to 100000 atoms with dimensions of
the order of a nanometer, or a billionth of a meter. Because of their small size, they exhibit unusual and
interesting properties governed by quantum mechanics, such as the absorption of different colors of light
depending upon their size. Nanorods were made of a reliable size out of cadmium selenide, a semi conducting
material.

Nanorods are manufactured in a beaker containing cadmium selenide, aiming for rods of diameter-7
nanometers to absorb as much sunlight as possible. The length of the nanorods may be approximately
60nanometers.Then the nanorods are mixed with a plastic semiconductor called p3ht-poly-(3-
hexylthiophene) a transparent electrode is coated with the mixture. The thickness, 200 nanometers-a
thousandth the thickness of a human hair-is a factor of 10 less than the micron-thickness of semiconductor
solar cells. An aluminium coating acting as the back electrode completed the device. The nanorods act like
wires. When they absorb light of a specific wavelength, they generate an electron plus an electron hole-a
vacancy in the crystal that moves around just like an electron. The electron travels the length of the rod until

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it is collected by aluminium electrode. The hole is transferred to the plastic, which is known as a hole-carrier,
and conveyed to the electrode, creating a current.

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 Fig.5. Construction of Infrared Plastic Solar Cell

3.2 IMPROVEMENTS

Some of the obvious improvements include better light collection and concentration, which already are
employed in commercial solar cells. Significant improvements can be made in the plastic, nanorods mix, too,
ideally packing the nanorods closer together, perpendicular to the electrodes, using minimal polymer, or even
none-the nanorods would transfer their electrons more directly to the electrode. In their first-generation solar
cells, the nanorods are jumbled up in the polymer, leading to losses of current via electron-hole recombination
and thus lower efficiency.

They also hope to tune the nanorods to absorb different colors to span the spectrum of sunlight. An
eventual solar cell has three layers each made of nanorods that absorb at different wavelength.

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 4. APPLICATIONS

1. Silicon possesses some nanoscale properties. This is being exploited in the development of a
super thin disposable solar panel poster which could offer the rural dwellers a cheap and an
alternative source of power. Most people living in remote areas are not linked to national
electricity grid and use batteries or run their own generator to supply their power needs.
Disposal solar panels can be made in thin sheets with about 6-10 sheets stacked together and
made into a poster can help them to some extent in this regard. This poster could be mounted
behind a window or attached to a cabinet.
2. Like paint the compound can also be sprayed onto other materials and used as portable
electricity.
3. Any chip coated in the material could power cell phone or other wireless devices.
4. A hydrogen powered car painted with the film could potentially convert energy into electricity
to continually recharge the car’s battery.
5. One day solar farms consisting of plastic materials could be rolled across deserts to generate
enough clear energy to supply the entire planet’s power needs.

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 5. ADVANTAGES

Plastic solar cells are quite a lot useful in the coming future. This is because of the large number of
advantages it has got. Some of the major advantages are:

1. They are considered to be 30% more efficient when compared to conventional solar cells.
2. They are more efficient and more practical in application.
3. Traditional solar cells are bulky panels. This is very compact.
4. Conventional solar cells are only used for large applications with big budgets. But the plastic
solar cells are feasible as they can be even sewn into fabric- thus having vast applications.
5. Flexible, roller processed solar cells have the potential to turn the sun’s power into a clean,
green, consistent source of energy.

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 6. CONCLUSION

Plastic solar cells help in exploiting the infrared radiation from the sun’s rays. They are more effective
when compared to the conventional solar cell. The major advantage they enjoy is that they can even work on
cloudy days, which is not possible in the former. They are more compact and less bulky. Though at present,
cost is a major drawback, it is bound be solved in the near future as scientists are working in that direction.
As explained earlier, if the solar farms can become a reality, it could possibly solve the planets problem of
depending too much on the fossil fuels, without a chance of even polluting the environment.

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 6. REFERENCES

1. Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties and Applications: Edelstein, A. S., Cammarata R. C., Eds.;
Institute of Physics Publishing: Bristol and Philadelphia, 1996.

2. The Coming Era of Nanotechnology; 1987. Drexler, K. Eric, Doubleday; New York

3. A gentle introduction to the next big idea-Mark A. Ratner, Daniel Ratner.

4. Introduction to nanotechnology- Charles P Poole, Frank J Owens

5. The clean power revolution- Troy Helming

6. Solar energy-fundamentals, design, modeling, applications- G.N. Tiwari

7. Thin film solar cells next generation photovoltaic and its application- Y Hamakawa
8. http://www.seminarstopics.com

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