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Abstract

Renewable energy is rapidly gaining importance as an energy resource as fossil fuel prices fluctuate. At the educational level, it is therefore critical for engineering and technology students to have an understanding and appreciation of the technologies associated with renewable energy. One of the most popular renewable energy sources is solar energy. This paper describes a capstone design project where a student in electronics engineering technology designed and built a microcontroller based solar panel tracking system. Solar tracking enables more energy to be generated because the solar panel is able to maintain a perpendicular profile to the suns rays. This system builds upon a prior senior design project where students built a solarpowered battery charger, thus making this system ideally selfcontained. The student was able to demonstrate a working system, thus validating the design. Potential improvements to the system are presented.
ABSTRACT In this project we design the system for tracking the solar panel automatically. It is microcontroller based system . we have used the microcontroller 89C51 for automatic tracking operation. Two photodiodes are fixed in such a way that one of them faces the east side(P1) and other face the west side(P2). When sun rays falls on P1 Solar panel moves towards east side and when sun rays are falls on P2 solar panel moves towards west sides. The solar pannel converts the incident light of sun into electric signals and then the electricity produced is stored in the 6v rechargable battery. This stored electricity can be used to glow light or to work any 6v electronic/electric device. Electricity produced from photovoltaic cells does not result in air or water pollution, deplete natural resources, or endanger animal or human health. The only potential negative impacts are associated with some toxic chemicals, like cadmium and arsenic, that are used in the production process. These environmental impacts are minor and can be easily controlled through recycling and proper disposal.

Nowadays electricity is one of the basic necessities of mankind. As the demand of electricity is increasing day by day, there is need to exploit renewable sources of energy. In the current era of

Abstract

power shortage in Pakistan, the use of solar energy could be beneficial to great extent. Considering the high cost of solar panels, our project addresses to analyze, design and implement an efficient algorithm for power extraction from solar panel using dc-dc converter and then utilizing that power for the electricity requirement of off-grid system. Moreover this project also address to the study of boosting efficiency of solar system by two dimensional sun tracking.

Acknowledgements
In the name of ALLAH, who is the most merciful, the most compassionate; the one and only supreme power, the one whose will makes everything possible, and the one without whose will the simplest is impossible. All thanks to our beloved Family members for their prayers, guidance, support and care. They dreamed for our future and advised us to work hard to fulfill their dreams. Without their moral and financial support it would not have been possible for us to become supreme professionals. We are really thankful to Dr. Mian Muhammad Saleem, our project supervisor for his kind support and guidance during each and every phase of this project. We also thank to Babar Bhai who helped us a lot in design and manufacturing of sun tracking structure. Finally, we are also indebted to the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore which supported us throughout our stay by providing their best teachers, equipped labs and with suitable conditions for us to work on the project.

Dedications
Dedicated to Our Beloved Parents & Family Who Provided Us Every Opportunity to Achieve Our Goals and to Our Teachers Who Tried Their Level Best to Convey Us the Knowledge They Had.

DEDICATIONS ............................................................................................ ..............................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... .........................................................4 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................. ...............................................................5 TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................. .............................6 1. ENERGY ................................................................................................................. ...........................................8 1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ ........8 1.2 ENERGY CRISIS IN PAKISTAN .............................................................................................................................8 1.3 SOURCES OF ENERGY ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 WHY EVERY KIND OF ENERGY IS CONVERTED INTO ELECTRIC ENERGY ............................................................ 13 1.5 METHODS TO GENERATE ELECTRIC ENERGY .................................................................................................... 13 2. SOLAR ENERGY ................................................................................................................. ........................... 15 2.1 AVERAGE ENERGY OVER THE YEARS ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 HOW SOLAR ENERGY IS USED? .............................................................................................................................. . 16 2.3 SOLAR CELLS ........................................................................................................................................ ............. 16 2.4 CONSTRUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ ......... 20 2.5 SOLAR MODULE AND ARRAY ................................................................................................................................. 21 2.6 THEORY OF SOLAR CELLS ...................................................................................................................................... 22 3. ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOLAR CELLS AND MAXIMUM POWER POINT ................ 25 3.1 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OF A SOLAR CELL ........................................................................................................... 25 3.2 CHARACTERISTIC EQUATION ............................................................................................................................ 26

3.3 I-V CURVE OF SOLAR CELL ............................................................................................................................. 28 4. DC-DC CONVERTERS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MPPT ................................................................... 30 4.1 DC-DC CONVERTER TYPES ............................................................................................................................. 30 4.2 BUCK CONVERTER ........................................................................................................................................ . 31 4.3 OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF MPPT .................................................................................................................... 32 5. SUN TRACKING ................................................................................................................. ............................ 33 5.1 NEED OF SUN TRACKING ................................................................................................................................ 33 5.2 HOW TO TRACK ........................................................................................................................................ ..... 35 5.3 ALGORITHMS FOR SUN TRACKING ................................................................................................................... 37 5.4 SENSORS ........................................................................................................................................ ................ 38 5.5 OUR STRUCTURE FOR SOLAR TRACKING .......................................................................................................... 39 6. INVERTERS ................................................................................................................. ................................... 41 6.1 CIRCUIT TOPOLOGIES USED IN INVERTERS ........................................................................................................ 41 6.2 OUTPUT WAVEFORM ...................................................................................................................................... 42 6.3 THREE-PHASE INVERTERS ............................................................................................................................... 43 6.4 CONTROL SIGNALS ........................................................................................................................................ . 43 7. COMMERCIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SOLAR SYSTEM...................................................................... 44 7.1 GRID-TIED SYSTEMS ...................................................................................................................................... 44 7.2 OFF-GRID SOLAR SYSTEMS .............................................................................................................................. 46 7.3 SOLAR BATTERY BACKUP - THE PROS AND CONS OF SOLAR BATTERY SYSTEMS ............................................... 46 8. FINAL IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR SYSTEM .......................................................................................... 47 8.1 SOLAR PANEL ........................................................................................................................................ ........ 47

8.2 DC-DC CONVERTER ...................................................................................................................................... 49 8.3 SUN TRACKING........................................................................................................................... .................... 49 8.4 CONTROL PART ........................................................................................................................................ ...... 49 8.5 TRANSFORMER ........................................................................................................................................ ....... 50 8.6 BATTERY ........................................................................................................................................ ............... 51 8.7 INVERTER ........................................................................................................................................ .............. 52 8.8 SCHEMATICS ........................................................................................................................................ .......... 53 8.9 PCB LAYOUT ........................................................................................................................................ ......... 56 A. BATTERIES ................................................................................................................. ................................... 58 A.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ ............ 58 A.2 CATEGORIES OF BATTERIES ...................................................................................................................................... 59 B. TRANSFORMER DESIGN ................................................................................................................. ............. 62 C. INDUCTOR DESIGN ................................................................................................................. ..................... 63 D. SOURCE CODE......................................................................................................... ........................................... 64 D.1 16F877A_MODIFIED.H ........................................................................................................................................ .. 64 D.2 ALLOCATIONS.H ........................................................................................................................................ ............ 79 D.3 SPECSANDDEFS.H ........................................................................................................................................ ......... 83 D.4 MAIN.C ........................................................................................................................................ ...................... 85

D.5 MPPT.C ........................................................................................................................................ ..................... 88 D.6 SUNTRACK.C ........................................................................................................................................ ................ 95 D.7 LCD.C ........................................................................................................................................ ........................ 99 D.8 MISC.C ........................................................................................................................................ ..................... 104 REFERENCES ............................................................................................. ........................................................... 106

1. Energy
1.1 Introduction
Energy is fundamental to the quality of our lives. Nowadays, we are totally dependent on an abundant and uninterrupted supply of energy for living and working. It is a key ingredient in all sectors of modern economies. We use it constantly at home, at work and for leisure. Energy maintains our standard of living and economy. From the time you wake up to the time

you go to sleep at night, energy has affected your life. Energy is important in everyones life, whether you notice it or not. Without it people would have a harder time waking up and an even harder time getting anywhere. Energy is important in many ways like. You wake up to the sound of your alarm clock, in a nice warm home. Energy is important to heat our homes, and most houses have gas, oil or electric heaters. The mechanical energy in a wind up alarm or electric energy in a battery or plug in alarm is important to wake you up. Energy is needed to heat water, which is used when you take a shower or wash your face in the morning. Energy even effects when you put on fresh clothes in the morning. Your clothing were probably made in a factory, which was powered by electricity. Now a days energy has become more important for the collective good than individuals need. Electricity runs like blood through the veins of economy without it the economy will tremble and it will be difficult for it to survive. Taking in account the diminishing natural resource known to mankind it the need of the hour, that someone stood up and discover new horizons explore more possibilities and bring forward new ideas to fulfill the exponentially increasing energy needs of the worlds population.

