Completed Sem Pro

dual axis solar tracking system
Declaration
We, the undersigned, declare that this project shall be our original work and it has not been
presented for a degree in this or any other universities, and all sources of materials that will be
used for the project work are fully acknowledged.
Name Signature
1. Yohannes Lisanewerk ____________
2. Borufen Mekuria ____________
3. Yibeltal Yalew _____________
4. Yesuneh Girma _____________
This Project has been submitted for examination with the approval of our university advisor.
Project Advisor Signature

Mr. Tamiru G. ________________
Board of Examiners Signature Date

1. __________________ _____________ ______________
2. __________________ _____________ ______________
3. __________________ _____________ _____________
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Acknowledgment
First of all we would like to thank our Almighty God for giving us strength to complete our
project. Next we would like to express our heartily gratitude to our advisor Mr. Tamiru G. who
has always been our motivation for carrying out the project. We would also like to thank Mr.
Mesfin M. (HOD) which motivates us to do project which helps us to update our practical skills
and to think things broadly. Lastly we give great gratitude’s to all members and parents who
were inside us from the beginning up to the end of accomplishing the project.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... v
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... vii
List Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................................... 1
1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ............................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Objective of the project ................................................................................................................ 3
1.3.1 General objective .................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.2 Specific objectives ................................................................................................................. 3
1.4 Scope and limitation of the project .............................................................................................. 3
1.5 Significance of the Project ............................................................................................................ 3
1.6 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 4
1.6.1 Hardware used in the project ............................................................................................... 4
1.6.2 Software used in the project................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................................................. 6
2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 6
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................................ 9
3 SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 9
3.1 System design of the Project ........................................................................................................ 9
3.2 System Components and Operations ......................................................................................... 11
3.2.1 Solar Panel........................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.2 LDR sensors ......................................................................................................................... 14
3.2.3 Servo motor ........................................................................................................................ 15
3.2.4 LCD display .......................................................................................................................... 17
3.2.5 Arduino Uno ........................................................................................................................ 19
3.2.6 Power Source ...................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.7 Solar Charge Controller ....................................................................................................... 23
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3.2.8 Inverter (DC to AC converter) ............................................................................................. 24

3.2.9 LED (light emitting diodes) .................................................................................................. 25
3.2.10 Battery (Energy Storage) ..................................................................................................... 25
3.2.11 Resistors .............................................................................................................................. 26
3.3 Types of solar trackers ................................................................................................................ 26
3.4 Overall Operation of the system ................................................................................................. 28
3.5 System Design ............................................................................................................................. 30
3.5.1 Modeling and calculation of system components .............................................................. 30
3.5.2 Circuits diagrams on proteus .............................................................................................. 43
3.5.3 Flowchart of operation system in Arduino ......................................................................... 45
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 46
4 Simulation Result and Discussion ....................................................................................................... 46
4.1 Simulation Result ........................................................................................................................ 46
4.1.1 When more light is in East and some light is in north direction ......................................... 46
4.1.2 When more light is in West and some light is in north direction ....................................... 47
4.1.3 When more light is in south and some light in east direction ............................................ 48
4.1.4 When more light is in south and some light in west direction ........................................... 49
4.1.5 When light is at center ........................................................................................................ 50
4.2 Discussion.................................................................................................................................... 52
CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 53
5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK .......................................................... 53
5.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 53
5.2 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 54
5.3 Future work ................................................................................................................................. 54
References .................................................................................................................................................. 55
Appendices.................................................................................................................................................. 57
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Abstract
The usage of solar panel to convert Sun energy into electrical energy is very popular, but
direction of the Sun changes relatively Due to the rotation of the earth in an orbit, hence the
fixed solar panel may not be able to generate optimum energy. This paper introduces a setup
called dual-axis solar tracker, which is fabricated to minimize the angle of incidence between
incoming light from Sun and a flat photovoltaic (PV) panel to increase the intensity of the light
received. The tracker actively tracks the sun and changes its position accordingly to maximize
the power output. it is not a magic but it all about new technology invention. Simply by
combining a servo motor with LDRs and micro controller (Arduino-Uno) we make it possible.
This project is divided into two stages namely, hardware and software development. In
hardware development, four light dependent resistors (LDR) were utilized to capture the
maximum light source from the sun such that the panel maintains its face always perpendicular
to the sun to generate maximum energy. Two servo motors also were employed to move the
solar panel to maximum light source location sensed by the LDRs. As for the software part, the
code was constructed by using C programming language and was targeted to the Arduino-Uno
controller.
Key words: Arduino-Uno, Servo motor and LDRs (light dependent resistors).
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List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Methodology of the project ......................................................................................... 4
Figure 3.1: Block diagram of the setup ......................................................................................... 10
Figure 3.2: Solar panel .................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 3.3: (a) Zenith angle, slope, surface azimuth angle, and solar azimuth angle for a tilted
surface. (b) Plan view showing solar azimuth angle. .................................................................... 12
Figure 3.4: characteristic curves of PV module ............................................................................ 14
Figure 3.5: LDR connected with 10k resistor ................................................................................ 15
Figure 3.6: Basic operation of servo motor .................................................................................. 17
Figure 3.7: Servo motor with its internal parts............................................................................. 17
Figure 3.8: 16X2 LCD display ......................................................................................................... 18
Figure 3.9: Arduino uno ............................................................................................................... 21
Figure 3.10: Solar charge controllers ............................................................................................ 24
Figure 3.11: AC power conversation systems in solar systems .................................................... 25
Figure 3.12: LEDs ........................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 3.13: Resistor with four color bands .................................................................................. 26
Figure 3.14: Basic operation of dual axis tracking system ............................................................ 28
Figure 3.15: Position of LDRs in the PV panel ............................................................................... 34
Figure 3.16: (a) mechanical model of dual axis tracking system (b) electrical circuit of DC motor
for horizontal vertical axes [10]. ................................................................................................... 41
Figure 3.17: Overall designed circuits for the system .................................................................. 44
Figure 3.18: Flow chart of operation flow in the Arduino ............................................................ 45
Figure 4.1: Simulation result indicating more light is in East and some light is in north direction
....................................................................................................................................................... 47
Figure 4.2: Simulation result indicating more light is in West and some light is in north direction
....................................................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 4.3: Simulation result indicating more light is in South and some light in East direction . 49
Figure 4.4: Simulation result indicating more light is in south and some light in west direction 50
Figure 4.5: Simulation result indicating light is at center ............................................................. 51
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List of Tables
Table 1: LCD pin and their description.......................................................................................... 19
Table 2:Monthly solar radiations of five years data for Adama which is obtained from
Metrological Agency ..................................................................................................................... 30
Table 3: Daily energy for one dorm .............................................................................................. 31
Table 4: PV Module Specification ................................................................................................. 32
Table 5: DC to AC Solar Inverter Specification .............................................................................. 33
Table 6: Solar Battery Specification .............................................................................................. 33
Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page vii

List Acronyms
AC Alternating current
ADC Analog to digital converter
DC Direct current
FF Fill factor
GND Ground
I/O Input- Output
ICSR Individual cases safety reports
ISC Short-circuit current
LCD Liquid crystal display
LDR Light dependent resistors
LED Light emitting diode
LVD Low voltage disconnect
MPP Maximum power point
PCB Printed circuit board
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
PV Photovoltaic
PWM Pulse width modulation
RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer
VOC Open-circuit voltage
Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page viii

