Solar Power Tracking
Energy plays a vital role in the development of modern world. Pakistan is an energy deficient country and this deficiency is increasing rapidly due to increase in number of population. In Pakistan this gap of energy demand is fulfilled by fossil fuels which are expensive and hazardous to human
2025-06-28 16:36:03 - Adil Khan
Solar Power Tracking
Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject SummaryEnergy plays a vital role in the development of modern world. Pakistan is an energy deficient country and this deficiency is increasing rapidly due to increase in number of population. In Pakistan this gap of energy demand is fulfilled by fossil fuels which are expensive and hazardous to human health. Moreover, the use of fossil fuels also causes global warming. This problem can be overcome by the use of renewables such as solar which are naturally occurring and environment friendly resources of energy.
There are many ways of getting energy through solar such as through static photo voltaic panels, by single axis tracking systems, by PID control method, by SEPIC or Cuk converter etc. but these systems are not reliable and have certain draw backs of low efficiency, error in weather prediction and complexity of installing etc. In this research we will proposed a dual axis solar tracking system which consist of two parts hardware implementation and programming for the micro-controller. The hardware consists of sensors, drivers, motion mechanism and solar panels. This dual axis solar tracking system uses both East-West and North-South axis for positioning the Solar Panels and accurately maintain the perpendicular profile to the Sun all the times even under seasonal changes. In this system switches are added to turn back the solar panels to its original position after following the movement of sun. The two axis inclinometer is used to measure the current position of the sun. The second part of this system is the programing of the microcontroller to control the movement of structure to track the sun. In this project PIC16F84A microcontroller is used and the programing of this microcontroller is done by installing WinPic800. Moreover, Integral controller is used to correct the error signal in locating the sun position. The dual axis solar tracking system extract more power than single axis tracking system by using a same number of solar panels. This type of dual axis solar tracker system is more accurate and precise. The dual axis solar tracking system has greater efficiency due to increase exposure to sun rays and are cost effective than single axis solar tracking systems.
Project Objectives- To implement such a reliable solar tracking system whose maximum power point tracking changes with the weather conditions.
- To implement a tracking system which has maximum efficiency and low probability 0f error.
The primary task of this pilot project is to build an actual solar panel mount with a sun-tracking system to be installed outdoors. The reason for this choice is active tracking is a fairly effective method to track the sun and a dual-axis tracking system has the capability of increasing the yield of electrical energy output from the solar panels.There are two control method
A. Traditional control method.
B. Programming environment: using this method to do the project, we have sensor system consists of four sensors: two to determine the position of the sun in the sky and another two to determine the position of the sun’s movement from east to west.
Mounting System:The mounting system will refers to the structure which holds the solar panels; the structure will consists of movable and fixed parts based on a set of criteria. The structure will be able to support the weight of the solar panels which are mounted on it.Tracking Controller System: The program for the tracking controller will be written by PICBasic which is then converted to binary or machine language before being loaded into the microcontroller. The microcontroller together with the controller circuit and the sensor will control the movement of the structure to track the sun.System connection The overall electrical connection for the system will be given by figure. As seen, the solar panels will be connected to the charge controller, which will then be connected to the battery bank. The battery bank will be then connected to the inverter and also another wire will be connected from the battery to power the controller circuit and the motors (represented by the orange coloured wire in the Figure ). 
The controller box will houses the controller. Charge controller The wire from the solar panel will be connected to the charge controller. The charge controller, will be used to maintain proper charging voltage on the batteries. It will prevents overcharging of the batteries . Battery Bank the wire from the charge controller will be then connected to the battery bank which enables the batteries to be charged. From the battery bank, a wire will be connected to the inverter. Then another wire will be placed on one of the 12V batteries to power the 12V DC loads such as the motors as well as the controller circuit. .Inverter, Isolator and Cut-off timer The inverter will convert the DC voltage of the battery to 230 AC single phase voltage to power AC loads. An isolator will be put in place to make maintenance work on the system easier. The cut-off timer will be a 24-hour based timer which will allow electric current to pass through at pre-set times. The timer will be powered using AC voltage from the inverter. Output and Loads The electricity output from the inverter will be a single-phase sinusoidal 230V AC voltage at 50 Hz.