1.2

Energy Crisis in Pakistan

Energy is one of the most problematic issues in the world. Whereas oil prices are steadily rising and no stability is seen in near future. Demands of energy from the emerging markets like China and India growing day by day. Pakistan with official figures of growth rate of 8% will have a definite rise in demand of energy for minimum 3% In USA the Gulf of Mexico is famous for oil producing and refining facilities. The prosperity of Houston is only due to oil industry being flourished. However the weather is not so kind on this area and hurricanes and

tornadoes commonly hit the southern part of USA and Caribbean. Such is the volatility of fuel market now that just news of one hurricane developing in Caribbean shoots the oil prices in the world. A few years before oil was being traded on 20$ and nobody ever thought that the weather conditions in the gulf can affect the oil market. Politically the Iran situation is deteriorating day by day where as Iraq condition is not stabilizing. Oil today is being traded around 65 $/, and the most vital question now is what will happen if the prices rises to 75 $ or even one hundred $/barrel. Pakistan with small manufacturing market, surrounded by major emerging economies like China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh will be worst effected with the rise of energy prices. As a rule of thumb modern day manufacturing industries utilize at least 33% production cost in terms of energy prices. An increase of energy cost will affect their production cost and will force the manufacturers that either to reduce the labor cost or to remain competitive in market by improving the quality standards. Major giants China and India will benefit with this condition and smaller economies will suffer badly. Are our policy makers in Islamabad thinking for the gravity of problem which is now just standing on our door step? On famous oil embargo days a lot of research in Europe was carried out to find the alternate source of energy. However with the drop of oil prices such alternatives were uneconomical and therefore shelved. This is the time that Pakistan now asses very carefully that in case of oil prices rising to 75 $ what actions it should take to conserve energy and to find the alternate source of energy. A volunteer option for all energy users is to conserve energy. To make the plants more efficient and to see that each drop of petrol is saved .If we make serious study on this subject then we may achieve up to 20% saving in energy ,hence saving in our production cost and making our products more

attractive in international market. Of course the energy conservation programs cost money. However the investment will be rewarding and will be beneficial in long terms. Pakistans thermal units are day by day become aging, reducing their output power. With the rise of demand we are seeing an acute shortage of energy and hence load shedding and shutting of the industrial units. This will seriously affect our competitiveness in the international market. This is the responsibility of government to look for the alternate options for finding the energy resources. This investment can only be made by the federal government. This is the time of survival. Only the countries which are prepared for the worst will have a prosperous future. But it is extremely difficult for the government with the current economy to blindly invest a large amount in alternate energy projects. In light of above facts we volunteer to analyze, study and implement Alternate energy project and to see the difficulties and its cost comparison.

1.3 Sources of Energy


Nonrenewable
Non-renewable energy is energy, taken from "finite resources that will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive or too environmentally damaging to retrieve", as opposed to renewable energy sources, which "are naturally replenished in a relatively short period of time. Following are the details of some Non-renewable energy sources know to man from at least two centuries. Coal Coal, a fossil fuel, is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as one of the largest worldwide anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide emissions. Gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage are slightly more than those from petroleum and about double the amount from natural gas. Coal is extracted from the ground by mining,

either underground or in open pits. Petroleum Oil Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. Petroleum, in one form or another, is not a recent discovery but is now an important part of politics society and technology. The invention of the internal combustion engine was the major influence in the rise in the importance of petroleum. In the modern world petroleum has an influence across society, including geopolitics. Natural Gas Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane catharses, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas. Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane. The by-products of that processing include ethane, propane, butanes, pentanes and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, elemental sulfur, and sometimes helium and nitrogen. Nuclear Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. The only method in use today is through nuclear fission, though other methods might one day include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay (see below). All utility-scale reactors heat water to produce steam, which is then converted into mechanical work for the purpose of generating electricity or propulsion. In 2007, 14% of the world's electricity came from nuclear power. Also, more than 150 nuclear-powered naval vessels have been built, and a few radioisotope rockets have been produced. Nuclear power is

a low carbon power source.

Renewable
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resourcessuch as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heatwhich are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewable, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Hydroelectricity was the next largest renewable source, providing 3% of global energy consumption and 15% of global electricity generation. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 121,000 megawatts (MW) in 2008. The annual manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached 6,900 MW in 2008, The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.[8] Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA. While most renewable energy projects and production is large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20100 watt) solar power systems sold per year. Some renewable-energy technologies are criticized for being intermittent or unsightly, yet the renewable-energy market continues to grow. Climate-change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable-energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. New government spending, regulation and policies should help the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.

Sun The majority of renewable energy technologies are powered by the sun. The EarthAtmosphere system is in equilibrium such that heat radiation into space is equal to incoming solar radiation, the resulting level of energy within the EarthAtmosphere system can roughly be described as the Earth's "climate." The hydrosphere (water) absorbs a major fraction of the incoming radiation. Most radiation is absorbed at low latitudes around the equator, but this energy is dissipated around the globe in the form of winds and ocean currents. Wave motion may play a role in the process of transferring mechanical energy between the atmosphere and the ocean through wind stress. Solar energy is also responsible for the distribution of precipitation which is tapped by hydroelectric projects, and for the growth of plants used to create biofuels. Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Wind Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines range from around 600 kW to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines with rated output of 1.53 MW have become the most common for commercial use; the power output of a turbine is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases dramatically. Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as offshore and high altitude sites are preferred locations for wind farms. Geo Thermal Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, both from kilometers deep into the Earth's crust in some places of the globe or from some meters in geothermal heat pump in all the places of the planet. It is expensive to build a power station

but operating costs are low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites. Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in the Earth's core. Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator. Flash plants take hot water, usually at temperatures over 200 C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators and then runs the steam through a turbine. In binary plants, the hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid that spins the turbine. The condensed steam and remaining geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more heat. The geothermal energy from the core of the Earth is closer to the surface in some areas than in others. Where hot underground steam or water can be tapped and brought to the surface it may be used to generate electricity. There is also the potential to generate geothermal energy from hot dry rocks. Holes at least 3 km deep are drilled into the earth. Some of these holes pump water into the earth, while other holes pump hot water out. The heat resource consists of hot underground radiogenicgranite rocks, which heat up when there is enough sediment between the rock and the earths surface. Several companies in Australia are exploring this technology. Weather Power can also be obtained from sewage water. The technique used therefore is Microbial fuel cells. Also using the same microbial fuel cells, instead of from wastewater, energy may also be obtained directly from (certain) aquatic plants. These include reed sweet grass, cord grass, rice, tomatoes, lupines, alga. Bio Mass Plants use photosynthesis to grow and produce biomass. Also known as biomaterial, biomass can be used directly as fuel or to produce biofuels. Agriculturally produced biomass fuels,

such as biodiesel, ethanol and bagasse (often a by-product of sugar cane cultivation) can be burned in internal combustion engines or boilers. Typically biofuel is burned to release its stored chemical energy. Research into more efficient methods of converting biofuels and other fuels into electricity utilizing fuel cells is an area of very active work.

1.4 Why Every Kind of Energy is Converted into Electric Energy


Every kind of energy is preferably converted into electrical energy because: It is easy to store electric energy. In this era there many devices that can convert electrical energy into any other form of energy. It is easy to transport electric energy.

1.5 Methods to Generate Electric Energy

There are seven fundamental methods of directly transforming other forms of energy into electrical energy: A.1 Static electricity, from the physical separation and transport of charge (examples: turboelectric effect and lightning) A.2 Electromagnetic induction, where an electrical generator, dynamo or alternator transforms kinetic energy (energy of motion) into electricity A.3 Electrochemistry, the direct transformation of chemical energy into electricity, as in a battery, fuel cell or nerve impulse A.4 Photoelectric effect, the transformation of light into electrical energy, as in solar cells A.5 Thermoelectric effect, direct conversion of temperature differences to electricity, as in thermocouples and thermopiles A.6 Piezoelectric effect, from the mechanical strain of electrically anisotropic molecules or crystals A.7 Nuclear transformation, the creation and acceleration of charged particles (examples: betavoltaics or alpha particle emission)

Almost all commercial electrical generation is done using electromagnetic induction, in which mechanical energy forces an electrical generator to rotate. There are many different methods of developing the mechanical energy, including heat engines, hydro, wind and tidal power.

2. Solar
Energy
Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been exploiting by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a little fraction of the available solar energy is used. Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends. However, all renewable energies, other than geothermal and tidal, derive their energy from the sun. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive or active depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques use photovoltaic panels, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy and are considered supply side technologies, while passive solar technologies reduce the need for alternate resources and are generally considered demand side technologies.

2.1 Average Energy over the Years


The Earth receives 174 pet watts (PW) of incoming solar radiation at the upper atmosphere. Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly spread across the

visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part in the nearultraviolet. The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year. In 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world used in one year. Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in biomass. The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.

2.2 How Solar Energy is used?


Generate electricity using photovoltaic solar cells. Generate electricity using concentrated solar power. Generate electricity by heating trapped air which rotates turbines in a solar updraft tower. Generate hydrogen using photo electrochemical cells. Heat and cool air through use of solar chimneys. Heat buildings, directly, through passive solar building design. Heat foodstuffs, through solar ovens. Heat water or air for domestic hot water and space heating needs using solarthermal panels. Solar air conditioning

2.3 Solar Cells

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light directly into electricity by the

photovoltaic effect. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels, solar modules, or photovoltaic arrays.