CHAPTER ONE
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The increasing demand for energy, the continuous reduction in existing sources of non-
renewable resources and the growing concern regarding environment pollution, have pushed
mankind to explore new technologies for the production of electrical energy using clean,
renewable sources, like solar energy. Among the non- conventional, renewable energy sources,
solar energy affords great potential for conversion into electric power, in which sun is being
abundant, clean, silent and reliable, with very low maintenance costs and minimal ecological
impact. Solar energy is free, clean, practically inexhaustible, and involves no polluting residues
or greenhouse gases emissions. Different researches estimate that covering 0.16% of the land
on earth with 10% efficient solar conversion systems would provide 20 TW of power, nearly
twice the world’s consumption rate of fossil energy. This proves the potential of solar energy
which in turn points out the necessity of tracking mechanism in solar systems [1].
Sunlight has two components, the direct beam that carries about 90% of the solar energy, and
the diffuse sunlight that carries the remaining. The diffused portion is the blue sky on a clear
day and it increases proportionately on cloudy days. As the majority of the energy is in the
direct beam, maximizing collection requires the sun to be visible to the panels as long as
possible. It is known that the fixed solar panel only converts 30% of the total sun rays incident
on it, the rest is wasted as heat [2]. So solar tracker is needed to maintain the sun rays
perpendicular to the panel for maximum output. Trackers are used to keep solar panels
oriented directly towards the sun as it moves through the sky every day. Solar trackers increase
the amount of solar energy which is received by the solar energy collector and improves the
output energy generated which improves the economics of the solar panel project.
Two types of tracking systems are available, single axis and dual-axis tracking systems. By using
single axis solar tracker can only capture the minimum power tracking sunlight in one direction
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from east to west. The use of single-axis tracking can increase the electricity yield by as much as
27% to 32% [2] [3]. The sun not only travels from east to west but there is a change of angle in
north to south direction. So the north and south directions should also be considered which are
done using Dual-axis trackers.
These trackers track the sun on a horizontal as well as vertical axis. Because of this operating
ability the dual-axis trackers have more output power than the single axis trackers. The dual-
axis tracking increases the electricity output as much as 30% to 40% [3] [4]. So to achieve such
advantages it is needed to choose dual-axis trackers for this current project. The project
explains the design and working of a dual-axis automatic self-tracking solar panel. The designed
system is implemented using electronic components like LDRs, servo motors, solar panel and
Arduino-Uno as a controller. LDRs are used to detect the maximum sunlight position in the sky
and the program written performs calculations and drives the servo motors to make
photovoltaic (PV) panels perpendicular to the sun. LDRs are connected to Arduino-Uno
controller which gets to know the position of the sun in the sky and hence rotates the motors
towards the sun. The movement of the solar panel is controlled by the output of a servomotor
which is directed by the controller commands depending on the input signals.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Fixed solar panels can capture maximum energy only when sun is perpendicular to the panel.
But due to rotation of earth those panels can’t maintain their position always in front of sun
and its efficiency is only about 30% [3]. The rest of sunlight that strikes the panel is wasted as
heat. Using single axis solar tracking system the panel will align to the sun in only one direction,
either left/right or up/down movement. So to increase the efficiency of fixed solar panels and
to align the panel in two directions (up/down and left/right), a dual-axis automatic solar
tracking system is designed to align the panel to the sun position throughout the day.

1.3 Objective of the project
1.3.1 General objective
The main objective of this project is to design and simulate a dual-axis solar tracking system to
get an improved efficiency.
1.3.2 Specific objectives
 Data collection and data analysis of the project.

 Determining the required loads.
 Sizing of system components.
 Modeling and design of system components.
 Simulating the automatic dual-axis tracking system in accordance with the designed
parameters using Proteus software.
1.4 Scope and limitation of the project
The project explains design of an automatic solar tracking system through electronic simulation
software. Physical electronic components and other auxiliary equipment are not implemented
in this current study since the required materials are not available in the given time, however;
this circuit design may be developed for future physical implementation. Proteus professional
software has also its own limitation based on the tolerance of each component.
1.5 Significance of the Project
The project is still necessary for solar panel systems so that it can provide benefits like:
 To increase efficiency of solar panel systems.

 To serve increased electrical energy to many loads especially customers those are away
from the grid.
 To get attractive and pollution free environment by adopting renewable energy systems
to the society.

1.6 Methodology
In the first stage of conducting the project we are going to search for reading materials. Since
we are going to use digital devices, we are expected to refer points on the working principles,
logical characteristics and general operation principle of those components. And we may use
any related materials and/or their electronic equivalents that can provide us any help
throughout the design process. And we determine the appropriate power supply for the
components. As well as we check our preceding work and the connections before our next step.
And we will draw the right circuit making it ready for simulation. We have the following steps as
a methodology:
 Literature review to understand the concept and functional of the project

 Understand the whole system of hardware
 Design and analyze the circuit.
 Proteus software is selected to develop the software programming and to simulate the
designed system.
data
Identify system
Literature collection software
the modelling
review and simulation
problem and design
analysis
Figure 1.1: Methodology of the project
1.6.1 Hardware used in the project

Hardware used in the project Is listed below:
 Power supply
 Solar panel
 Arduino board

 Servo motor
 LDR sensor
 Bread board
 LCD
 LEDs
 Connecting Wires
 Resistor
1.6.2 Software used in the project

 PROTEUS is software for microprocessor simulation. Schematic capture and printed
circuit board (PCB). It is best simulation software for various designs with
microcontroller. It is mainly popular because of availability of almost all microcontrollers
in it.
 The microcontroller must have programmed by an Arduino programming code.

CHAPTER TWO
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The project is done by reading and interpreting different literatures on the topic of automatic
Solar Tracking system. Among them the following are great concern for the topic.
The first solar tracker was a mechanical system by C. Finster, invented in 1962. Though the
Finster solar tracker realized insignificant energy gains, years of testing and research has led to
improvement of the conversion output of the PV system and consequently the emergency of
different tracking technologies and applications. In short, improved solar cells have been
developed and the use of solar tracking system over the use of conventional fixed PV system
has grown. In fixed photovoltaic system the solar receiver (PV module) is in a stationary
position facing the true north. However, with mechanical or electro-mechanical systems, the
orientation of the collector change continually in reference to the azimuthal directions (east-
west) and also in its elevation. This is dependent on the tracker’s geometrical capacity [3]. Since
it’s the first tracking technology it has several drawbacks but it’s an eye opening for sun tracking
technologies.
N. Othman et al. (2013) have designed a two-axis sun tracking system with the use of five LDRs
and an Arduino Uno controller. The objective of this research is to design and construct the
automatic dual-axis solar tracker for maximum sun energy utilization. The only point of worry is
that this system should consume energy as minimum as possible so that the difference
between power conversion and power consumption would increase and hence the net profit of
the system. Arduino Uno controller has been used and it is programmed in C language. LDRs are
used to detect the maximum sunlight position in the sky and the program written performs
calculations and drives the servo motors to make PV panels perpendicular to the sun. The sun
not only travels from east to west but there is a change of angle in north to south direction also.
So the north and south directions should also be taken care of. Dual-axis trackers do that. These
trackers track the sun on a horizontal as well as vertical axis. Because of this operating ability
the dual-axis trackers have more output power than the single axis trackers. LDRs are used to

find the brightest spot of the sun in the sky. LDRs are connected to Arduino Uno controller
which gets to know the position of the sun in the sky and hence rotates the motors towards the
sun [5].
Mazidi Md.Ali, Mazidi J.G has designed using Arduino with LabVIEW and DC motor. The vital
component in the hardware of this setup is the Light Dependent Resistor (LDR). LDRs are
basically light-controlled resistors and so they are suitable in applications where light/dark
detection needed. Four LDRs are connected to the analog pins AO to A4 of the Arduino that act
as the input for the system. The Arduino has an in-built Analog-to-Digital Converter which
converts the analog value of LDR outputs and converts them into their digital equivalent value.
The entire setup is, thus, divided into three parts, i.e. input, controller and output where inputs
are from analog value of LDR, Arduino as the controller and the DC motor will be the output.
LDR1 and LDR2, LDR3 and LDR4 are taken as pair. If one of the LDRs in a pair gets greater light
intensity than the other, then a difference will occur on node voltages which are sent to the
respective Arduino channel to take necessary action. The DC motor will move the solar panel to
the position of the high intensity LDR that was in the programming. This setup, however, does
not provide maximum efficiency. There is still a difference between the voltage values of the
output of a moving solar panel and that of a stationary panel [12].
Bhavesh Pandey1, Anita Agrawal, has designed Automatic Sun Tracking System Using
Microcontroller PIC16F877A and DC Motor. In this setup, the output of PV panel i.e. solar panel
is compared and given to PIC microcontroller PIC16F877A for facilitating the tracking operation.
The microcontroller PIC16F877A performs the necessary operations in accordance with the
power received from the solar panel. For this, two threshold levels are used. The first threshold
is used to activate tracking, which indicates that there is a sufficient amount of solar energy
available. The second threshold is used to switch off the peripherals if the significant solar
power is not available for a long period of time, for example, a cloudy / rainy day. The solar
panel is tilted towards east for facilitating tracking on the next day. Analog inputs are accepted
by the PIC 16F877A and are converted into 10 bit digital data. The first limit is decided to be 400
to enable tracking and the second limit is set to 150. When solar power is greater than the first

threshold limit, the tracker is activated. The device compares the intensity of light falling on the
two sensors and aligns itself perpendicular to the radiation [13]. If we use PIC16F877A, the
length of the program will be big as need to use RISC (35 instruction), also program memory is
not accessible and only one accumulator is present.
From the study of these technologies, it has been observed that by using Arduino based solar
tracker system the efficiency of radiation tracking system improves. Most of revised literatures
are done on single axis tracking and its efficiency is lower compared to those that are written
on Dual-axis tracking system. And also most of them are designed using low precision and
inaccurate response electronic devices. So by interpreting those literatures and digging out its
failure (lower efficiency) this project aims to maximize the efficiency of solar panel projects by
implementing dual-axis tracker with accurate and precise electronic components like servo
motors.

