Sun Tracking PV System

By
Md. Julhas Biswas [2016-3-80-0004]
And
Bipro Das [2016-3-80-019]

Submitted to the
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Faculty of Sciences and Engineering
East West University

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in

Electrical and Electronic Engineering (B.Sc. in EEE)

Fall, 2019
 TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………. 1
1.1 PROJECT AIM………………………………………………. 1
1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVE……………………………………... 1
1.3 PROJECT CONSTRAINT…………………………………… 1
1.4 PROJECT SCOPE……………………………………………. 2
1.5 CUSTOMER EXPECTATION……………………………….. 2
1.6 REGULATORY REQUIREMENT…………………………… 2
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………… 2
2.1 HISTORY OF SOLAR TRACKING………………………… 2
2.2 SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKING……………………….. 4
2.3 DUAL AXIS SOLAR TRACKING…………………………. 5
3.0 CONCLUTION
3.1 CONCLUSION……………………………………..………... 5
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….. 7
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 PROJECT AIM
The aim of this project is to track the sun and rotate the solar panel to receive
sunlight to the fullest extent always during the day time. This movement is
achieved by changes solar panel direction according to the positioning of the
sun. Our target is to design and construct a sun tracking with lower energy
cost and higher energy output PV system for Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGO) like Network for Universal Services and Rural
Advancement (NUSRA). NUSRA working to bring solar irrigation to farmers
and solar home systems.

1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVE

The project objective is to track the sun and rotate the solar panel
consequently, to receive sunlight during the day time. We want to design a
low cost, reliable and high power output solar tracker.

1.3 PROJECT CONSTRAINTS

In the discussion with our targeted customer NUSRA about their outcome that
they wanted from this project many constraints came out.
The constraints are given below:
i) Cost – As they want to business with the energy it is obviously a main
constrain. They want cost as low as possible for the production of
energy.
ii) Maintenance – As the tracker is complex thing. So they want it such a
way that it required very low maintenance.
iii) Lifetime – The lifetime of the solar tracker should be long as like as the
solar panel.
iv) Area – Area requirement should be low.

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 1.4 PROJECT SCOPE
The idea of converting solar energy into electrical energy using photovoltaic
panels holds its place in the front row compared to other renewable sources.
But the continuous change in the relative angle of the sun with reference to
the earth reduces the watts delivered by solar panel. In this context solar
tracking system is one of the alternatives to increase the output of the
photovoltaic panel. Solar trackers move the payload towards the sun
throughout the day. [4]

1.5 CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Our customer is Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL)
authorized organization NUSRA. NUSRA is working to bring solar irrigation
to farmers and solar home systems. We contacted with Bengal Solar. They
informed us they built a sun tracking solar PV system for NUSRA. Then we
visited to NUSRA on 05/10/2019 and after discussing with them we found
few exceptions from NUSRA.
 They want cost as low as possible for the production of energy.
 As the tracker is complex thing. So they want it such a way that
it required very low maintenance.
 The lifetime of the solar tracker should be long as like as the solar
panel.
 Area requirement should be low.

1.6 REGULATORY REVIEW

There is no regulatory requirement from government for 8.4 KW panel solar
power generation. There is a law for more than or equal 5 MW solar power
generation. The law is to collect power generation license from BERC. [13]

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CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 HISTORY OF SOLAR TRACKING
The world is facing energy crisis due to depleting stock of conventional fuel
sources along with problems like global warming. Conventional energy
resources like Coal, Petroleum are said to face shortage in coming future. At
the same time there are areas where even today electricity is not accessible.
City areas and industries continue to exploit most of the share of electricity,
rendering almost no electricity to remote places. Thus, there is greater need to
not only find sustainable means of generating electricity but also to increase
the access of electricity to all parts of the world. [1]
Due to copiousness of solar radiation striking on earth surface it is considered
as major potential Free energy source. Despite of much research on utilizing
this energy effectively, good radiation collection efficiency is deficient. [8]
The sun radiate energy in the form of electromagnetic energy and the amount
of electro-magnetic radiation that reaches the earth from the sun in referred to
as solar radiation. The term irradiance is normally use to define the amount of
solar energy per unit area received over a given time. As a solar
electromagnetic energy passes through the atmosphere of the earth, while the
solar energy levels is around 1367 W/m2 when it reaches the surface of the
earth. [2]. Hence it can be understood that solar energy is a better option than
fossil fuels based on discussed facts. As per geographical status of
Bangladesh, it grips best solar reservoirs in the world. In the hot summer time,
the normal bright sunshine time is near to 7.6 hours in the Bangladesh country
[3].
Converting sunlight to electricity via photovoltaic (PV) solar cells can greatly
reduce the cost of electricity. In this context sun trackers are very important
devices for efficiency improvement [7]. To extract the maximum output
power from a PV module, a solar tracker can be used to track the sun’s
direction and ensure that the sun’s rays are always perpendicular to the surface
of the solar panel, and in this way, capture maximum solar energy [15].The
conversion efficiency of a photovoltaic panel is consistently boosted by the