Benefits of the Project
The benifits of the proposed work includes:
- Efficiency:
Tracking system generate more efficiency than their stationary counterparts due to increased direct exposure to solar rays. This increase can be as much as 20 to 40% depending upon geographic location of tracking system.
- Cost effectiveness:
The use of sub-optimal designs also added to the high initial cost. Extracting more power from same number of panels in active tracking than same number of panels in passive tracking makes it cheap and cost effective .
- Reliability and performance:
The output from PV panels in case of solar tracking is sensitive to ambient conditions like temperature, humidity, air-pressure and clouds. So it is important to access the ambient conditions to improve the reliability and performance.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableIn this project we will implement a dual axis solar power tracking system. This system will exactly follow the annular position of the sun and uses both East-West and North-South axis for solar power tracking and will be accurate in maintaining the perpendicular profile to the sun even under seasonal changes. So this dual axis solar power tracking system harvest more power and are reliable than single axis tracking systems and static solar panel systems. This project of active dual axis tracking system will consist of sensor sytem which determines the position of the sun and a controller system which will reads data from the sensor to command the movement of the tracker. The program to control the tracking system will be also delopeped. The sensor system will consist of four sensors: Two will determine the position of the sun in the sky and another two will determine the position of the sun's movement from east to west. Each sensor will consist of two consists of two Cadmium Sulphate (CdS) light dependant resistors (LDRs). To decide how the tracker will move, it is important to consider the movement of the sun in the sky throughout the year. Mounting System ,the mounting system refers to the structure will holds the solar panels; the structure consists of movable and fixed parts based on a set of criteria. Fabrication and Installation, the first part to be fabricated will be the frame of the structure. At each end of the frame, a pillow block bearing will be used to enable the frame to rotate along the horizontal axis. A metal shaft which goes through the centre of the frame will connect the two bearings. Also, the DC motor(Bi-polar Stepper motor) controlling the vertical movement will be placed on one side of the frame. Tracking Controller System, the program for the tracking controller will be written by PICBasic which is then converted to binary or machine language before being loaded into the microcontroller. The microcontroller together with the controller circuit and the sensor will control the movement of the structure to track the sun. System connection the solar panels will be connected to the charge controller, which will be then connected to the battery bank. The battery bank will be then connected to the inverter and also another wire will be connected from the battery to power the controller circuit and the motors. The charge controller, will be used to maintain proper charging voltage on the batteries. The inverter,will converts the DC voltage of the battery to 230 AC single phase voltage to power AC loads. Output and Loads the electricity output from the inverter will be a single-phase sinusoidal 230V AC voltage at 50Hz.
Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry Energy Other IndustriesCore Technology Clean TechOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate ActionRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 67350 | |||
| Solar Panel (Poly crystalline) | Equipment | 2 | 6000 | 12000 |
| Tubular Battery 12 V(200 AH) | Equipment | 1 | 24000 | 24000 |
| Suorer Charge Controller | Equipment | 1 | 6500 | 6500 |
| Inverter (UPS) | Equipment | 1 | 15000 | 15000 |
| Bi-polar Stepper Motor | Miscellaneous | 1 | 2200 | 2200 |
| Change Over | Miscellaneous | 1 | 750 | 750 |
| Digital Ammeter | Miscellaneous | 1 | 450 | 450 |
| Digital Voltmeter | Miscellaneous | 1 | 450 | 450 |
| Micro-controller | Miscellaneous | 1 | 250 | 250 |
| DC Transformer | Miscellaneous | 1 | 300 | 300 |
| LDR Sensor | Miscellaneous | 1 | 250 | 250 |
| Power Energy Meter | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1800 | 1800 |
| Stepper Motor Driver | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Rotating Frame | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Connection wires | Miscellaneous | 1 | 1000 | 1000 |