CHAPTER THREE
3 SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
3.1 System design of the Project

The system consists of four LDR sensors that are used to sense the position of sun in all four
directions (i.e. in left, right, top and bottom). It detects the position of sun and sends signal to
the controller unit (Arduino-Uno). The controller unit interprets those signals and according to
the program loaded it sends an output signal to the servomotors. The servomotor turns the
solar panel to align it in the direction of sun position. There are two servo motors to turn the
panel in east/west and north/south directions independently depending on the position of sun
sensed by LDRs. The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays the current running angle position of
servomotors (i.e. by displaying a message panel to north, panel to south, panel to west and
panel to east) or indirectly the panel position and the Light Emitting Diodes indicates the
current position of the solar panel according to the program by emitting different colors of
light. The Direct Current (DC) power produced by the panel is further processed through the
inverter to produce Alternating Current (AC) power.

Power HORIZONTAL
Source SERVO
LDR1 LDR2
LCD
TOP LEFT TOP RIGHT Display
LED
ARDUINO-
UNO
VERTICAL
SERVO SOLAR PANEL
LDR3
LDR4 Power
DOWN LEFT
DOWN RIGHT
Source
Solar Charge Controller

Battery
Inverter
AC Power
Figure 3.1: Block diagram of the setup

3.2 System Components and Operations
3.2.1 Solar Panel

Solar panel produces electricity from sun light. A solar panel consists of PV cells that generate
electricity when exposed to light. Semiconducting materials in PV cell are doped to form p-n
structure as an electric field. The p-type material (positive) has a tendency to give up electrons
and acquire holes while the n-type (negative) material accepts electrons. When sunlight hits the
cell, the photons in light excite some of the electrons in the semiconductors to become
electron-hole (negative-positive) pairs. Since there is an internal electric field, these pairs are
induced to separate. As a consequence, the electrons move to the negative electrode while the
holes are move to the positive electrode. A conducting wire connects the negative electrode,
load and the positive electrode in series to form a circuit. As a result, an electric current is
generated to supply the external load.
Figure 3.2: Solar panel
Angle of incidence calculation:
The geometric relationships between a plane of any particular orientation relative to the earth
at any time (whether that plane is fixed or moving relative to the earth) and the incoming beam
solar radiation, that is, the position of the sun relative to that plane, can be described in terms
of several angles [8]. Some of the angles are indicated in Figure 3.3.
The angles and a set of consistent sign conventions are as follows:
φ Latitude, the angular location north or south of the equator, north positive; −90 ⁰ ≤ φ ≤ 90⁰ .

δ Declination, the angular position of the sun at solar noon (i.e., when the sun is on the local
meridian) with respect to the plane of the equator, north positive; −23.45 ⁰ ≤ δ ≤ 23.45⁰ .
β Slope, the angle between the plane of the surface in question and the horizontal; 0 ⁰ ≤ β ≤ 180⁰
. (β > 90⁰ means that the surface has a downward-facing component.)
Figure 3.3: (a) Zenith angle, slope, surface azimuth angle, and solar azimuth angle for a tilted
surface. (b) Plan view showing solar azimuth angle.
γ Surface azimuth angle, the deviation of the projection on a horizontal plane of the normal to
the surface from the local meridian, with zero due south, east negative, and west positive;
−180◦ ≤ γ ≤ 180◦ .
ω Hour angle, the angular displacement of the sun east or west of the local meridian due to
rotation of the earth on its axis at 15⁰ per hour; morning negative, afternoon positive.
θ Angle of incidence, the angle between the beam radiation on a surface and the normal to
that surface.
Additional angles are defined that describe the position of the sun in the sky:
θz Zenith angle, the angle between the vertical and the line to the sun, that is, the angle of
incidence of beam radiation on a horizontal surface.

αs Solar altitude angle, the angle between the horizontal and the line to the sun, that is, the
complement of the zenith angle.
γs Solar azimuth angle, the angular displacement from south of the projection of beam
radiation on the horizontal plane, shown in Figure 3.3. Displacements east of south are negative
and west of south are positive.
There is a set of useful relationships among these angles. Equations relating the angle of
incidence of beam radiation on a surface, θ, to the other angles are
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛿𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜑𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛿𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛾 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛿𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜑𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔

+ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛿𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜑𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛾𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛿𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛾𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔
And cos θ = cos θz cos β + sin θz sin β cos( γs − γ )
The angle θ may exceed 90⁰, which means that the sun is behind the surface. Also, when using
the above Equation, it is necessary to ensure that the earth is not blocking the sun (i.e., that the
hour angle is between sunrise and sunset) [8, 9].
 Characteristic curves of a PV module
The main points of the I-V and P-V curves characteristics are the short-circuit current (Isc) or the
maximum current at zero voltage, and the open-circuit voltage (Voc) or the maximum voltage
at zero current. For each point in the I-V curve, the product of the current and voltage
represents the output power for that operating condition. The MPP produced by the PV
generator is reached at a point on the characteristic where the product I-V is maximum (Pm in
Figure 3.4(b)). The fill factor (FF) is defined as the ratio between Pm and the product Isc · Voc,
which shows curve sequences. Hence, Pm = Isc · Voc · FF: the closer to the unit the fill factor is,
the better cell quality will be. Typical characteristic curves of a PV module are plotted in Figure
3.4, with irradiance and temperature as parameters.
In view of the foregoing, only the experimental measurement of the I-V and P-V curves allows
us to get to know with precision the electrical parameters of a photovoltaic cell, module, or
array. This measure provides very relevant information for the design, installation, and

maintenance of PV systems [6]. The experimental measurement of the I-V characteristic is of

great importance, as it can be considered as a quality and performance certificate of every PV
generator [6, 7].
Figure 3.4: characteristic curves of PV module
3.2.2 LDR sensors

An LDR is a device that is made up of high resistance semiconductor material. It works on the
principle of photo conductivity. Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which the
materials conductivity is increased when light is absorbed by the material. When light falls i.e.
when the photons fall on the device, the electrons in the valence band of the semiconductor
material are excited to the conduction band. These photons in the incident light should have
energy greater than the band gap of the semiconductor material to make the electrons jump
from the valence band to the conduction band. Hence when light having enough energy strikes
on the device, more and more electrons are excited to the conduction band which results in
large number of charge carriers. When light is incident on a photocell it usually takes about 8 to
12 ms for the change in resistance to take place, while it takes one or more seconds for the
resistance to rise back again to its initial value after removal of light. Thus the resistance of LDR
decreases when light falls on it and increases whenever light is absent. When it is kept in dark,
its resistance is as high as 1012Ω, called dark resistance.
In the designed system there are four LDRs to detect the position of sun light in all four
directions.

The voltage going to the microcontroller can be calculated

as:
𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟 × 𝑉𝑑𝑐
𝑉𝑖𝑛 =
𝑅1 + 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟
Figure 3.5: LDR connected with 10k

resistor
3.2.3 Servo motor

Unlike dc motors, with servo motors you can position the motor shaft at a specific position
(angle) using control signal. The motor shaft will hold at this position as long as the control
signal not changed. A servo motor is a rotary actuator or a motor that allows for a precise
control in terms of the angular position, acceleration, and velocity. Basically it has certain
capabilities that a regular motor does not have. Consequently, it makes use of a regular motor
and pairs it with a sensor for position feedback. In closed-loop servomechanism that uses
position feedback to control its motion and final position. The input to its control is a signal
(either analogue or digital) representing the position commanded for the output shaft, as the
positions approach, the error signal reduces to zero and the motor stops.
Servomotors are used in applications requiring rapid variations in speed without the motor
getting overheated.
 They are also used in radio-controlled airplanes to control the positioning and
movement of elevators.
 They are used in robots because of their smooth switching on and off and accurate
positioning.
 They are also used by the aerospace industry to maintain hydraulic fluid in their
hydraulic systems.
 They are used in many radio controlled toys.