Types of Solar Cells


Crystalline Historically, crystalline silicon (c-Si) has been used as the lightabsorbing semiconductor in most solar cells, even though it is a relatively poor absorber of light and requires a considerable thickness (several hundred microns) of material. Nevertheless, it

has proved convenient because it yields stable solar cells with good efficiencies (11-16%, half to two-thirds of the theoretical maximum) and uses process technology developed from the huge knowledge base of the microelectronics industry. Two types of crystalline silicon are used in the industry. The first is monocrystalline, produced by slicing wafers (up to 150mm diameter and 350 microns thick) from a high-purity single crystal boule. The second is multicrystalline silicon, made by sawing a cast block of silicon first into bars and then wafers. The main trend in crystalline silicon cell manufacture is toward multicrystalline technology. For both mono- and multicrystalline Si, a semiconductor homojunction is formed by diffusing phosphorus (an n-type dopant) into the top surface of the boron doped (p-type) Si wafer. Screen-printed contacts are applied to the front and rear of the cell, with the front

contact pattern specially designed to allow maximum light exposure of the Si material with minimum electrical (resistive) losses in the cell. Amorphous An amorphous solar cell is a type of solar cell that is relatively cheap to produce and widely available. They are named so because of their composition at the microscopic scale. Amorphous means "without shape". When the term is applied to solar cells it means that the silicon material that makes up the cell is not highly structured or crystallized. Amorphous solar cells are usually created by applying doped silicon material to the back of a plate of glass. The cells usually appear dark brown on the sun-facing side and silvery on the conductive side. When produced as a solar panel (a collection of many solar cells) it will appear to have several thin parallel lines running across its surface. These thin lines are actually breaks in the N and P layers of the silicon substrate and they create the boundaries of individual cells in the panel. Amorphous solar panels usually come without any obvious hook-up points or wires. It can be very puzzling to figure out how to use them! CIGS Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) is a I-III-VI2 compound semiconductor material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium. The material is a solid solution of copper indium selenide (often abbreviated "CIS") and copper gallium selenide, with a chemical formula of CuInxGa(1-x)Se2, where the value of x can vary from 1 (pure copper indium selenide) to 0 (pure copper gallium selenide). It is a tetrahedrally-bonded semiconductor, with the chalcopyrite crystal structure, and a bandgap varying continuously with x from about 1.0eV (for copper indium selenide) to about 1.7eV (for copper gallium selenide). It is used as light absorber material for thin-film solar cells. CIGS is mainly used in photovoltaic cells (CIGS cells), in the form of polycrystalline thin

films. Unlike the silicon cells based on a homojunction p-n junction, the structure of CIGS cells is a more complex heterojunction system. The best efficiency achieved as of December 2005 was 19.5% reported by Contreras et al. A team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory achieved 19.9% new world record efficiency by modifying the CIGS surface and making it look like CIS. This idea was first introduced in the IEEE conference in 2005. The 19.9% efficiency is by far the highest compared with those achieved by other thin film technologies such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) or amorphous silicon (a-Si). . As for CIS, and CGS solar cells, the world record total area efficiencies are 15.0% and 10.2% respectively. CIGS solar cells are not as efficient as crystalline silicon solar cells, for which the record efficiency lies at 24.7%, but they are expected to be substantially cheaper. CIGS can be deposited directly onto molybdenum coated glass sheets in a polycrystalline form, saving the (energy) expensive step of growing large crystals, as necessary for solar cells made from crystalline silicon. The latter are made of slices of solid silicon and require therefore more expensive semiconductor material.

Cross-section of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cell

Three generation of Solar Cells


Solar Cells are classified into three generations which indicates the order of which each became important. At present there is concurrent research into all three generations while the first generation technologies are most highly represented in commercial production, accounting for 89.6% of 2007 production. First generation First generation cells consist of large-area, high quality and single junction devices. First Generation technologies involve high energy and labor inputs which prevent any significant progress in reducing production costs. Single junction silicon devices are approaching the theoretical limiting efficiency of 31% and achieve cost parity with fossil fuel energy generation after a payback period of 57 years. Second generation Second generation materials have been developed to address energy requirements and production costs of solar cells. Alternative manufacturing techniques such as vapor deposition, electroplating, and use of Ultrasonic Nozzles are advantageous as they reduce high temperature processing significantly. It is commonly accepted that as manufacturing techniques evolve production costs will be dominated by constituent material requirements, whether this be a silicon substrate, or glass cover. The most successful second generation materials have been cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium selenide, amorphous silicon and micromorphous silicon. These materials are applied in a thin film to a supporting substrate such as glass or ceramics, reducing material mass and therefore costs. These technologies do hold promise of higher conversion efficiencies, particularly CIGS-CIS, DSC and CdTe offers significantly cheaper

production costs. Among major manufacturers there is certainly a trend toward second generation technologies; however commercialization of these technologies has proven difficult. In 2007 First Solar produced 200 MW of CdTe solar cells making it the fifth largest producer of solar cells in 2007 and the first ever to reach the top 10 from production of second generation technologies alone. Wurth Solar commercialized its CIGS technology in 2007 producing 15 MW. Nanosolar commercialized its CIGS technology in 2007 with a production capacity of 430 MW for 2008 in the USA and Germany. Third generation Third generation technologies aim to enhance poor electrical performance of second generation (thin-film technologies) while maintaining very low production costs. Current research is targeting conversion efficiencies of 30-60% while retaining low cost materials and manufacturing techniques. They can exceed the theoretical solar conversion efficiency limit for a single energy threshold material, that was calculated in 1961 by Shockley and Queisser as 31% under 1 sun illumination and 40.8% under the maximal artificial concentration of sunlight (46,200 suns, which makes the latter limit more difficult to approach than the former). There are a few approaches to achieving these high efficiencies including the use of Multijunction photovoltaic cells, concentration of the incident spectrum, the use of thermal generation by UV light to enhance voltage or carrier collection, or the use of the infrared spectrum for night-time operation. High efficiency cells High efficiency solar cells are a class of solar cell that can generate more electricity per incident solar power unit (watt/watt). Much of the industry is focused on the most cost efficient technologies in terms of cost per generated power. The two main strategies to bring

down the cost of photovoltaic electricity are increasing the efficiency (as many of the costs scale with the area occupied per unit of generated power), and decreasing the cost of the solar cells per generated unit of power. The later approach might come at the expense of reduced efficiency, so the overall cost of the photovoltaic electricity does not necessarily decrease by decreasing the cost of the solar cells. The challenge of increasing the photovoltaic efficiency is thus of great interest, both from the academic and economic points of view.

2.4 Construction

Silicon solar cells have been available for a relatively long period of time. In order to increase the output from such solar cells it has been conventional to provide a single layer antireflection coating overlaying the solar cell. Typically these single layer antireflection coatings have been formed of silicon monoxide, a titanium oxide such as titanium dioxide or gas reacted titanium monoxide as well as tantalum pentoxide. Since the tantalum pentoxide and the titanium oxide have an index of refraction which is greater than that of silicon monoxide, they form a better anti-reflection coating between the silicon solar cell and the glass cover which conventionally covers such a solar cell. The silicon solar cell construction consists of a body formed essentially of silicon and having a surface with a photovoltaic junction formed thereon. First and second layers are formed on the surface of the solar cell and serve to provide an anti-reflection coating which is effective within the spectral range of 400 to 1200 nanometers. A glass solar cell cover is provided which is secured to the body having the first and second layers thereon by a cement. The first layer is, counting from the body, formed of material that has an index of refraction which is less than that of the body and which is greater than that of the glass cover. The second layer is formed of a material that has an index of refraction which is greater than that of the glass cover but which is less than that of the first layer.

Solar cells are in fact large area semiconductor diodes. Due to photovoltaic effect energy of light (energy of photons) converts into electrical current. At p-n junction, an electric field is built up which leads to the separation of the charge carriers (electrons and holes). At incidence of photon stream onto semiconductor material the electrons are released, if the energy of photons is sufficient. Contact to a solar cell is realised due to metal contacts. If the circuit is closed, meaning an electrical load is connected, then direct current flows.

2.5 Solar Module and Array

Regardless of size, a typical silicon PV cell produces about 0.5 0.6 volt DC under opencircuit, no-load conditions. The current (and power) output of a PV cell depends on its efficiency and size (surface area), and is proportional the intensity of sunlight striking the surface of the cell. For example, under peak sunlight conditions, a typical commercial PV cell with a surface area of 160 cm^2 (~25 in^2) will produce about 2 watts peak power. If the sunlight intensity were 40 percent of peak, this cell would produce about 0.8 watts. PV cells can be arranged in a series configuration to form a module, and modules can then be connected in parallel-series configurations to form arrays. When connecting cells or modules in series, they must have the same current rating to produce an additive voltage output, and

similarly, modules must have the same voltage rating when connected in parallel to produce larger currents.

Solar cells are typically combined into modules that hold about 40 cells; about 10 of these modules are mounted in PV arrays (Array: A collection of photovoltaic modules electrically wired together in one structure to produce a specific amount of power) that can measure up to several meters on a side. These flat-plate PV arrays can be mounted at a fixed angle facing south, or they can be mounted on a tracking device that follows the sun, allowing them to capture the most sunlight over the course of a day. About 10 to 20 PV arrays can provide enough power for a household; for large electric utility or industrial applications, hundreds of arrays can be interconnected to form a single, large PV system.

