solar tracking system

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SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM A Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering Submitted by Sanjeev Kr. Talukdar, Kalyan Kr. Gogoi, Parviz Rahman Bora, Rezaul Islam Roll No. DC2009BTE4089,DC2009BTE4101,DC2009BTE4102,DC2009BTE4107 Under Supervision of Kabita Choudhury Assistant Professor DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING Don Bosco College Of Engineering And Technology Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, Assam, India

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Page 1: Solar tracking system

SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM

A Report Submittedin Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Technologyin

Electronics and Communication Engineering

Submitted by

Sanjeev Kr. Talukdar, Kalyan Kr. Gogoi, Parviz Rahman Bora, Rezaul IslamRoll No. DC2009BTE4089,DC2009BTE4101,DC2009BTE4102,DC2009BTE4107

Under Supervision ofKabita ChoudhuryAssistant Professor

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS ANDCOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

Don Bosco College Of Engineering And TechnologyAssam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, Assam, India

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i

Abstract

Solar energy is rapidly gaining notoriety as an important means of expanding renewableenergy resources. As such, it is vital that those in engineering fields understand the tech-nologies associated with this area. Our project will include the design and construction of amicrocontroller-based solar panel tracking system. Solar tracking allows more energy to beproduced because the solar array is able to remain aligned to the sun. This system buildsupon topics learned in this course. A working system will ultimately be demonstrated tovalidate the design. Problems and possible improvements will also be presented.

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Contents

1 INTRODUCTION iv1.0.1 Objectives To Meet The Projects Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv1.0.2 Main Components to be used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

2 Theoretical Survey v2.1 Microcontroller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v2.2 DC Motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v2.3 Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

3 LITERATURE SURVEY vii3.1 Paper 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

3.1.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii3.2 Paper 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

3.2.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii3.3 Paper 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

3.3.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii3.4 Paper 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

3.4.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii3.5 Paper 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

3.5.1 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

4 CIRCUIT AND WORKING x4.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x4.2 System Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x4.3 Flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

5 PROGRESS xiii

6 CONCLUSION xiv

7 REFERENCES xv

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List of Figures

4.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x4.2 Diagram of Horizontal axis Solar Tracker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi4.3 FLOW CHART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Contents1.0.1 Objectives To Meet The Projects Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv1.0.2 Main Components to be used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

A Solar Tracker is basically a device onto which solar panels are fitted which tracks themotion of the sun across the sky ensuring that the maximum amount of sunlight strikesthe panels throughout the day. After finding the sunlight, the tracker will try to navigatethrough the path ensuring the best sunlight is detected.

The Solar Tracking System is made as a prototype to solve the problem. It is completelyautomatic and keeps the panel in front of sun until that is visible. The unique feature ofthis system is that instead of taking the earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guidingsource. Its active sensors constantly monitor the sunlight and rotate the panel towards thedirection where the intensity of sunlight is maximum. In case the sun gets invisible e.g. incloudy weather, then without tracking the sun the Solar Tracker keeps rotating the panelin opposite direction to the rotation of earth. But its speed of rotation is same as that ofearth’s rotation. Due to this property when after some time e.g. half an hour when the sunagain gets visible, the solar panel is exactly in front of sun.

The design of the Solar Tracker requires many components. The design and constructionof it could be divided into five main parts, each with their main function. They are: 1.Methods of Tracker Mount, 2. Methods of Drives, 3. Sensor and Sensor Controller, 4.Motor and Motor Controller, 5. Tracker Solving Algorithm

1.0.1 Objectives To Meet The Projects Are

1.To design an effective sensor array to provide directional information to guide a majordrive system to track the movement of the sun across the sky. 2.The drive will have toposition a photo-voltaic panel to the best angle of exposure to sunlight for collection of solarenergy. 3.To present and run the Solar Tracker during the end-of-the course presentation.

1.0.2 Main Components to be used

1. Sensor, 2. DC Motor, 3. Panel, 4. Microcontroller

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Chapter 2

Theoretical Survey

2.1 Microcontroller

The AT89C51 is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit microcomputer with 4Kbytesof Flash programmable and erasable read only memory (PEROM). It is compatible withthe industry-standard MCS-51 instruction set and pin configuration. Thus the interfacingand programming is same in Intel’s 8051 microcontroller with an advantage of EPROMtechnology. That is the same hardware can be improved by changing the program. TheAT89C51 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, afull duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry. In addition, the AT89C51 isdesigned with static logic for operation down to zero frequency and supports two softwareselectable 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-downMode saves the RAM contents but freezes the oscillator disabling all other chip functionsuntil the next hardware reset.