 They are used in electronic devices such as DVDs or Blue-ray Disc players to extend or
replay the disc trays.
 They are also being used in automobiles to maintain the speed of vehicles.
Servo Motor consists of a DC Motor, a Gear system, a position sensor, and a control circuit. The
DC motor gets powered by a battery and run at high speed and low torque. The Gear and shaft
assembly connected to the DC motors lower this speed into sufficient speed and higher torque.
The position sensor senses the position of the shaft from its definite position and feeds the
information to the control circuit. The control circuit accordingly decodes the signals from the
position sensor and compares the actual position of the motors with the desired position and
accordingly controls the direction of rotation of the DC motor to get the required position.
Servo Motor generally requires a DC supply of 4.8V to 6 V. The typical value selected for the
project is 5V, 2.4A with 10W rating in order to rotate the given panel.
A servo motor consists of three wires

1. A black wire connected to the ground,
2. A red wire connected to the power supply, and
3. A white/yellow wire connected to the control unit.
The third pin accepts the control signal which is a PWM signal. It can be easily produced by all
micro - controllers and Arduino board. This accepts the signal from your controller that tells it
what angle to turn to. The length of the pulse corresponds to the angle the motor turns to.
Servos are controlled by sending an electrical pulse of variable width, or pulse width
modulation (PWM), through the control wire. There is a minimum pulse, a maximum pulse, and
a repetition rate. A servo motor can usually only turn 90° in either direction for a total of 180°
movements.

Figure 3.6: Basic operation of servo motor
Therefore the function of the servo motor is to receive a control signal that represents a
desired output position of the servo shaft and apply power to its DC motor until its shaft turns
to that position.
Figure 3.7: Servo motor with its internal parts
3.2.4 LCD display

LCD basically works on the concept of Light Polarization of a Liquid Crystal under the influence
of an Electric Field. Every LCD contains a Back Light behind the Liquid Crystal array, which acts
as a light source.
When an Electric Field is applied across certain fluids, it changes the way they allow light to pass
through them, that is, it changes the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules as a result they

do not allow light to pass through them. Hence, by applying suitable potential difference, we
can control if light passes or doesn’t pass through the LCD pixels. LCD 16×2 can be interfaced in
4-bit mode. In 4-bit mode pins from 11 to 14 (total 4 pins) are connected to four I/O pins of
microcontroller. Hence for this interface we need only four Input Output (I/O) pins. The main
reason to operate in 4-bit mode is to save four I/O pins. There is one more way we can
interface this LCD by using shift register, which is normally called three wire interfaces. The
project simulation progress is displayed on the LCD to display the position of the panels so as to
visualize the operation mechanism.
Figure 3.8: 16X2 LCD display

Table 1: LCD pin and their description
LCD pin Symbol Function External Connection

1 Vss Signal ground External ground (power section)
2 Vdd Vcc or LCD (+5V) Power supply (power section)
3 V0 Contrast adjust Externally connect potentiometer
4 RS Register select signal To arduino control pins
5 R/W Read/write select signal To arduino control pins
6 E Enable signal To arduino control pins
7 DB0 For low order bidirectional To arduino data pins
8 DB1 three state data bus lines. To arduino data pins
9 DB2 These are not used if 4 bit To arduino data pins
10 DB3 interface used. To arduino data pins
11 DB4 For high order bidirectional To arduino data pins
12 DB5 three state data bus lines. To arduino data pins
13 DB6 These pins are used when 4 To arduino data pins
14 DB7 bit interface used. To arduino data pins
15 K LED cathode (GND) Backlight LED cathode terminal
16 A LED anode (+5V) Backlight LED anode terminal
3.2.5 Arduino Uno

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328 (datasheet). It has 14
digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It
contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer
with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. The Uno differs
from all preceding boards in that it does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it
features the Atmega8U2 programmed as a USB-to-serial converter.

 Technical specification
 Microcontroller ATmega328
 Operating Voltage 5V
 Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12V
 Input Voltage (limits) 6-20V
 Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
 Analog Input Pins 6
 DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA DC Current for 3.3V Pin 50 mA
 Flash Memory 32 KB of which 0.5 KB used by boot loader
 SRAM 2 KB
 EEPROM 1 KB
 Clock Speed 16 MHz
 Physical characteristics
The maximum length and width of the Uno PCB are 2.7 and 2.1 inches respectively, with the
USB connector and power jack extending beyond the former dimension. Three screw holes
allow the board to be attached to a surface or case. Note that the distance between digital pins
7 and 8 is160 mil (0.16"), not an even multiple of the 100 mil spacing of the other pins.

Figure 3.9: Arduino uno
 Power
The Arduino Uno can be powered via the USB connection or with an external power supply. The
power source is selected automatically. External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-
to-DC adapter (wall-wart) or battery. The adapter can be connected by plugging a 2.1mm
center-positive plug into the board's power jack. Leads from a battery can be inserted in the
Gnd and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector.
The power pins are as follows:
 VIN : The input voltage to the Arduino board when it's using an external power source
(as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source). You
can supply voltage through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack, access it
through this pin.
 5V. The regulated power supply used to power the microcontroller and other
components on the board. This can come either from VIN via an on-board regulator, or
be supplied by USB or another regulated 5V supply.
 3.3V. A 3.3-volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Max current draw is 50
mA.

 GND. Ground pins.
In addition, some pins have specialized functions:
 Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. These
pins are connected to the corresponding pins of the ATmega8U2 USB-to-TTL Serial chip.
 External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a
low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value. See the attach Interrupt ()
function for details.
 PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analog write () function.
 SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI communication,
which, although provided by the underlying hardware, is not currently included in the
Arduino language.
 LED: 13. There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 13. When the pin is HIGH value,
the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off.
 How to use Arduino
Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect
its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The microcontroller on the
board is programmed using the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring) and the
Arduino development environment (based on Processing). Arduino projects can be stand-alone
or they can communicate with software on running on a computer (e.g. Flash, Processing,
MaxMSP).
 Features of Arduino-Uno
 An open source design. The advantage of it being open source is that it has a large
community of people using and troubleshooting it. This makes it easy to find someone
to help you debug your projects.
 An easy USB interface. The chip on the board plugs straight into your USB port and
registers on your computer as a virtual serial port. This allows you to interface with it as
through it were a serial device. The benefit of this setup is that serial communication is

an extremely easy (and time-tested) protocol, and USB makes connecting it to modern
computers really convenient.
 Very convenient power management and built-in voltage regulation. You can connect an
external power source of up to 12v and it will regulate it to both 5v and 3.3v. It also can
be powered directly off of a USB port without any external power
 A 16 MHz clock. This makes it not the speediest microcontroller around, but fast enough
for most applications.  32 KB of flash memory for storing your code.
 13 digital pins and 6 analog pins. These pins allow you to connect external hardware to
your Arduino. These pins are keys for extending the computing capability of the Arduino
into the real world. Simply plug your devices and sensors into the sockets that
correspond to each of these pins and you are good to go.
 An ICSP connector for bypassing the USB port and interfacing the Arduino directly as a
serial device. This port is necessary to re-boot load your chip if it corrupts and can no
longer talk to your computer.
 An on-board LED attached to digital pin 13 for fast an easy debugging of code.
3.2.6 Power Source

Low input DC power is required to activate the servo motors, LDRs and the microcontroller. This
input power can be obtained from the panel output and served to those components.
3.2.7 Solar Charge Controller

Charge and discharge controllers monitor the level of charge in the battery bank (% based on
battery voltage) and control the amount of electricity flowing into and out of the batteries
based on this, the amount of electricity being generated (solar panels) and the amount of
electricity required to power the system (current load).
Charge controllers will stop batteries from being overcharged by restricting the amount of
electricity flowing to them once they have reached a pre-determined upper voltage limit.
Charge controllers will also disconnect the battery bank from a load once the batteries reach a
pre-determined lower voltage limit. This is known as the Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD) and will
be based on a voltage linked to a % drain of a particular battery from its 100% capacity. In many

inverter chargers or standalone charge controllers this can be adjusted to suit user preferences
and local conditions.
Figure 3.10: Solar charge controllers
3.2.8 Inverter (DC to AC converter)

Inverters convert the direct current (DC) from a solar array into an alternating current (AC) used
in many appliances. Many inverters also have battery charging capabilities and as such are
referred to as inverter chargers. Inverter chargers will control the flow of electricity from a solar
panel array (11.5 – 14.5V DC) into a battery bank (11.5 – 14.5V DC) and then from the battery
bank (11.5 – 14.5V DC) either directly to DC appliances or through an inverter to AC appliances
(220 – 240V DC). It is critical that the capacity of the inverter (charger) is less than that of the
peak system power.
It is also important to note that the inverter (charger) should not be oversized excessively as
this will lead to unnecessary losses as the entire inverter will be active regardless of the
required load – another reason why systems with similar average and peak system powers are
preferable. The inverter (charger) could also act as a limiting factor if a system wants to be
expanded in the future.