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 automatic solar tracking system using the light intensity sensing and hence
utmost energy is extracted from the sun [5].
The first solar tracker introduced by Finster in 1962, was completely
mechanical. [4] One year later, Saavedra presented a mechanism with an
automatic electronic control, which was used to orient an Eppley
pyrheliometer. [4] Anusha et al. compared the fixed PV panel and single axis
solar tracking based on real time clock (RTC) using ARM processor. [4] The
experiment is conducted using both fixed and tracking system for 6 days. The
results show that the solar tracking system increased the output around 40%
and energy received from the sun is improved from 9.00AM to 6.00PM.
Dhanabal et al. compared the efficiencies of static panels and tracking systems
of single axis and dual axis fixed mount. [4] The readings are taken from
morning 8 AM to evening 6 PM for fixed panel, single axis tracker and dual
axis tracker for every one hour. The results say the output of the single axis
tracking system over that of the static panel is calculated to be 32.17% and
dual axis tracking system over that of the static panel is calculated to be
81.68%.[4]
The percentage increase in energy extraction of the optimized rotational
tracking and the azimuth tracking both with respect to the fixed panel and that
of the optimized rotational tracking with respect to the azimuth tracking as a
function of latitude on October 17, 2017. For each latitude, the optimum tilt
angle is considered. It is observed that the improvement in energy extraction
for optimized rotational tracking compared to that of azimuth tracking is
significantly higher at lower latitudes. As we move towards higher latitudes,
the enhancement in energy extraction for optimized rotational tracking
diminishes. [16]
Readings for single axis tracker as well as dual axis tracker were taken
between 07.00am and 01.00pm on regular time interval on sunny day at
coordinates 19.2496057, 73.1466132 (Kalyan, Maharashtra, India). Readings
were taken in terms of voltage and current value to calculate power in watt.
This obtained result of power is plotted against time interval. The analysis for
optimum efficiency is compared between Single Axis and Dual Axis
Tracking. Significant improvement in efficiency of Dual Axis system over

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 Single Axis system is observed. Readings showed efficiency of dual axis to
be more than single axis by 24.78%.[8]

2.2 SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKING

Single axis solar tracker generally has only single degree of freedom and it
can rotate from east to west. The single axis trackers are Horizontal, Vertical,
Polar Align and Tilted. This tracker only considers daily movement of sun
with respect to earth position. Single DC motor is used to achieve single
degree of freedom. Despite of being cost effective and easy to build. Single
axis solar tracker have lower energy output than dual-axis tracker [6].
2.3 DUAL AXIS SOLAR TRACKING
Dual-axis trackers have two axes of movement. A dual axis design is chosen
for the solar tracker to enable efficient tracking of sun’s position throughout
the day. The movement of the solar tracker in both the horizontal and vertical
directions allows the solar panel to be continuously exposed to direct rays of
the sun which ensure that output of the solar panel is maximum at all times in
a day [14,12].
In [9] the authors demonstrated that a dual-axis solar tracker can generate up
to 33% more energy compared to a fixed PV module. Besides the degree of
freedom, solar trackers can be designed to be of the sensor less type (open
loop) [10], or of the sensor type (close loop) [11]. A sensor less solar tracker
acts as an open loop system. This type of systems use estimated data about the
sun path in the sky. The data can be obtained from sun path charts, or by using
solar position equations [10]. A sensor type solar tracker acts as a closed loop
system in which light intensity sensors are used to provide appropriate
feedback signals for tracking the sun direction using a feedback control
system [11].
The strength of dual-axis trackers is their ability to maximize energy
production. However, they also have a higher degree of mechanical
complexity, making them more expensive and requiring more maintenance
over their installed lifetime.[17]