2.2 DC Motor

: A DC motor is an electric motor that runs on direct current (DC) electricity. DC motorswere used to run machinery, often eliminating the need for a local steam engine or internalcombustion engine. DC motors can operate directly from rechargeable batteries, providingthe motive power for the first electric vehicles. Today DC motors are still found in ap-plications as small as toys and disk drives, or in large sizes to operate steel rolling millsand paper machines. Modern DC motors are nearly always operated in conjunction withpower electronic devices.Like all electric motors or generators, torque is produced by theprinciple of Lorentz force, which states that any current-carrying conductor placed withinan external magnetic field experiences a torque or force known as Lorentz force. BrushlessDC motors use a rotating permanent magnet or soft magnetic core in the rotor, and sta-tionary electrical magnets on the motor housing. A motor controller converts DC to AC.This design is simpler than that of brushed motors because it eliminates the complicationof transferring power from outside the motor to the spinning rotor.

2.3 Sensors

: A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signalwhich can be read by an observer or by an instrument. 1.The Light Sensor can be usedfor measurements of light intensity in a variety of situations. 2.Perform inverse squarelight intensity experiments using a point source of light. 3.Conduct polarized filter studies.4.Demonstrate the flicker of fluorescent lamps and other lamps. 5.Carry out solar energy

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2.3. Sensors vi

studies. 6.Perform reflectivity studies. 7.Study light intensity in various parts of a houseor school. 8.Use it as part of a study of plant growth to measure light intensity.

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Chapter 3

LITERATURE SURVEY

3.1 Paper 1

" Solar Tracker Robot using Microcontroller" by A.B. Afarulrazi, W. M. Utomo, K.L. Liewand M. Zarafi published in 2011 International Conference on Business, Engineering andIndustrial Applications.

3.1.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Solar Tracker Robot using Microcontroller" by A.B. Afarulrazi, W.M. Utomo, K.L. Liew and M. Zarafi published in 2011 International Conference on Business,Engineering and Industrial Applications describes to design and develop an automatic SolarTracker Robot (STR) which is capable to track maximum light intensity. The efficiencyof the solar energy conversion can be optimized by receiving maximum light on the solarpanel. STR is microcontroller based and built to move the solar panel in one axis, which isfrom east to west and vice versa. Servo motor is the actuator used to move the solar paneldue to the high torque and small in size. The STR will automatically adjust the positionof the robot so that it always faces the same direction. This will ensure the solar panelreceiving optimum sunlight if external force is applied to move the STR.

3.2 Paper 2

," Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking System by Md. Tanvir ArafatKhan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, Rifat Rahman, S M Shafiul Alam published in 6th Interna-tional Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering ICECE 2010, 18-20 December2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

3.2.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking Systemby Md. Tanvir Arafat Khan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, Rifat Rahman, S M Shafiul Alampublished in 6th International Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering ICECE2010, 18-20 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh describes a microcontroller based designmethodology of an automatic solar tracker. Light dependent resistors are used as thesensors of the solar tracker. The designed tracker has precise control mechanism which willprovide three ways of controlling system. A small prototype of solar tracking system isalso constructed to implement the design methodology presented here. In this paper thedesign methodology of a microcontroller based simple and easily programmed automaticsolar tracker is presented. A prototype of automatic solar tracker ensures feasibility of thisdesign methodology.

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3.3. Paper 3 viii

3.3 Paper 3

" IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE FOR A TRADITIONAL SOLAR TRACK-ING SYSTEM" by Nader Barsoum published in the 2009 Third UKSim European Sympo-sium on Computer Modeling and Simulation.

3.3.1 Summary

In the paper," IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE FOR A TRADITIONAL SO-LAR TRACKING SYSTEM" by Nader Barsoum published in the 2009 Third UKSim Euro-pean Symposium on Computer Modeling and Simulation describes in detail the design andconstruction of a prototype for solar tracking system with two degrees of freedom, whichdetects the sunlight using photocells. The control circuit for the solar tracker is based ona PIC16F84A microcontroller (MCU). This is programmed to detect the sunlight throughthe photocells and then actuate the motor to position the solar panel where it can receivemaximum sunlight. This paper is about moving a solar panel along with the directionof sunlight; it uses a gear motor to control the position of the solar panel, which obtainsits data from a PIC16F84A microcontroller. The objective is to design and implement anautomated, double-axis solartracking mechanism using embedded system design in order tooptimize the efficiency of overall solar energy output.

3.4 Paper 4

" Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System" by Aleksandar Stjepanovic, Sladjana Stjepanovic,Ferid Softic, Zlatko Bundalo published in Serbia,Nis,October 7-9, 2009.

3.4.1 Summary

In the paper entiled," Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System" by Aleksandar Stjepanovic,Sladjana Stjepanovic, Ferid Softic, Zlatko Bundalo published in Serbia,Nis,October 7-9,2009 describes the design and construction of a microcontroller based solar panel trackingsystem. Solar tracking allows more energy to be produce because the solar array is ableto remain aligned to the sun. The paper begins with presenting background theory inlight sensors and stepper motors as they apply to the project.In the conclusions are givendiscussions of design results. The paper begins with presenting background theory, lightsensors and stepper motors as they apply to the project. The paper continues with specificdesign methodologies pertaining to photocells, stepper motors and drivers, microcontrollerselection, voltage regulation, physical construction, and a software/system operation expla-nation. The paper concludes with a discussion of design results and future work.