Figure 3.11: AC power conversation systems in solar systems
3.2.9 LED (light emitting diodes)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric
current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright. But in most LEDs it is
monochromatic, occurring at a single wavelength. The output from an LED can range from Red
(at wavelength of approximately 700 nanometers) to blue-violet (about 400 nanometers).
We have used four LDE’s in our project which indicates position of the solar panel. Specifically
peoples which can’t read the text displayed on the LCD display easily understands the position
of the solar panel by observing the lights emitted from the LDE’s.
Figure 3.12: LEDs
3.2.10 Battery (Energy Storage)

Batteries are the savior and hindrance of renewable energy systems around the world. They
allow intermittent supplies of energy to provide a constant and consistent supply of energy (eg.

For solar systems at night or wind turbines when there is no wind). They do this by storing
energy when energy sources are producing so that is can be used at a later time.
Batteries, in general, do not like being fully discharged and discharging most batteries used in
solar systems below 50% of their full capacity will significantly impact their life span and
performance negatively. Batteries are also sensitive to temperature extremes and exposure to
such environments will impact the life span of a battery and in some instances can be
dangerous due to the risk of explosion. Non-sealed wet batteries require regular maintenance
to ensure that their acid levels are maintained at an optimal level.
3.2.11 Resistors
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance
as a circuit element. Resistor is a component that resists the flow of direct or alternating
electric circuit. Resistors can limit or divide the current, reduce the voltage, protect an electric
circuit, or provide large amounts of heat or light. They are often color coded by three or four
color bands that indicate the specific value of resistance. The current through a resistor is in
direct proportion to the voltage across the resistor's terminals. This relationship is represented
by Ohm's law.
Figure 3.13: Resistor with four color bands
3.3 Types of solar trackers

Solar trackers are devices used to orient photovoltaic panels, reflectors, lenses or other optical
devices toward the sun. Since the sun’s position in the sky changes with the seasons and the

time of day, trackers are used to align the collection system to maximize energy production. It is
completely automatic and keeps the panel in front of sun until that is visible.
The unique feature of this system is that instead of take the earth as in its reference, it takes
the sun as a guiding source. Its active sensors constantly monitor the sunlight and rotate the
panel towards the direction where the intensity of sunlight is maximized. Broadly two types of
tracking systems are available. These are Single axis and dual axis trackers. Single axis tracker
has one degree of freedom or one axis of rotation to track sun from east to west or from north
to south as the designer wants. It can be divided into three:
 Horizontal Axis Tracker: The tracker axis will remain parallel to the earth’s surface and it
will always move along East to West or North to South in direction.The axis of rotation is
horizontal with respect to the ground. These are mounted at a particular angle and
elevation at the respective latitude. Comparative to vertical axis trackers these
horizontal trackers will consume less space for installation.
 Vertical Axis Tracker: The axis of rotation for vertical single axis trackers is vertical with
respect to the ground. These trackers rotate from East to West over the course of the
day. Such trackers are more effective at high latitudes than are horizontal axis trackers
 Tilted Axis Tracker: All trackers with axes of rotation between horizontal and vertical
are considered tilted single axis trackers. Tracker tilt angles are often limited to reduce
the wind profile and decrease the elevated end’s height off the ground. These trackers
are prone to wind factors while tilting at some angles.
Dual axis trackers have two degrees of freedom that act as axes of rotation. These axes are
typically normal to one another. The axis that is fixed with respect to the ground can be
considered a primary axis. The axis that is referenced to the primary axis can be considered as
secondary axis. Dual axis trackers can align the solar panel perpendicular to the sun throughout
the day by tracking from east to west and north to south. The common implementation of dual
axis solar tracker is an azimuth altitude dual axis tracker which has its primary axis vertical to
the ground and the secondary axis is then typically normal to the primary axis.

The selection of tracker type is dependent on many factors including installation size, electric
rates, government incentives, land constraints, latitude, and local weather. In this project the
site is specified as Adama and the sun apparent path during the year is specified as:
 In overhead equilateral hemisphere from September 3 to October 14 and from March 1

to April 11. In this case the sun travels from east to west and the energy radiated to the
earth surface can be collected by single axis trackers.
 In long curved southern hemisphere from April 12 to September 2.
 In short curved northern hemisphere from October 15 to end of February 29.
In the second and the third cases the sun deflects to south and to north during the year. This
deflection must be considered while selecting the tracker type.
So to track the sun energy from east to west and from north to south a dual axis solar tracker is
selected for this project in which one axis is used to track the east to west movement during
each day and the other axis is used to track the north to south movement during the year.
3.4 Overall Operation of the system
Figure 3.14: Basic operation of dual axis tracking system
The overall system operates based on the principle of control system where the controller
actuates a certain actuator depending on the input signal applied on it. In our case the sensor
units are LDRs, the controller is Arduino and the actuator is servomotor that turns the solar

panel. There are five conditions for the position of LDRs in which the controller will turn the two
servomotors to turn the panel. The LCD displays the current running position of servomotors or
indirectly the panel position. Also there are for LEDs to indicate current position of the solar
panel in addition to the LCD display.
There are five conditions in which LDRs can sense the position of sun light.
Case 1: When the average value of output voltage for the two right LDRs (right top and right
bottom) is greater than the left ones (left top and left bottom), the controller orders the
horizontal servomotor to increase its angle to turn the panel towards right (east).
Case 2: When the average value of output voltage for the two left LDRs is greater than the right
ones, the controller orders the horizontal servomotor to decrease its angle or to turn the panel
towards left (west).
Case 3: When the average value of output voltage for the two top LDRs (top right and top left)
is greater than the bottom ones (bottom left and bottom right), the controller orders the
vertical servomotor to increase its angle to turn the panel towards north.
Case 4: When the average value of output voltage for the two bottom LDRs is greater than the
top ones, the controller orders the vertical servomotor to decrease its angle to turn the panel
towards south.
Case 5: When the average value of output voltage at the top and bottom LDRs is equal, and also
average value of output voltage at the left and right LDRs is equal, the two servomotors stay at
their current position indicating the panel is perpendicular to the sun position.

3.5 System Design
3.5.1 Modeling and calculation of system components

 Solar PV System Sizing
Different size of PV modules will produce different amount of power. To find out the size of PV
module, the total peak watt produced is needed. The peak watt produced depends on size of
the PV module and climate of site location. So the site selected for this project is at Bahir Dar
specifically to serve energy for one student’s dormitory. Solar PV system design could be
designed in the following steps.
1. The first step to design PV system is collecting the data.
Average Daily Solar Radiation: To provide long-term average monthly solar radiation data, an
average of monthly solar radiation is calculated for each year over a period of typically 5 years.
Table 2: Monthly solar radiations of five years data for Adama which is obtained from
Metrological Agency
months jan feb mar apr may Jun jul aug sep Oct nov dec annual
2013 8.9 10.05 8.4 8.12 8.35 7.89 5.3 6.8 7.7 8.3 8.78 10.10 8.22
2014 9.4 8.7 8.6 9.0 8.6 8.6 6.4 6.9 6.6 8.7 9.1 8.85 8.29
2015 9.7 10.1 9.5 8.7 8.8 7.5 9.3 8 8.3 9.0 9.07 8.8 8.9
2016 7.7 8.5 9.3 6.7 7.6 7.8 6.4 6.7 7.2 9.8 10.05 9.7 8.12
2017 7.9 8.9 9.2 9.5 7.8 8.0 6.6 5.9 6.8 8.7 9.9 9.3 8.21
2. The second step to design PV system is to estimate the load.
Taking a sample load of the following:

Table 3: Daily energy for one dorm
Electrical Power (W) Number required Hour per day Energy

appliance consumed Wh
per day
LED lamp 10 2 7 420
PC and mobile 250 2 3 1500
charger
Others 40 1 2 80
total 300 13 12 2000
Calculate the total load:
Therefore, total energy needed = energy consumed per day×1.25
Here the multiplying factor 1.25 is the reserve power.
So, total energy needed = 2kwh/day ×1.25 = 2.5kwh/day
Taking power factor of 0.75
Then total PV panel’s energy needed =2.5/0.75=3.33kwh/day
3. Determine the size of PV panel.
From the collected data annual sunshine duration is 8.2 hours per day, thus
.
Peak watt of PV panel = = =0.4065kw/day
.
Therefore, the available size of PV panel in the market is 500W.