2.6 Theory of Solar cells

Simple explanation
1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon. 2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, allowing them to flow through the material to produce electricity. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. The complementary positive charges that are also created (like bubbles) are called holes and flow in the direction opposite of the electrons in a silicon solar panel. 3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity. Photo generation of charge carriers When a photon hits a piece of silicon, one of three things can happen: 1. the photon can pass straight through the silicon this (generally) happens for lower energy photons, 2. the photon can reflect off the surface, 3. The photon can be absorbed by the silicon, if the photon energy is higher than the silicon band gap value. This generates an electron-hole pair and sometimes heat, depending on the band structure. When a photon is absorbed, its energy is given to an electron in the crystal lattice. Usually this electron is in the valence band, and is tightly bound in covalent bonds between neighboring atoms, and hence unable to move far. The energy given to it by the photon "excites" it into the conduction band, where it is free to move around within the semiconductor. The covalent bond that the electron was previously a part of now has one fewer electron this is known as a hole. The presence of a missing covalent bond allows the bonded electrons of neighboring atoms to move into the "hole," leaving another hole behind, and in this way a hole can move through the lattice. Thus, it can be said that photons

absorbed in the semiconductor create mobile electron-hole pairs. A

A photon need only have greater energy than that of the band gap in order to excite an electron from the valence band into the conduction band. However, the solar frequency spectrum approximates a black body spectrum at ~6000 K, and as such, much of the solar radiation reaching the Earth is composed of photons with energies greater than the band gap of silicon. These higher energy photons will be absorbed by the solar cell, but the difference in energy between these photons and the silicon band gap is converted into heat (via lattice vibrations called phonons) rather than into usable electrical energy. Charge Carrier Separation There are two main modes for charge carrier separation in a solar cell: 1. Drift of carriers, driven by an electrostatic field established across the device 2. Diffusion of carriers from zones of high carrier concentration to zones of low carrier concentration (following a gradient of electrochemical potential). In the widely used p-n junction solar cells, the dominant mode of charge carrier separation is by drift. However, in non-p-n-junction solar cells (typical of the third generation solar cell

research such as dye and polymer solar cells), a general electrostatic field has been confirmed to be absent, and the dominant mode of separation is via charge carrier diffusion. The p-n Junction The most commonly known solar cell is configured as a large-area p-n junction made from silicon. As a simplification, one can imagine bringing a layer of n-type silicon into direct contact with a layer of p-type silicon. In practice, p-n junctions of silicon solar cells are not made in this way, but rather, by diffusing an n-type dopant into one side of a p-type wafer (or vice versa). If a piece of p-type silicon is placed in intimate contact with a piece of n-type silicon, then a diffusion of electrons occurs from the region of high electron concentration (the n-type side of the junction) into the region of low electron concentration (p-type side of the junction). When the electrons diffuse across the p-n junction, they recombine with holes on the p-type side. The diffusion of carriers does not happen indefinitely however, because of an electri field which is created by the imbalance of charge immediately on either side of the junction which this diffusion creates. The electric field established across the pn junction creates a diode that promotes charge flow, known as drift current, that opposes and eventually balances out the diffusion of electron and holes. This region where electrons and holes have diffused across the junction is called the depletion region because it no longer contains any mobile charge carriers. It is also known as the "space charge region". Connection to an External Load Ohmic metal-semiconductor contacts are made to both the n-type and p-type sides of the solar cell, and the electrodes connected to an external load. Electrons that are created on the n-type side, or have been "collected" by the junction and swept onto the n-type side, may travel through the wire, power the load, and continue through the wire until they reach the ptype semiconductor-metal contact. Here, they recombine with a hole that was either created

as an electron-hole pair on the p-type side of the solar cell, or are swept across the junction from the n-type side after being created there. The voltage measured is equal to the difference in the quasi Fermi levels of the minority carriers i.e. electrons in the p-type portion, and holes in the n-type portion.

Electrical Characteristics of Solar Cells and Maximum Power Point


3.1 Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
To understand the electronic behavior of a solar cell, it is useful to create a model which is electrically equivalent, and is based on discrete electrical components whose behavior is well known

The equivalent circuit of a solar cell

The schematic symbol of a solar cell An ideal solar cell may be modeled by a current source in parallel with a diode; in practice no solar cell is ideal, so a shunt resistance and a series resistance component are added to the model. The resulting equivalent circuit of a solar cell is shown on the FIGURE NUMBER. Also shown, on the FIGURE NUMBER, is the schematic representation of a solar cell for use in circuit diagrams.

3.2 Characteristic equation

From the equivalent circuit it is evident that the current produced by the solar cell is equal to that produced by the current source, minus that which flows through the diode, minus that which flows through the shunt resistor.
I = IL ID ISH

Where I = output current (amperes) IL = photo generated current (amperes) ID = diode current (amperes) ISH = shunt current (amperes) The current through these elements is governed by the voltage across them:

Vj = V + IRS

Where Vj = voltage across both diode and resistor RSH (volts) V = voltage across the output terminals (volts) I = output current (amperes) RS = series resistance () By the Shockley diode equation, the current diverted through the diode is:

where I0 = reverse saturation current(amperes) n = diode ideality factor (1 for an ideal diode) q = elementary charge k = Boltzmann's constant T = absolute temperature For silicon at 25C

volts By Ohm's law, the current diverted through the shunt resistor is:

where

7.1

RSH = shunt resistance ()

Substituting these into the first equation produces the characteristic equation of a solar cell, which relates solar cell parameters to the output current and voltage:

An alternative derivation produces an equation similar in appearance, but with V on the lefthand side. The two alternatives are identities; that is, they yield precisely the same results. In principle, given a particular operating voltage V the equation may be solved to determine the operating current I at that voltage. However, because the equation involves I on both sides in a transcendental function the equation has no general analytical solution. However, even without a solution it is physically instructive. Furthermore, it is easily solved using numerical methods. (A general analytical solution to the equation is possible using Lambert's W function, but since Lambert's W generally itself must be solved numerically this is a technicality.) Since the parameters I0, n, RS, and RSH cannot be measured directly, the most common application of the characteristic equation is nonlinear regression to extract the values of these parameters on the basis of their combined effect on solar cell behavior.

Open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current


When the cell is operated at open circuit, I = 0 and the voltage across the output terminals is defined as the open-circuit voltage. Assuming the shunt resistance is high enough to neglect the final term of the characteristic equation, the open-circuit voltage VOC is:

Similarly, when the cell is operated at short circuit, V = 0 and the current I through the terminals is defined as the short-circuit current. It can be shown that for a high-quality solar cell (low RS and I0, and high RSH) the short-circuit current ISC is:

The values of I0, RS, and RSH are dependent upon the physical size of the solar cell. In comparing otherwise identical cells, a cell with twice the surface area of another will, in principle, have double the I0 because it has twice the junction area across which current can leak. It will also have half the RS and RSH because it has twice the cross-sectional area through which current can flow. For this reason, the characteristic equation is frequently written in terms of current density, or current produced per unit cell area:

Where J = current density (amperes/cm2) JL = photo generated current density (amperes/cm2) Jo= reverse saturation current density (amperes/cm2) rS = specific series resistance (-cm2) rSH = specific shunt resistance (-cm2) This formulation has several advantages. One is that since cell characteristics are referenced to a common cross-sectional area they may be compared for cells of different physical dimensions. While this is of limited benefit in a manufacturing setting, where all cells tend to be the same size, it is useful in research and in comparing cells between manufacturers. Another advantage is that the density equation naturally scales the parameter values to similar

orders of magnitude, which can make numerical extraction of them simpler and more accurate even with naive solution methods. A practical limitation of this formulation is that as cell sizes shrink, certain parasitic effects grow in importance and can affect the extracted parameter values. For example, recombination and contamination of the junction tend to be greatest at the perimeter of the cell, so very small cells may exhibit higher values of J0 or lower values of rSH than larger cells that are otherwise identical. In such cases, comparisons between cells must be made cautiously and with these effects in mind.

3.3 I-V Curve of Solar Cell

PV cells can be modeled as a current source in parallel with a diode. When there is no light present to generate any current, the PV cell behaves like a diode. As the intensity of incident light increases, current is generated by the PV cell, as illustrated in Figure.

Curve of PV Cell and Associated Electrical Diagram In an ideal cell, the total current I is equal to the current I generated by the photoelectric effect minus the diode current ID, according to the equation:

where I0 is the saturation current of the diode, q is the elementary charge 1.6x10-19 Coulombs, k is a constant of value 1.38x10-23J/K, T is the cell temperature in Kelvin, and V is the measured cell voltage that is either produced (power quadrant) or applied (voltage bias). The I-V curve of an illuminated PV cell has the shape shown in Figure as the voltage across the measuring load is swept from zero to VOC..

5.

Sun Tracking

A sun tracker or solar tracker is a device for orienting a day lighting reflector, solar photovoltaic panel or concentrating solar reflector or lens toward the sun.

5.1 Need of Sun Tracking

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 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, and performance. One wellknown type of solar tracker is the heliostat, a movable mirror that reflects the moving sun to a fixed location, but many other approaches are used as well.

Tracker mount types


Solar trackers may be active or passive and may be single axis or dual axis. Single axis trackers usually use a polar mount for maximum solar efficiency. Single axis trackers will usually have a manual elevation (axis tilt) adjustment on a second axis which is adjusted on regular intervals throughout the year. Compared to a fixed mount, a single axis tracker increases annual output by approximately 30%, and a dual axis tracker an additional 6%. There are two types of dual axis trackers, polar and altitude-azimuth. Polar Polar trackers have one axis aligned to be roughly parallel to the axis of rotation of the earth

around the north and south poleshence the name polar. (With telescopes, this is called equatorial mount.)