3.5 Paper 5

" Microcontroller-Based Two-Axis Solar Tracking System" by Lwin Lwin Oo and NangKaythi Hlaing published in Second International Conference on Computer Research andDevelopment.

3.5.1 Summary

In the paper entitled," Microcontroller-Based Two-Axis Solar Tracking System" by LwinLwin Oo and Nang Kaythi Hlaing published in Second International Conference on Com-

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3.5. Paper 5 ix

puter Research and Development describes to develop and implement a prototype of two-axis solar tracking system based on a PIC microcontroller. The parabolic reflector orparabolic dish is constructed around two feed diameter to capture the sun’s energy.Thefocus of the parabolic reflector is theoretically calculated down to an infinitesimally smallpoint to get extremely high temperature. This two axis auto-tracking system has also beenconstructed using PIC 16F84A microcontroller. The assembly programming language isused to interface the PIC with two-axis solar tracking system. The temperature at thefocus of the parabolic reflector is measured with temperature probes. This auto-trackingsystem is controlled with two 12V, 6W DC gear box motors. The five light sensors (LDR)are used to track the sun and to start the operation (Day/Night operation). Time Delaysare used for stepping the motor and reaching the original position of the reflector. Thetwo-axis solar tracking system is constructed with both hardware and software implemen-tations. The designs of the gear and the parabolic reflector are carefully considered andprecisely calculated.

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Chapter 4

CIRCUIT AND WORKING

4.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM

Figure 4.1: BLOCK DIAGRAM

4.2 System Concept

Our design of Solar Tracker is to develop and implement a simplified diagram of a horizontal-axis and active tracker method type of solar tracker fitted to a panel. It will be able tonavigate to the best angle of exposure of light from the torchlight. A pair of sensors isused to point the East and West of the location of the light. A scaled-down model of aprototype will be designed and built to test the workability of the tracking system. Thecenter of the drive is a DC motor. Figure shows a schematic diagram of a horizontal-axissolar tracker. This will be controlled via microcontroller program. The designed algorithmwill power the motor drive after processing the feedback signals from the sensor array.

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4.3. Flowchart xi

Figure 4.2: Diagram of Horizontal axis Solar Tracker

The Microcontroller program will also include monitoring and display of light intensityoutput from the photodiodes. The light detected by the Eastward-facing sensor is at alower intensity to that detected by the Westward-facing sensor. Hence, the sensor must beturned westwards (by the motor controlled by the solar tracker circuit) until the levels oflight detected by both the East and the West sensors are equal. At the point of the solarpanel will be directly facing the light and generated electricity optimally. Obviously realworld solar trackers are not so simple. A solar tracker must be able to reset itself at sunsetso it is ready for sunrise, it must cope with heavy cloud, and it. In addition a mount forthe solar panel must be constructed which can cope with strong winds and a suitable motorfound.

4.3 Flowchart

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4.3. Flowchart xii

Figure 4.3: FLOW CHART

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Chapter 5

PROGRESS

We are studying on various IEEE research papers about our Project and related topicsto our project. We are studying for the assembly language program to implement in ourproject. We have made the simplified algorithm with flowchart for our project. We havebought some of our Components but till now we have not got all the components. As soonas we receive all the components we will start working on the hardware section.

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Chapter 6

CONCLUSION

A modeling and optimization method from a new point of view is proposed. Morefactors can be taken into consideration in the future modeling and optimization, such asthe sensitivity range of the controlling system which determines when the solar trackershould operate to generate more power or stay still to save energy. The research providesreferences for solar tracking system designing, and the modeling and optimization methodcan be modified and applied in other mechanical and electronic systems.

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Chapter 7

REFERENCES

1. " Solar Tracker Robot using Microcontroller" by A.B. Afarulrazi, W. M. Utomo,K.L. Liew and M. Zarafi published in 2011 International Conference on Business,Engineering and Industrial Applications

2. " Design and Construction of an Automatic Solar Tracking System by Md. TanvirArafat Khan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, Rifat Rahman, S M Shafiul Alam published in6th International Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering ICECE 2010,18-20 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh

3. " IMPLEMENTATIONOF A PROTOTYPE FORA TRADITIONAL SOLAR TRACK-ING SYSTEM" by Nader Barsoum published in the 2009 Third UKSim EuropeanSymposium on Computer Modeling and Simulation

4. " Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System" by Aleksandar Stjepanovic, SladjanaStjepanovic, Ferid Softic, Zlatko Bundalo published in Serbia,Nis,October 7-9, 2009

5. " Microcontroller-Based Two-Axis Solar Tracking System" by Lwin Lwin Oo and NangKaythi Hlaing published in Second International Conference on Computer Researchand Development

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