Table 4: PV Module Specification
Product number 500W-96M

Rated maximum power 500 W
Rated voltage 53.94V
Rated current 9.27A
Maximum series fuse 15A
Open circuit voltage 65.92V
Short circuit current 9.77A
Maximum system voltage DC1000V
This is a mono-crystalline type panel, since mono-crystalline PV panels have:
 Higher efficiency rates.

 Made out of the highest grade silicon.
 It is space efficient compared to polycrystalline of the same rate.
 It has long lifespan
4. Determine the size of inverter:
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

The size of inverter =
𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
But total power requirement is given by power rating multiplied by the required quantity.
Total power requirement = (10×2+250×2+40×1) W = 560W
Implies inverter size= =658.8 W

.
But the size of the inverter available in the market at this range is 700 W.

Table 5: DC to AC Solar Inverter Specification
Maximum rated power 700 W

Input voltage(DC) 12 V
Output voltage(AC) 220 V
Frequency 50 Hz
Low battery alarm 11.3 V
Low battery shutdown 10.5 V
Efficiency 86-90 %
Thermal protection 65⁰C
5. Determine the size of battery:
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑋 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑢𝑝 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

Battery size =
𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑋 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑋 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
560 𝑊 𝑋 3 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
= = 235.294𝐴ℎ
0.85 𝑋0.7 𝑋 12𝑉
But the available battery size in the market is 12v, 260Ah, for 3 hours’ autonomy.
Table 6: Solar Battery Specification
Battery size 260 Ah

Battery bank voltage 12 V
Battery backup hour 3 hours
Depth of discharge of battery 60%
Battery efficiency 85%

6. Determine the size of solar charge controller:
Solar charge controller = short circuit current × 1.3, where 1.3 is a safety factor so that the solar
charge controller can withstand a current which is greater than the short circuit value of
current.
But from the PV specification the short circuit current is 9.77 A.
Implies solar charge controller = 9.77 A × 1.3 = 12.7 A
So the selected size of the charge controller is 20A which is available in the market.
Calculation of LDRs Resistance value for each five cases
For all cases R = 10kΩ and Vcc = 5 V that fits the simulation
Figure 3.15: Position of LDRs in the PV panel
For case 1
The intensity of light each LDR receives is:
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝐷𝑅 𝐸1 = 0.1𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝑅𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝐿𝐷𝑅 𝐸2 = 15𝑙𝑢𝑥
𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝐿𝐷𝑅 𝐸3 = 0.2𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝑅𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝐿𝐷𝑅 𝐸4 = 14𝑙𝑢𝑥
The resistance of each LDR corresponding to its intensity is calculated using the formula

RLDR= Where 500 is a constant used to convert the light intensity received by the LDR to
corresponding resistance value.
RLDR1= = = 5000KΩ RLDR2= = = 33.33KΩ

.
RLDR3= = =2500KΩ RLDR4= = = 35.71KΩ

.
The output voltage of each LDR is calculated by applying voltage divider rule as:
V01= × 𝑣𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.00998𝑉
V02= × 𝑣𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.153𝑉

.
V03= × 𝑣𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.0199𝑉
V04= 𝑣𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.0938𝑉

.
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the two left and right LDRs is calculated as:
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the two left and right LDRs is calculated as
. .
Ave Left = = = 0.01494V
. .
Ave Right = = = 1.1234V
 Average right output voltage > Average left output voltage which indicates more light is
falling on east, horizontal servo motor increases its angle to turn the panel towards east.
And also average value of voltage corresponding to the two top and down LDRs is calculated as;
. .
Ave Top = = = 0.58149 V
. .
Ave Down = = = 0.55685 𝑉

 Average top output voltage > Average down output voltage slightly which indicates
some light is falling on north side, Vertical servo motor increases its angle slightly to turn
the panel towards north.
For case 2
𝐸1 = 15 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸3 = 14 𝑙𝑢𝑥
𝐸2 = 0.1 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸4 = 0.2 𝑙𝑢𝑥
The resistance of each LDR corresponding to its intensity is calculated using the formula:
RLDR= KΩ as:
RLDR1= = = 33.33 KΩ RLDR2= = = 5000 KΩ

.
RLDR3= = = 35.71 KΩ RLDR4= = = 2500 KΩ

.
V01= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.153 V

.
V02= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.00998 V
V03= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.0938 V

.
V04= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.0199 V
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the two left and right LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Left = = = 1.1234 𝑉

. .
Ave Right = = = 0.01494 𝑉
 Average left output voltage > Average right output voltage which indicates more light is
falling on west, Horizontal servo motor decreases its angle to turn the panel towards
west.
And also average value of voltage corresponding to the two top and down LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Top = = = 0.58149 𝑉
. .
Ave Down= = = 0.55685 𝑉
 Average top output voltage >Average down output voltage slightly which indicates some
light is falling on north side, Vertical servo motor increases its angle slightly to turn the
panel towards north.
For case 3
𝐸1 = 0.2 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸3 = 0.1 𝑙𝑢𝑥
𝐸2 = 14 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸4 = 15 𝑙𝑢𝑥
RLDR= KΩ as:
RLDR1= = = 2500 𝐾Ω RLDR2= = = 35.71 KΩ

.
RLDR3= = = 5000 KΩ RLDR4= = = 33.33 𝐾Ω

.
V01= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.0199 𝑉

V02= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.0938 𝑉

.
V03= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.00998 𝑉
V04= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.153 𝑉

.
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the top and down LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Top = = = 0.5569 𝑉
. .
Ave Down = = = 0.58145 𝑉
 Average top output voltage < Average down output voltage which indicates more light is
falling on south side, vertical servo motor decreases its angle to turn the panel towards
south.
And also average value of voltage corresponding to the two left and right LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Left = = = 0.01494 𝑉
. .
Ave Right = = = 1.1234 𝑉
 Average left output voltage < Average right output voltage slightly which indicates some
light is falling on east, Horizontal servo motor increases its angle slightly to turn the
panel towards east.
For case 4
𝐸1 = 0.1 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸3 = 15 𝑙𝑢𝑥
𝐸2 = 0.2 𝑙𝑢𝑥 𝐸4 = 14 𝑙𝑢𝑥

RLDR= KΩ as:
RLDR1= = = 5000 𝐾Ω RLDR2= = = 2500 KΩ

. .
RLDR3= = = 33.33 KΩ RLDR4= = = 35.71 𝐾Ω
V01= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.00998 𝑉
V02= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 0.0199 𝑉
V03= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.153 𝑉

.
V04= × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.0938 𝑉

.
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the top and down LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Top = = = 0.01494 𝑉
. .
Ave Down = = = 1.1234 𝑉
 Average top output voltage < Average down output voltage which indicates more light is
falling on south side, vertical servo motor decreases its angle to turn the panel towards
south.
And also average value of voltage corresponding to the two left and right LDRs is calculated as:
. .
Ave Left = = = 0.58149 𝑉
. .
Ave Right = = = 0.55685 𝑉

 Average left output voltage > Average right output voltage slightly which indicates some
light is falling on west, Horizontal servo motor decreases its angle slightly to turn the
panel towards west.
For case 5
When the intensity of light each LDR receives is equal given by:
𝐸1 = 𝐸2 = 𝐸3 = 𝐸4 = 𝐸 = 15 𝑙𝑢𝑥
RLDR= KΩ as:
500 500
𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟1 = 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟2 = 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟3 = 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟4 = 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟 = = = 33.33 𝐾Ω
𝐸 15
𝑅 10
𝑉01 = 𝑉02 = 𝑉03 = 𝑉04 = 𝑉0 = × 𝑉𝑐𝑐 = × 5 = 1.153 𝑉
𝑅 + 𝑅𝑙𝑑𝑟 10 + 33.33
Then average value of voltage corresponding to the top, down, Left and Right LDRs is calculated
as:
. .
Ave Left = = = 1.153 𝑉
. .
Ave Right = = = 1.153 𝑉
. .
Ave Top = = = 1.153 𝑉
. .
Ave Down = = = 1.153 𝑉
 Average left output voltage = Average right output voltage, hence horizontal servo
remains in its previous running position, west.