Single axis tracking is often used when combined with time-of-use metering, since strong afternoon performance is particularly desirable for grid-tied photovoltaic systems, as production at this time will match the peak demand time for summer season air-conditioning. A fixed system oriented to optimize this limited time performance will have a relatively low annual production. The polar axis should be angled towards due north, and the angle between this axis and the vertical should be equal to your latitude. Simple polar trackers with single axis tracking may also have an adjustment along a second axis: the angle of declination. This allows you to angle the panel to face the sun when it is higher in the sky (and further northward) in the summer, and to face it lower in the sky (and further southward) in the winter. It might be set with manual or automated adjustments, depending on your polar-tracking device. If one is not planning on adjusting this angle of

declination at all during the year, it is normally set to zero degrees, facing your panel straight out perpendicular to the polar axis, as that is where the mean path of the sun is found. Occasional or continuous adjustments to the declination compensate for the northward and southward shift in the sun's path through the sky as it moves through the seasons (and around the ecliptic) over the course of the year. When the manual method is used for adjustment of the declination, it should be done at least twice a year: Once at the autumnal equinox to establish the best position for the winter, and a second adjustment on the vernal equinox, to optimize it for the summer. The sun's declination at the spring equinox is 0o. It moves up to 22.5o in the summer, then drifts back down through 0o at fall equinox, and down to -22.5o in the winter. So, for example, you might choose to set the declination at 15o or 20o as a reasonably optimal position for the summer months. Horizontal axle Several manufacturers can deliver single axis horizontal trackers which may be oriented by either passive or active mechanisms, depending upon manufacturer. In these, a long horizontal tube is supported on bearings mounted upon pylons or frames. The axis of the tube is on a North-South line. Panels are mounted upon the tube, and the tube will rotate on its axis to track the apparent motion of the sun through the day. Since these do not tilt toward the equator they are not especially effective during winter mid day (unless located near the equator), but add a substantial amount of productivity during the spring and summer seasons

When the solar path is high in the sky. These devices are less effective at higher latitudes. The principal advantage is the inherent robustness of the supporting structure and the simplicity of the mechanism. Since the panels are horizontal, they can be compactly placed on the axle tube without danger of self-shading and are also readily accessible for cleaning. For active mechanisms, a single control and motor may be used to actuate multiple rows of panels. Vertical axle A single axis tracker may be constructed that pivots only about a vertical axle, with the panels either vertical, at a fixed, adjustable, or tracked elevation angle. Such trackers with fixed or (seasonably) adjustable angles are suitable for high latitudes, where the apparent solar path is not especially high, but which leads to long days in Summer, with the sun traveling through a long arc. This method has been used in the construction of a cylindrical

house in Austria (latitude above 45 degrees north) that rotates in its entirety to track the sun, with vertical panels mounted on one side of the building. Altitude-azimuth A type of mounting that supports the weight of the solar tracker and allows it to move in two directions to locate a specific target. One axis of support is horizontal (called the altitude) and allows the telescope to move up and down. The other axis is vertical (called the azimuth) and allows the telescope to swing in a circle parallel to the ground. This makes it easy to position the telescope: swing it around in a circle and then lift it to the target. However, tracking an object as the Earth turns is more complicated. The telescope needs to be adjusted in both directions while tracking, which requires a computer to control the telescope.

5.2 How to Track

Drive Types
Active tracker Active trackers use motors and gear trains to direct the tracker as commanded by a controller responding to the solar direction. Active two-axis trackers are also used to orient heliostats - movable mirrors that reflect sunlight toward the absorber of a central power station. As each mirror in a large field will have an individual orientation these are controlled programmatically through a central computer system, which also allows the system to be shut down when necessary. Light-sensing trackers typically have two photo sensors, such as photodiodes, configured differentially so that they output a null when receiving the same light flux. Mechanically, they should be Omni directional (i.e. flat) and are aimed 90 degrees apart. This will cause the steepest part of their cosine transfer functions to balance at the steepest part, which translates into maximum sensitivity.

Since the motors consume energy, one wants to use them only as necessary. So instead of a continuous motion, the heliostat is moved in discrete steps. Also, if the light is below some threshold there would not be enough power generated to warrant reorientation. This is also true when there is not enough difference in light level from one direction to another, such as when clouds are passing overhead. Consideration must be made to keep the tracker from wasting energy during cloudy periods. Passive tracker Passive trackers use a low boiling point compressed gas fluid that is driven to one side or the other (by solar heat creating gas pressure) to cause the tracker to move in response to an imbalance. As this is a non-precision orientation it is unsuitable for certain types of concentrating photovoltaic collectors but works fine for common PV panel types. These will have viscous dampers to prevent excessive motion in response to wind gusts. Shader/reflectors are used to reflect early morning sunlight to "wake up" the panel and tilt it toward the sun, which can take nearly an hour. The time to do this can be greatly reduced by adding a self-releasing tie down that positions the panel slightly past the zenith (so that the fluid does not have to overcome gravity) and using the tie down in the evening. (A slackpulling spring will prevent release in windy overnight conditions.) The term "passive tracker" is also used for photovoltaic modules that include a hologram behind stripes of photovoltaic cells. That way, sunlight passes through the transparent part of the module and reflects on the hologram. This allows sunlight to hit the cell from behind, thereby increasing the module's efficiency. Also, the module does not have to move since the hologram always reflects sunlight from the correct angle towards the cells. Chronological tracker A chronological tracker counteracts the Earth's rotation by turning at an equal rate as the earth, but in the opposite direction. Actually the rates aren't quite equal, because as the earth

goes around the sun, the position of the sun changes with respect to the earth by 360 every year or 365.24 days. A chronological tracker is a very simple yet potentially a very accurate solar tracker specifically for use with a polar mount (see above). The drive method may be as simple as a gear motor that rotates at a very slow average rate of one revolution per day (15 degrees per hour). In theory the tracker may rotate completely, assuming there is enough clearance for a complete rotation, and assuming that twisting wires are not an issue, such as with a solar concentrator, or the tracker may be reset each day to avoid these issues. Alternatively, an electronic controller may be used, with a real time clock that is used to infer the "solar time" (hour angle). Tracking adjustments can be made incrementally or continuously.

5.4 Sensors
LDR
A photo resistor or light dependent resistor or cadmium sulfide (CdS) cell is a resistor whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity. It can also be referenced as a photoconductor. A photo resistor is made of a high resistance semiconductor. If light falling on the device is of high enough frequency, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give bound electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction band. The resulting free electron (and its hole partner) conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance. A photoelectric device can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. An intrinsic semiconductor has its own charge carriers and is not an efficient semiconductor, e.g. silicon. In intrinsic devices the only available electrons are in the valence band, and hence the photon must have enough

energy to excite the electron across the entire band gap. Extrinsic devices have impurities, also called dopants, added whose ground state energy is closer to the conduction band; since the electrons do not have as far to jump, lower energy photons (i.e., longer wavelengths and lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger the device. If a sample of silicon has some of its atoms replaced by phosphorus atoms (impurities), there will be extra electrons available for conduction. This is an example of an extrinsic semiconductor.

Photo Diodes
A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation. Photodiodes are similar to regular semiconductor diodes except that they may be either exposed (to detect vacuum UV or X-rays) or packaged with a window or optical fiber connection to allow light to reach the sensitive part of the device. Many diodes designed for use specifically as a photodiode will also use a PIN junction rather than the typical PN junction. A photodiode is a PN junction or PIN structure. When a photon of sufficient energy strikes the diode, it excites an electron, thereby creating a mobile electron and a positively charged electron hole. If the absorption occurs in the junction's depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus holes move toward the anode, and electrons toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced.

PV Cells
A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Sometimes the term solar cell is reserved for devices intended specifically to capture energy from sunlight, while the term photovoltaic cell is used when the light source is unspecified. Assemblies of cells are used to make solar panels, solar modules,

or photovoltaic arrays. Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells in producing electricity for practical use. The energy generated this way is an example of solar energy

Chapter - 1 Introduction
There are three ways to increase the efficiency of a photovoltaic (PV) system1. The first is to increase the efficiency of the solar cell. The second is to maximize the energy conversion from the solar panel. To better explain this, please refer to Figure 1. A solar panel under an open circuit is able to supply a maximum voltage with no current, while under a short circuit is able to supply a maximum current with no voltage. In either case, the amount of power supplied by the solar panel is zero. The key is to develop a method whereby maximum power can be obtained from the voltage and current multiplied together. This maximum power point is illustrated by looking at a voltage-current (VI) curve in Figure 1, and finding the knee of the curve. A number of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms have been developed andemployed.2

Figure 1. Illustration of a V-I Curve for a Solar Panel The third method to increase the efficiency of a PV system is to employ a solar panel tracking system. Development of solar panel tracking systems has been ongoing for several years now. As the sun moves across the sky during the day, it is advantageous to have the solar panels track the location of the sun, such that the panels are always perpendicular to the solar energy radiated by the sun. This will tend to maximize the amount of power radiated by the sun. It has been estimated that the use of a tracking system, over a fixed system, can increase the power output by 30% - 60%3. When tracking the sun, it is noted that the direction of the sun, as seen by the solar panel, will vary in two directions. The azimuth angle is the horizontal direction from the observer to the sun4. There is also an altitude angle, representing the vertical direction from the observer to the sun. More effective solar panel trackers are two-axis in nature5,6,7 and have been demonstrated, for example, in the use of a solar oven concentrator8. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a project whereby an Electronics Engineering Technology student developed a one-axis (azimuth) solar panel tracking system to satisfy the requirements for his capstone senior project. The capstone design project covers two semesters. In the first (fall) semester, requirements for the project are identified and long lead materials are ordered. A schedule (Gantt chart) is developed by the student to ensure that steady progress occurs. During the second (spring) semester, the project is designed, built and tested to ensure specification compliance. At the end of

the second semester, each project is presented to thefaculty, other students, and to the community at large as part of a senior design day