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3.0 CONCLUSON

In this project we design and construct a sun tracking with lower energy cost
and higher energy output PV system. Firstly, we selected this topic and
collected information from various sources. In the beginning we discussed
with one of the foremost and pioneering solar companies in Bangladesh,
Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd. (RREL). They informed us that they
can’t sell sun tracking PV system, they sell only fixed system. When we
proposed them if we construct a high output sun tracking PV system then what
will be their requirements. Rahimafrooz said there have no demand in
Bangladesh for sun tracking PV system and they don’t buy any product from
local market, they import all products from other country. Then we discussed
with Bengal Solar, they informed us they built a sun tracking solar PV system
for NUSRA on 2012. From their reference we contacted with NUSRA.
Network for Universal Services and Rural Advancement (NUSRA) is
working to bring solar irrigation to farmers and solar home systems. We
visited to NUSRA on 05/10/2019, they informed their tracking system
damaged on July 2017 and now this system is fixed. After visiting and
discussing with NUSRA we knew that Sun tracking was better than fixed
system for them. We proposed to NUSRA if we construct a high output sun
tracking PV system then what will be their expectations or requirements. They
said about their expectations which is included in this paper.

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REFERENCES
[1] Mounir Bouzguenda, Abduallatif Al Omair, Ahmad Al Naeem, Mohammed Al-
Muthaffar, and Omar Ba Wazir “Design of an Off-Grid 2 kW Solar PV System”
2014 Ninth International Conference on Ecological Vehicles and Renewable
Energies (EVER).

[2] Gerro Prinsloo,Robert Dobson, “Solar Tracking”, 2015 Book Edition.

[3] T. C. Mallick, M. Saifuddin, B. Barua and K. M. Rahman, “A design &

implementation of a single axis solar tracker with diffuse reflector,” IEEE 9th
International Forum on Strategic Technology (IFOST), Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh,
October 21-23, 2014.

[4] RAJAN K. , “SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM- A REVIEW’’, International

Journal of Sustainable Engineering , January 2016.

[5] A. Yazidi, F. Betin, G. Notton, G.A. Capolino, “Low cost two-axis solar tracker
with high precision positioning”, IEEE, vol. 9, no. 12, pp. 211- 216, 2006.

[6] A. Kassemand M.Hamad,"A microcontroller-based multifunction solar tracking

system," in Systems Conference (SysCon), 2011 IEEE International, 2011, pp. 13-
16.

[7] N. Barsoum, “Fabrication of dual-axis solar tracking controller project”,

Intelligent Control and Automation, vol. 2, 2011, pp. 57-68, DOI:
10.4236/ica.2011.22007.

[8] Aditya Sawant, Deepak Bondre, Apurav Joshi and Prasad Tambavekar, “Design
and Analysis of Automated Dual Axis Solar Tracker Based on Light Sensors’’,
Second International conference on I-SMAC, 2018.

[9] R. Eke and A. Senturk, “Performance comparison of a double-axis sun tracking

versus fixed PV system”, Solar Energy, vol. 86 (9), 2012, pp. 2665–2672.

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[10] F. Duarte, P. Gaspar, and L. Goncalves, “Two axes solar tracker based on solar
maps controlled by a low-power microcontroller”, Journal of Energy Power
Engineering, vol. 5 (7), 2011, pp.671–676.

[11] P. Zhang, G. Zhou, Z. Zhu, W. Li, and Z. Cai, “Numerical study on the
properties of an active sun tracker for solar streetlight”, Mechatronics, vol. 23 (8),
2013, pp. 1215–1222.

[12] G. Deb, A. B. Roy, “Use of solar tracking system for extracting solar energy”,
International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Vol.4, No.1, 2012.

[13] SREDA,“Guidelines for the implementation of solar power development

program,2013”

[14] M.Lokhande , “Automatic Solar Tracking System ”, International Journal Of

Core Engineering & Management (IJCEM), Volume 1, Issue 7, 2014.

[15] S.A. Eldin, M. S. Abd-Elhady, and H.A. Kandil, “Feasibility of solar tracking
systems for PV panels in hot and cold regions”, Renewable Energy, vol. 85, 2015,
pp. 228–233.

[16] Rafid Adnan Khan, M. Rezwanul Mahmood, and Anisul Haque, “Enhanced
energy extraction in an open loop single-axis solar tracking PV system with
optimized tracker rotation about tilted axis’’, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable
Energy 10, 045301 (2018).

[17] L. L. Oo, N. K. Hlaing, "Microcontroller-based two-axis solar tracking system",

Computer Research and Development 2010 Second International Conference on, pp.
436-440, 2010.

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