 Average top output voltage = Average down output voltage, hence vertical servo
remains in its previous running position, south.
Generally while performing the simulation the two servo motors which control the horizontal
and vertical movements rotate simultaneously, each with its specific function.
But while turning from the previous case to the next case one of the servomotor remains at its
previous position.
7. Mathematical model of dual axis tracking system:
(a) (b)
Figure 3.16: (a) mechanical model of dual axis tracking system (b) electrical circuit of DC motor
for horizontal vertical axes [10].
The tracking system makes movement in two axis horizontal (east-west) and vertical (north-south) axis
are moved separately even they are connected together.
The vertical (north-south) axis of the system:
𝑒 =𝑖 𝑅 +𝐿 +𝑒 (1)
𝑏 =𝑘 (2)
Where 𝐾 − 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐾 − 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

𝑒 = 𝑖 𝑅 +𝐿 +𝑘 (3)
Mathematical modeling of vertical axis of mechanical system in Figure 3.
𝐵 =𝐵 +𝐵 − 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔.
𝑇 =𝐽 +𝐵 (4)
𝑇 = 𝐾 .𝑖 (5)
Where 𝐽 = 1 − 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 [𝐾𝑔. 𝑚𝑚 ].
𝐾 .𝑖 = 𝐽 +𝐵 (6)
Laplace transform of equation:
𝐸 (𝑠) = 𝐼 (𝑠)𝑅 + 𝐿 𝑠𝐼 (𝑠) + 𝐾 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) (7)
𝐾 𝐼 (𝑠) = 𝐽 𝑠 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐵 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) (8)
From equation (7) we get:
( ) ( )
𝐼 (𝑠) = (9)
When equation (9) is substituted in to (8) we get:
( ) ( )
𝐾 . = 𝐽 𝑠 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐵 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) (10)
When we rearrange equation (10) we get:
𝐾 . 𝐸 (𝑠) = (𝑅 + 𝐿 𝑠) 𝐽 𝑠 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐵 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐾 . 𝐾 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) (11)
𝐾 . 𝐸 (𝑠) = 𝑅 𝐽 𝑠 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝑅 𝐵 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐿 𝐽 𝑠 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐿 𝑠 𝐵 𝜃 (𝑠) + 𝐾 . 𝐾 𝑠𝜃 (𝑠)

(12)
𝐾 . 𝐸 (𝑠) = 𝜃 (𝑠)(𝑅 𝐽 𝑠 + 𝑅 𝐵 𝑠 + 𝐿 𝐽 𝑠 + 𝐿 𝑠 𝐵 + 𝐾 . 𝐾 𝑠) (13)

( )
( )
= (14)
( . )
It is not needed to drive the equation for horizontal axis because both axes are under the same
condition [10, 11].
3.5.2 Circuits diagrams on proteus

The design of dual axis solar tracking control system describes the process of developing the
operational circuit design based on the stipulated block diagram. The four LDRs LEFT TOP LDR,
RIGHT TOP LDR, LEFT DOWN LDR and RIGHT DOWN LDR are connected to Arduino input pins
A0, A1, A2 and A3 respectively. Horizontal and Vertical servo motors to Arduino PWM output
pins 6 and 7 respectively. Also LED1, LED2, LED3 and LED4 are connected to arduino pins 1, 2, 3,
and 4 respectively.
However; the implementation of this circuit will only be simulated using the acceptable
electronic circuit libraries in Proteus professional software. The purpose of the simulation
approach is to save financial resources during the prototype development process by checking
the circuit operation. Circuit integration of components according to their specific functionality
will be undertaken through the simulation. The overall system is to be designed in Proteus
professional software and compiled by loading the program which is written in the Arduino.
Material requirement
 LDRs
 Arduino Uno
 16x2 LCD
 LEDs
 Servo motors
 Resistors
 Terminals
 Connecting wire

Software requirement
1. Arduino IDE 1.6.8 compiler
2. Proteus 8.1 professional
Figure 3.17: Overall designed circuits for the system
The analog voltage output of each LDR is given to the Arduino microcontroller. Arduino has its
own in built ADC to convert those analog voltages to digital values in which the microcontroller
can understand. Depending on the program loaded, it generates proper PWM pulses to control
the position of servomotors. Practically the servomotors are connected to the panel so as the
panel position is adjusted properly to sun position.

3.5.3 Flowchart of operation system in Arduino

START
Initiate horizontal servo= 180 and vertical servo=45
Calculate average of top, down, left and right
Calculate vertical difference= avg top –avg down

Calculate horizontal difference= avg left –avg right
Setting a tolerance level a suitable response time of vertical and

horizontal difference for stability
YES Is tolerance <

vertical difference?
NO
Is tolerance <
horizontal difference? NO
YES
Horizontal servo angle

Is avg left>avg right? YES decrease
Horizontal servo angle

NO increase
YES
Is avg top>avg Vertical servo angle increase
down?
NO Vertical servo angle decrease
Figure 3.18: Flow chart of operation flow in the Arduino

CHAPTER FOUR
4 Simulation Result and Discussion
4.1 Simulation Result

The simulation result is obtained by varying the LDR light intensity values for each 5 cases
independently and the result of simulation is displayed in the LCD. Since change in servomotor
position results change of panel position to the sun direction, LCD displays the panel position
for clear understanding. Also we can know position of the panel by seeing light emitted from
the LEDs.
4.1.1 When more light is in East and some light is in north direction
This condition occurs whenever the two right and the two top LDRs have more light intensity
than the left and down ones respectively. During this position both horizontal and vertical servo
motor increases its angle until the panel is perpendicular to the sun position.

Figure 4.1: Simulation result indicating more light is in East and some light is in north direction
4.1.2 When more light is in West and some light is in north direction
This condition occurs whenever the two left and the two top LDRs have more light intensity
than the right and down ones respectively. During this position horizontal servo decreases its
angle while vertical servo motor increases its angle until the panel is perpendicular to the sun
position.

Figure 4.2: Simulation result indicating more light is in West and some light is in north direction
4.1.3 When more light is in south and some light in east direction
This condition occurs whenever the two down and the two right LDRs have more light intensity
than the top and left ones respectively. During this position vertical servo motor decreases its
angle while horizontal servo motor increases its angle until the panel is perpendicular to the
sun position.

Figure 4.3: Simulation result indicating more light is in South and some light in East direction
4.1.4 When more light is in south and some light in west direction
This condition occurs whenever the two down and the two left LDRs have more light intensity
than the top and right ones respectively. During this position both vertical and horizontal servo
motor decreases its angle until the panel is perpendicular to the sun position.

Figure 4.4: Simulation result indicating more light is in south and some light in west direction
4.1.5 When light is at center

During this condition the panel remains at the previous position (South West position)
indicating that panel is perpendicular to the sun.

Figure 4.5: Simulation result indicating light is at center

4.2 Discussion
As the luminous intensity of each LDR changes the two servo motors rotate with respect to the
intensity received by the LDRs. As more light falls on the LDR its luminous intensity increases
while its resistance decreases, and the voltage output going into the Arduino controller
increases. The controller compares those voltage values and according to the program loaded it
orders the servomotor where to move the panel. Since the program is written and loaded
properly it is seen that a change in output voltage on the LDR results a corresponding shift on
the servomotor position. It is clear that shift in servomotor position shifts the panel towards the
sun position so as to track maximum power from the sun energy. It is also deduced that the use
of four LDRs is to sense the sun position in each four directions. The two servomotors used to
move the panel from east to west and from north to south. The simulation is properly run out
and it is judged that the efficiency of fixed solar panels is improved much more by
implementing dual axis. Here single axis trackers use two LDRs and one servo motor to move
the panel only from east to west and its output power is lower compared to dual axis trackers.
But in this project the output power is increased by considering the north to south movement
by adding two LDRs and one servomotor to control the vertical movement of the panels.
Generally the efficiency can be improved automatically as it is seen that the control system is
properly designed and simulated for each five cases of operation. The expected result is proven
by simulation and the project shall be feasible and effective when it is implemented in real
world prototype.