Chapter-2 OVERVIEW OF MICROCONTROLLER (AT89C51)

2.1 MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCONTROLLER BASICS The past two decades have seen the introduction of a technology that has radically changed the way in which we analyze and control the world around us. Born of parallel development in computer architecture and integrated circuit fabrication, the microprocessor, or computer on a chip, first become a commercial reality in 1971 with the introduction of 4-bit 4004 by a small, unknown company by the name of Intel Corporation. Other better established, semiconductor firms soon follow Intels pioneering

technology so that by the late 1970s one could choose from a half dozen or so microprocessor types. The microprocessor[1] has been with us for some 15-years now growing from an awkward 4-bit chip to a robust 32-bit adult. Soon 64 and 128-bit wizards will appear to crunch numbers, spreadsheets, and CAD CAM. The engineering community became aware of, enamored with, the 8-bit microprocessor of the middle to late 1970s. The 1970s also saw the growth of the number of personal computer users from a handful of hobbyists and hackers to millions of business, industrial, governmental, defense, educational, and private users now enjoying the advantages of inexpensive computing. New technology makes possible, however, a better type of small computer-one with not only the CPU on the chip, but RAM, ROM, Timer, UARTS, Ports, and other common peripheral I/O functions also. The microprocessor has become the microcontroller[4]. A by-product of microprocessor development was the microcontroller. The same fabrication techniques and programming concepts that make possible the general purpose microprocessor also yielded the microcontroller. Microcontrollers are not as well known to the general public, or even the technical community, as are the more glamorous microprocessor. The public is, however, very well aware that something is responsible for all of the smart VCRs, clock radios washers, and dryers, video games, telephones, microwaves, TVs, automobiles, toys, Vending machines, copiers, elevators, irons, and a myriad of other articles that have suddenly become intelligent and programmable. Companies are also aware that being competitive in this age of microchip requires their products, or the machinery they use to make those products, to have some smarts. Some manufacturers, hoping to capitalize on our software investment, have brought our families of microcontrollers that are software compatible with the older microprocessor. Other, wishing to optimize the instruction set and architecture to improve speed and reduce code size, produce totally new designs that had little in common with their earlier microprocessors. Both of these trend continue.

Microprocessor: A Microprocessor[4], as the term has come to be known is a general purpose digital computer central processing unit (CPU). Although popularly known as a computer on a chip, the microprocessor is in no sense a complete digital computer. Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a microprocessor CPU, which contains arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), a program counter (PC), a stack pointer (SP), some working registers, a clock timing circuit and interrupt circuits. The microprocessor contains no RAM, no ROM, and no I/O ports on the chip itself. The key term in describing the design of microprocessor is general purpose. The hardware design of a microprocessor CPU is arrange so that a small or very large system can be configured around the CPU as the application demands. The internal CPU architecture, as well as the resultant machine level code that operates that architecture, is comprehensive but as flexible as possible. Although the addition of external RAM, ROM, and I/O ports make these systems bulkier and much more expensive, they have the advantage of versatility such that the designer can decide on the amount of RAM, ROM, and I/O ports needed to fit the task at hand Arithmetic and logic unit

Accumulator Working Register(s)

Program Counter

Stack Pointer

Clock Circuit

Interrupt Circuit

Figure 2.1: A Block Diagram of a Microprocessor Microcontroller: A microcontroller[5] has a CPU (a microprocessor) in addition to a fix amount of RAM, ROM, I/O ports, and a timer all on a single chip. In other words, the processor, RAM, ROM, I/O ports, and timer are all embedded together on one chip; therefore, the designer cannot add any external memory, I/O, or timer to it. Figure 2 shows the block diagram of a typical microcontroller which is a true computer on a chip. The design incorporates all of the features found in a microprocessor CPU: ALU, PC, SP, and registers. It also has added the others features needed to make a complete computer: RAM, ROM, parallel I/O, serial I/O, counters, and a clock circuit.

ALU

Timer/Counter

I/O Ports I/O Ports

Accumulator Registers

Internal

RAM

Internal

ROM

Interrupt Circuits

Stack Pointer Program Counter

Clock Circuit

Figure 2.2: A block diagram of a Microcontroller

Like the microprocessor, a microcontroller is a general purpose device, but one which is meant to fetch data, perform limited calculations on that data and control it environment based on those calculations. The prime use of a microcontroller is to control the operation of machine using a fixed program that is stored in ROM and that does not change over the life time of the system.

2.2 CHARACTERISTICS FEATURES OF AT89C51 AT89C51 is an 8-bit microcontroller from Atmel Corporation. Features Compatible with MCS-51 Products 4K Bytes of In-System Reprogrammable Flash Memory Endurance: 1,000 Write/Erase Cycles Fully Static Operation: 0 Hz to 24 MHz Three-level Program Memory Lock 128 x 8-bit Internal RAM 32 Programmable I/O Lines Two 16-bit Timer/Counters Six Interrupt Sources Programmable Serial Channel Low-power Idle and Power-down Modes

2.3 BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AT89C51

The AT89C51[6] is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit microcomputer with 4K bytes of Flash programmable and erasable read only memory (PEROM). The device is manufactured using Atmels high-density nonvolatile memory technology and is compatible with the industry-standard MCS-51 instruction set and pinout. The on-chip Flash allows the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system or by a conventional nonvolatile memory programmer. By combining a versatile 8-bit CPU with Flash on a monolithic chip, the Atmel AT89C51 is a powerful microcomputer which provides a highly-flexible and cost-effective solution to many embedded control applications. The AT89C51 provides the following standard features: 4K bytes of Flash, 128 bytes of RAM, 32 I/O lines, two 16-bit timer/counters, a five vector two-level interrupt architecture, full duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry. In addition, the AT89C51 is designed with static logic for operation down to zero frequency and supports two software selectable power saving modes. The Idle Mode stops the CPU while allowing the RAM, timer/counters, serial port and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Power-down Mode saves the RAM contents but freezes the oscillator disabling all other chip functions until the next hardware reset.

Figure 2.3: Block Diagram of AT89C51 2.4 PIN DESCRIPTION OF AT89C51:

PDIP: Plastic Dual Inline Package.


P1.0 P1.1 P1.2 P1.3 P1.4 P1.5 P1.6 PO.6(AD 6) P1.7 PO.7(AD 7) RST (RXD) P3.O (TXD) P3.O (INT0) P3.2 (INT1) P3.3 (T0) P3.4 (T1) P3.5 (WR) P3.6 (RD) P3.7 XTAL2 XTAL1 GND EA/VPP ALE/PROG PSEN P2.7(AD 15) P2.6(AD 14) P2.5(AD 13) P2.4(AD 12) P2.3(AD 11) P2.2(AD 10) P2.1(AD 9) P2.0(AD 8) VCC PO.O(AD 0) PO.1(AD 1) PO.2(AD 2) PO.3(AD 3) PO.4(AD 4) PO.5(AD 5)

GND

Figure 2.4: Pin diagram of AT89C51

Pin description:

In the AT89C51 there are a total of four ports for I/O operations. Examining Figure 5, note that of the 40 pins, a total of 32 pins are set aside for the four ports P0, P1, P2, and P3, where each port takes 8 pins. The rest of the pins are designated as Vcc, GND, XTAL1, XTAL2, RST, EA, ALE/PEOG, and PSEN.

VCC: Supply voltage.

GND: Ground.

I/O port pins and there functions: The four ports P0, P1, P2, and P3 each use 8 pins, making them 8 bit ports. All the ports upon RESET are configured as inputs, ready to be used as input ports. When the first 0 is written to a port, it becomes an output. To reconfigure it as an input, a 1 must be sent to the port. Port 0: Port 0 is an 8-bit open drain bidirectional I/O port. As an output port each pin can sink eight TTL inputs. When 1s are written to port 0 pins, the pins can be

used as high-impedance inputs. Port 0 may also be configured to be the multiplexed low order address/data bus during accesses to external program and data memory. In this mode P0 has internal pullups. Port 0 also receives the code bytes during Flash programming, and outputs the code bytes during program verification. External pullups are required during program verification.

Port 1: Port 1 is an 8-bit bidirectional I/O port with internal pullups. The Port 1 output buffers can sink/source four TTL inputs. When 1s are written to Port 1 pins they are pulled high by the internal pullups and can be used as inputs. As inputs, Port 1 pins that are externally being pulled low will source current (IIL) because of the internal pullups. Port 1 also receives the low-order address bytes during Flash programming and program verification.

Port 2: Port 2 is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pullups. The Port 2 output buffers can sink/source four TTL inputs. When 1s are written to Port 2 pins they are pulled high by the internal pullups and can be used as inputs. As inputs, Port 2 pins that are externally being pulled low will source current (IIL) because of the internal pullups. Port 2 emits the high-order address byte during fetches from external program memory and during accesses to external data memory that use 16-bit addresses (MOVX @ DPTR). In this application, it uses strong internal pull-ups when emitting 1s. During accesses to external data memory that use 8-bit addresses (MOVX @ RI), Port 2 emits the contents of the P2 Special Function

Register. Port 2 also receives the high-order address bits and some control signals during Flash programming and verification.

Port 3: Port 3 is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pullups. The Port 3 output buffers can sink/source four TTL inputs. When 1s are written to Port 3 pins they are pulled high by the internal pullups and can be used as inputs. As inputs, Port 3 pins that are externally being pulled low will source current (IIL) because of the pullups. Port 3 also serves the functions of various special features of the AT89C51 as listed below:

Table 2.1 Port 3 also receives some control signals for Flash programming and verification.

RST: Reset input. A high on this pin for two machine cycles while the oscillator is running resets the device.

ALE/PROG: Address Latch Enable output pulse for latching the low byte of the address during accesses to external memory. This pin is also the program pulse input (PROG) during Flash programming. In normal operation ALE is emitted at a constant rate of 1/6 the oscillator frequency, and may be used for external timing or clocking purposes. Note, however, that one ALE pulse is skipped during each access to external Data Memory. If desired, ALE operation can be disabled by setting bit 0 of SFR location 8EH. With the bit set, ALE is active only during a MOVX or MOVC instruction. Otherwise, the pin is weakly pulled high. Setting the ALE-disable bit has no effect if the microcontroller is in external execution mode.

PSEN: Program Store Enable is the read strobe to external program memory. When the AT89C51 is executing code from external program memory, PSEN is activated twice each machine cycle, except that two PSEN activations are skipped during each access to external data memory.

EA/VPP: External Access Enable. EA must be strapped to GND in order to enable the device to fetch code from external program memory locations starting at 0000H up to FFFFH. Note, however, that if lock bit 1 is programmed, EA will be

internally latched on reset. EA should be strapped to VCC for internal program executions. This pin also receives the 12-volt programming enable voltage (VPP) during Flash programming, for parts that require 12-volt VPP.

XTAL1: Input to the inverting oscillator amplifier and input to the internal clock operating circuit.

XTAL2: Output from the inverting oscillator amplifier.

Oscillator Characteristics: XTAL1 and XTAL2 are the input and output, respectively, of an inverting amplifier which can be configured for use as an on-chip oscillator, as shown in Figure 6. Either a quartz crystal or ceramic resonator may be used. To drive the device from an external clock source, XTAL2 should be left unconnected while XTAL1 is driven as shown in Figure 7. There are no requirements on the duty cycle of the external clock signal, since the input to the internal clocking circuitry is through a divide-by-two flip flop, but minimum and maximum voltage high and low time specifications must be observed.

Figure 2.5: Oscillator Connections

Figure 2.6: External Clock Drive Configurations

Idle Mode: In idle mode, the CPU puts itself to sleep while all the on-chip peripherals remain active. The mode is invoked by software. The content of the on-chip RAM and all the special functions registers remain unchanged during this mode. The idle mode can be terminated by any enabled interrupt or by a hardware reset. It should be noted that when idle is terminated by a hard ware reset, the device normally resumes program execution, from where it left off, up to two machine cycles before the internal reset algorithm takes control. On-chip hardware inhibits access to internal RAM in this event, but access to the port pins is not inhibited. To eliminate the possibility of an unexpected write to a port pin when Idle is terminated by reset, the instruction following the one that invokes Idle should not be one that writes to a port pin or to external memory.

Power-down Mode: In the power-down mode, the oscillator is stopped, and the instruction that invokes power-down is the last instruction executed. The on-chip RAM and Special Function Registers retain their values until the power-down mode is

terminated. The only exit from power-down is a hardware reset. Reset redefines the SFRs but does not change the on-chip RAM. The reset should not be activated before VCC is restored to its normal operating level and must be held active long enough to allow the oscillator to restart and stabilize.

Status of External Pins during Idle and Power-down Modes:

Table 2.2 Other Pin Configurations:

PQFP/TQFP: PQFP: Plastic Gull Wing Quad Flatpack. TQFP: Thin Plastic Gull Wing Quad Flatpack.

2.5 8051 ADDRESSING MODES: An addressing mode refers to how you are addressing a given memory location. The addressing modes are as follows. With an example of each:

Immediate Addressing

MOV A, #20h

Direct Addressing Indirect Addressing External Direct Code Indirect

MOV A, 30h MOV A,@R0 MOV A,@DPTR MOV A,@+DPTR

Immediate Addressing: Immediate addressing is so-named because the value to be stored in memory immediately follows the operation code in memory. That is to say , the instruction itself dictates what value will be stored in memory. For example the instruction: MOV A, #20h This instruction uses immediate addressing because the Accumulator will be loaded with the value that immediately follows, in this case 20 (hexadecimal).

Direct Addressing: Direct addressing is so-named because the value to be stored in memory is obtained by directly retrieving it from another memory location. For example: MOV A, 30h This instruction will read the date out of Internal RAM address30 (hexadecimal) and store it in the Accumulator. Direct addressing is generally fast since, although the value to be loaded isnt included in the instruction, it is quickly accessible since it is stored in the 8051s Internal RAM. It is also much more flexible than Immediate Addressing since the value to be loaded is whatever is found at the given address-which may be variable.

The obvious question that may arise is, If direct addressing an address from 80h through FFh refers to SFRs, how can I access the upper 128 bytes of Internal RAM that are available on the 8052? The answer is: You cant access them using direct addressing. As stated, if you directly refer to an address of 80h through FFh you will be referring to an SFR. However, you may access the 8052s upper 128 bytes of RAM by using the next addressing mode, indirect addressing.

Indirect Addressing: Indirect addressing is a very powerful addressing mode which in many cases provides an exceptional level of flexibility. Indirect addressing is also the only way to access the extra 128 bytes of Internal RAM found on an 8052. Indirect addressing appears as follows: MOV A,@R0 This instructing causes the 8051 to analyze the value of the R0 register. The 8051 will then load the accumulator with the value from Internal RAM which is found at address indicated by R0. For example, lets say R0 holds the value 40h and Internal RAM address 40h holds the value 67h. When the above instruction is executed the 8051 will check the value of R0. Since R0 holds 40h the 8051 will get the value out of Internal RAM address 40h (which holds 67h) and store it in the Accumulator. Thus, the Accumulator ends up holding 67h. Indirect never refers to Internal RAM; it never refers to an SFR. Thus, in a prior example we mentioned that SFr 99h can be used to write a value to the serial port. Thus one may think that the following would be a valid solution to write the value1 to the serial port: MOV R0,#99h ; Load the address of the serial port MOV @R0,#01h; Send 01 to the serial portWRONG!!

This is not valid. Since indirect addressing always refers to Internal RAM these two instructions would write the value 01h to Internal RAM address 99h on an 8052. On an 8051 these two instructions would produce an undefined result since the 8051 only has 128 btes of Internal RAM.

External Direct: It is used to access external memory rather than internal memory. There are only two commands that use External Direct addressing mode: MOVXA,@DPTR MOVX@DPTR,A As you can see, both commands utilize DPTR. In these instructions, DPTR must first be loaded with the address of external memory that you wish to read or write. Once DPTR holds the correct external memory address, the first command will move the contents of the external memory address into the Accumulator. The second command will do the opposite: it will allow you to write the value of the Accumulator to the external memory address pointed to by DPTR.

External Indirect: This form of addressing is usually only used in relatively small projects that have a very small amount of external RAM. An example of this addressing mode is: MOVX@R0,A Once again, the value of R0 is first read and the value of the Accumulator is written to that address in External RAM. Since the value of @R0 can only be

00h through FFh the project would effectively be limited to 256 bytes of External RAM.

Chapter Conclusion
In this paper a solar panel tracker has been developed to increase the amount of power generated by the solar panel as the sun traverses across the sky. An 8051 microcontroller was used to control the movement of the solar panel. The system was designed to be autonomous, such that energy generated by the solar panel would be used to charge two lead acid batteries. The system was successfully demonstrated during a senior design day presentation, although later subsequent testing yielded system design and /or implementation flaws. Overall, the system was a positive learning experience for the student , and allowed him to both maximize his creative potential as well as utilize many different technologies in the electronics engineering discipline.

CONCLUSION
Solar energy is the main renewable source of energy . But it have many disadvantages which are harmful for human beings. So the detecting and recording of solar energy have a great importance in coming years to control use and handle the solar radiation (solar energy). This system is easy to implement and have a wide range of applications. This system provide accurate output values for a wide range of environmental conditions..this make solar recorder to use in areas where human cant directly reach. This make this embedded system as one of the best human friend.

Solar Panel
Solar photo voltaic (SPV). Can be used to generate electricity form the sun. Silicon solar cells play an important role in generation of electricity. Solar cells Characteristics. Isc-short circuit current. Voc-open circuit voltage. Peak power.

How solar cells Generate electricity

From Cells to Modules The open circuit voltage of a single solar cell is approx 0.5V. Much higher voltage is required for practical application. Solar cells are connected in series to increase its open circuit voltage.

Advantages The advantage of this unit is that to run the system it does not need computer Solar cells directly convert the solar radiation into electricity using photovoltaic effect without going through a thermal process.

During the winter the sun has a low position , tracking angle from sunrise to sunset is shortened. The plant will not driven up to the final position but just to that position at which really sets, therefore saving of power. Depending on the radiation intensity, it may sinks under a predefined value for instance at dusk , when the sky is cloudy, tracking is interrupted. Limitations Using this system at a time we can controls only one solar panel. Higher hardware expenditure Objective By using solar photovoltaics, to harness the solar energy and turn it to electricity that can be stored in batteries which can be used to power the street light.

APPLICATIONS
1. The solar recorder can be used as a intensity meter for light intensity measurements with high accuracy 2. It can be used as a digital thermometer for high accuracy temperature measurements 3.It can be used as an intensity recorder for long range measurements upto 6 months. The data can be secured for ten years 4.It can be used as a temperature recording instrument and the data can be stored upto ten years. 5. By measuring and recording the temperature and intensity of light for long periods we can analyze that ,that particular place can be used for solar electric power generating station. .6.The solar recorders can be interfaced with computers and can be controlled by them. So we can extend the storage memory and can be interfaced with a network. 7. By measuring the temperature and intensity we can maintain the necessary atmospheric conditions for the agricultural field ,medical field ,film industry etc. 8.The peripherals of the circuit have a wide range of operating temperature. So we can sense the intensity and temperature in places where human cannot reach 9.By including a few multiplication step we can convert this device into solar power recorder for power measurement. 10.By measuring the continuous temperature values for a long period we can easily get an idea about the global warming rate by plotting a graph. 11.It can be used for the study of any radiation which can produce photoelectric effect and/or temperature variation. 12. It is a real time embedded system so it can be used for real time controlling.

5 ADVANTAGES 1. Solar recorders are very cheap as compare with other solar recorders which using pyranometer as intensity sensors. 2. LM35 is used in this circuit which is more linear than thermistor which increase accuracy of this circuit. 3. This circuit use pic16f877a as microcontroller which has internal ADC, port for serial communication and more protection circuits as compared to other microcontrollers (8051) which reduces the number of external peripherals and hence reduces the size of the circuit 4.Microcontroller, the other peripherals required only +5v power supply this reduces the power usage so this circuit require battery (9-30v) for driving the circuit this again reduces the cost. 5. Microcontroller has 8kb of internal program memory so there is no need for external memory. 6. Solar recorder has external flash memory of 512kb which can be extended up to 1MB of permanent storage of data this help to increase the continuous working up to 1 year. 7. By interfacing with computer, we can extend storage space into a large extend 8. Small size of the embedded system made it more reliable , it is very easy to handle 9.Display unit (LCD display) need only low power and it have an internal light source which make it to use in low light area. 10. Using a computer interface through USART software of solar recorder can be modified to add additional functions. 11. The solar recorder only using bellow 50% of output port so hardware modification of solar recorder is possible 12. The wide range of operating range of sensors (LM35 (-55 to+155c) make it possible to operate in wide range of environment parameters.

PRECAUTIONS
1. Temperature to be measured should be lies between -55 & 155 for accurate measurement and for the safety of temperature sensor (LM35) 2. Use of reset switch should be minimize to minimize the power usage. 3. Power supply applied should be between 9V and 100v for safety operation of solar recorder (flash memory chip & microcontroller). So battery checking and replacing should be done at

regular intervals. if input voltage is more than 100V it should destroy the capacitors of circuit. If the input voltage is bellow 9V the voltage regulator unable to produce +5V.That create errors in operation of device. 4. The memory chip have a maximum capacity to store upto 6 months, so it should be replaced or data should saved to computer and clear the memory to avoid the erroneous recording of data. 5. There is no protection is provided for the safety of sensor unit for maximum accurate measurement. So special care should be taken for the safety of sensors (solar panel & LM35). 6. In modification of software some precautions are to be taken, that is the modification not affect the booting program and the main part of the program. 7. There is no switch provided to control the power supply. So external switch is connected for safety turn of and turn on. 8. There is a time delay is provided between power supply on and turn on of individual components of solar recorder for safety and accurate operation of device. So key press and controlling through serial port should be given only after the display unit display the current value that the sensor measured.

Reference
a. Microchip reference manual DS30292B from www.Microchip.com b. Fairchild reference manual KA78XX/KA78XXA from www.fairchildsemi.com c. Atmel reference manual 5297A from www.atmel.com d. National semiconductor reference manual DS005516 from www.national.com e. Microchip reference manual DS00826A from www.microchip.com f. www.atmel.com g. Microchip reference manual DS30292C from www.microchip.com h. Microchip reference manual DS41159Cfrom www.microchip.com i. Reference manual AXE033 from www.rev-ed.co.uk .

SUNTRACKER
Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "You owe Me."
The Gift by Hafiz - From

A day will come when all the fossil fuels will get exhausted. With rising fuel costs, climate change concerns and a growing demand for electricity, renewable energy resources such as solar power and wind power are becoming an increasingly valuable part of the world's energy mix. Around the globe, businesses and homeowners are harnessing the power of the earth's most abundant natural resource - sunlight - to provide energy using solar power. Most widely used solar energy harnessing is done through solar panels. If we are able to make a solar panel to turn according to the movement of sun from morning to evening, obviously with little thinking we find that efficiency of the solar panel can be increased. What we need is an automated tracking mechanism that keeps the panel perpendicular to sun all the day. ARENA For the current event you are asked to design a control system for the panel and frame arrangement that you will be given at the venue. The frame consists of a base to hold the solar panel. The frame is allowed is rotate in one axis for tracking. The frame can be driven by an electric motor whose motion has to be controlled autonomously with the control system that you have designed. The event will be held in a dark room, where your design will be tested against a moving sodium vapour lamp. INTRODUCTION TO TRACKING For participating in this event all that you need to have is a little knowledge on sensors and motors. The control system can be made out of discrete electronic components or can use a microcontroller. The one using microcontroller though may seem to be complicated for a beginner but when done properly can make it a good reliable one. Different Approaches to the control system design: 1: Using discrete components: Here sensors and associated electronic circuits are the basic requirements. First about choosing the sensors. This can be decided based on the electronics circuit you are going to use/design for the present problem. There are a large number of electronic circuits which can be designed for this. You can design

your own circuit with the easily available cheap components such as transistors, opamps etc. The basic idea behind all such circuit is that the motor should start rotating when the panel is not facing the sun in the expected manner and stops when the desired position is achieved. This can be easily designed using transistors/ Darlington pairs and LDRs as biasing resistors in suitable places such that if the output is ON, motor will be ON and OFF in the other cases. For the sensor, LDR is the cheapest and better sensible to visible light. Photo diode and phototransistor are other options, but are very costly. Another choice for the design is by using opamps and comparators with the above mentioned basic principle. For more information relating to such circuits, you can refer Encyclopedia of electronic circuits by Rudolf F Graf and the eBook My experience in autonomous robotics by Bibin John. http://www.geocities.com/njbibin/robobook.html 2: Using Microcontrollers: The main advantage in going for a microcontroller controlled system is its reliability. Once calibrated properly with the sensors, the circuit will be smooth to operate. The same microcontroller can be programmed for any other system to suit your needs. Assume you are using two LDRs, and you have connected to MC through two pins. All you have to do is to program the MC such that it continuously checks the input from those two pins, and check the one in darker region and the one illuminated brightly. The MC will then drive the motor connected to it and aligns the solar panel such that all the sensors are illuminated equally thus keeping the panel to our desired position of maximum intensity. However you can increase the number of sensors used and thus making the system more accurate and reliable. For further details on microcontroller based solar trackers, you can visit the website http://www.8051projects.info. which can give you a detailed idea of a simple solar tracker. For those who are beginner to the world of microcontrollers and stepper motors, here is the link http://www.societyofrobots.com. SENSOR LDR (Light dependent resistor) is the most reliable and cheapest sensor that can be used for light sensing (Visible range). LDR is basically a resistor whose resistance varies with intensity of light. More intensity less its resistance (i.e., in black it offers high resistance and in white it offers less resistance). LDR connection: The basic circuit for connecting an LDR is shown in the figure. Vo is fed in to the microcontroller. When under bright light, the resistance of the LDR is very low

and vice versa. So the Vo input voltage to the MC will be small for the LDR exposed to lesser intensity. This magnitude of this voltage will be realised by the MC through ADC (Analogue to digital) conversion. Different LDR sensors available in the market are shown below:

These sensors are made of Cadmium Sulphide. More the area of the sensor, more its sensitivity.

Position the sensors For a one dimensional tracking, either of the two methods are recommended,
1.) Direct sensing: This employs the conventional method of placing sensors (LDR suggested) at different positions of the panel to get a clear idea of the distribution of energy on the surface of the solar panel. But the major disadvantage in this scenario is the proper calibration of the sensors. Sometimes it is even necessary to calibrate each sensor individually. 2.) Move out of Shadow: In this method raise a pillar and arrange the sensors around it and try to get the shadow properly on all sensors. If there is any inclination of the panel with the light source, at least one

sensor will give the signal to MC. Simultaneously the MC can make the motors aligned to the light source. An easy to make and calibrate method.

Selection of motors

Any type of DC motors can be used for the suntracker. But we suggest using high torque geared DC motors or Servo type motors. Since the solar panel arrangement is heavy and so the motor requires a high holding torque for keeping the panel at a particular position. Stepper motors can also be used, but since most common stepper motors available does not give enough dynamic torque, these motors if used have to be selected properly. All these selections are to be based on the criteria of producing torque to move the heavy solar panel (1.960kg).

MICROCONTROLLER

This is the decision making part of the control system. Microcontrollers are programmable ICs whose output varies according to its input and according to the program that we write inside it. Our task is to make the program in C(& many other programming languages are possible) and compile it and write its machine code into the microcontroller memory, there are many microcontroller available in the market you may use any of them. Like AtMega, PIC etc

Power Supply
There should be sufficient power to drive both the circuit and the motors. Ordinary AAA cells would be sufficient. It would be better if you could use separate power supplies for the circuit and motors.

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