CHAPTER FIVE
5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
5.1 Conclusion
In this project the design of automatic dual axis control system is implemented in Arduino
controller unit. According to the results obtained in the simulation and the hypothesis proposed
we have concluded the following points.
 A dual axis solar tracker must be implemented for solar projects so as to maximize the
electrical output energy produced and to minimize the energy lost occurred in fixed
solar panels. The dual-axis tracking increases the electricity output as much as 30% to
40%.
 In the simulation, it is seen that the two servomotors rotate the panel to the desired
position of the sun which is indicated by the LDR sensor units so as to align the panel to
the sun position. Since the simulation works properly it is judged that maximum power
can be extracted by the panels throughout the day which results more efficient solar
project.
 Single axis solar trackers can track the sun in only one direction from east to west and
doesn’t consider the north to south movement which are low efficient compared to dual
axis trackers. Since the sun deflects in north and south hemispheres it is considered to
implement dual axis trackers so as to maximize the efficiency.
 It is necessary to install solar projects with automatic tracker to satisfy customer
demands by producing maximum electrical output energy and to make each solar
project more economic by reducing the energy lost.
 Generally it is concluded that the increasing demand of electricity by customers can be
solved by adopting renewable energy resources with best economical and increased
efficiency system.

5.2 Recommendations
Based on the results and findings of the study, the recommendations are anchored on the least
significant result of the study. The following recommendations are proposed:
 Since the simulation of the circuit design on dual axis solar tracker has been proven to
be successful, it is recommended that this circuit design shall be physically implemented
to test its actual functionality in real world problem. And also it is difficult to actually
determine or measure by how much efficiency is increased in dual axis solar tracker
compared to fixed and single axis solar trackers since the prototype is not implemented.
 We were tried a lot to implement the prototype, but there was a problem of getting the
required relevant materials that is used to implement practically So this is highly
recommended to solve such problems to initiate the students for their work.
5.3 Future work

Based on the work done in this project which is efficiency improvement of solar projects using
Arduino as a microcontroller some modifications need to be made in the future work, instead
of using servomotor as actuator it is desirable to replace by stepper motor. Because stepper
motors can precisely control the panel movement at the required exact angle which is
somehow difficult in servomotors for exact angle position . The use of stepper motor as the
tracking device not only facilitates rotation of the solar panel from east to west and back to east
in a cyclic manner but it also tracks the angular movement accurately.

References
[1] N. Othman et al.,"Performance Analysis of Dual axis Solar Tracking System",s.l. : IEEE
International Conference on Control System, Computing and Engineering, 29 Nov.- 1 Dec. 2013.
pp. 370-375.
[2] Md. Tanvir Arafat Khan, S.M. Shahrear Tanzil, "Design and Construction of an Automatic
Solar Tracking System",s.l. : 6th International Conference on Electrical and Computer
Engineering ICECE, 18-20 December 2010. pp. 326-329.
[3] N. Barsoum et al.,"New Approach on Development a Dual Axis solar tracker",Wireless

Engineering and Technology, Juanuary 26, 2016
[4] Fabian Pineda, and Carlos Andrés Arredondo, "Design and Implementation of Sun Tracker
Prototype for Solar Module Positioning",s.l. : 978-1-4673-0066-7 IEEE, 2011. pp. 2905-2910.
[5] S. Ahmad et al,"On the effectiveness of time and date-based sun positioning solar
collector in tropical climate study in Northern Peninsular Malaysia",s.l. : Renewable and
Sustainable Energy, 2012. pp. 635-642.
[6] N. Onat, "Recent Developments in Maximum Power Point Tracking Technologies for
Photovoltaic Systems", International Journal of Photoenergy, vol. 2010, pp. 1-11, 2010.
Available: 10.1155/2010/245316.
[7] E. Durán, J. Andújar, J. Galán and M. Sidrach-de-Cardona, "Methodology and

experimental system for measuring and displaying I-V characteristic curves of PV
facilities", Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 17, no. 8, pp. 574-586,
2009. Available: 10.1002/pip.909.
[8] M. Mahmoud, "Transient analysis of a PV power generator charging a capacitor for

measurement of the I–V characteristics", Renewable Energy, vol. 31, no. 13, pp. 2198-2206,
2006. Available: 10.1016/j.renene.2005.09.019.

[9] P. Sanchis, J. López, A. Ursúa, E. Gubía and L. Marroyo, "On the testing, characterization,
and evaluation of PV inverters and dynamic MPPT performance under real varying operating
conditions", Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 541-556,
2007. Available: 10.1002/pip.763.
[10] B. Kuo, Otomatik kontrol sistemleri. İstanbul: Literatür yayıncılık, 2009.
[11] A. Şenpinar and M. Cebeci, "Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking
PVarrays", Applied Energy, vol. 92, pp. 677-685, 2012. Available:
10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043.
[12] "LabView Interface with Arduino Robotic ARM", International Journal of Science and
Research (IJSR), vol. 4, no. 11, pp. 2423-2426, 2015. Available: 10.21275/v4i11.nov151752.
[13] "Design and Implementation of Sun Tracker Solar Panel Using AT89C52
Microcontroller", Journal of Xidian University, vol. 14, no. 4, 2020. Available:
10.37896/jxu14.4/320.

Appendices
// program of the microcontroller (Arduino Uno)
#include<Servo.h> //include servo library

#include <LiquidCrystal.h> //include LCD library
LiquidCrystal lcd(13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8);
Servo horizontal; //servo which controls east and west movement

int servoh = 180;
signed int servohLimitHigh = 75;
signed int servohLimitLow = -75;
Servo vertical; //servo which controls north and south movement

int servov = 45;
signed int servovLimitHigh = 75;
signed int servovLimitLow = -75;
int ldr1t = A0; //left top LDR

int ldrrt = A1; //right top LDR
int ldr1d = A2; //left down LDR
int ldrrd = A3; //right down LDR
int led1 = 1; //LED which indicates position of the servo is north
int led2 = 2; //LED which indicates position of the servo is south
int led3 = 3; //LED which indicates position of the servo is west
int led4 = 4; //LED which indicates position of the servo is east
void setup() {
pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);

lcd.begin(16, 2);
lcd.print("SOLAR TRACKING"); //initially the LCD displays “SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM”
lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
lcd.print(" SYSTEM ");
delay(100);
horizontal.attach(6);
vertical.attach(7);
horizontal.write(servoh);
vertical.write(servov);
delay(500);
}
void loop() {
int lt = analogRead(ldr1t);
int rt = analogRead(ldrrt);
int ld = analogRead(ldr1d);
int rd = analogRead(ldrrd);
int dtime = 10;
int tol = 50; //tolerance
int avt = (lt + rt) / 2; //average values of the two top LDRs
int avd = (ld + rd) / 2; //average values of the two down LDRs
int avl = (lt + ld) / 2; //average values of the two left LDRs
int avr = (rt + rd) / 2; //average values of the two right LDRs
int dvert = avt - avd; //difference of the average top and average down
int dhoriz = avl - avr; //difference of the average left and average right
if (-1 * tol > dvert || dvert > tol) //if the difference is greater(less) than the tolerance
{
if (avt > avd) //if average top is greater than average down

{
digitalWrite(led1, HIGH);
digitalWrite(led2, LOW);
servov == ++servov;
if (servov > servovLimitHigh)
{
servov = servovLimitHigh;
}
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("PANEL TO NORTH ");
}
else if (avt < avd) //if average top is less than average down
{
servov = --servov;
if (servov < servovLimitLow)
{
servov = servovLimitLow;
}
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("PANEL TO SOUTH ");
}
else
{

}
}
if (-1 * tol > dhoriz || dhoriz > tol) //if the difference is greater(less) than the tolerance
{
if (avl > avr) //if average right is less than average left
{
servoh = --servoh;
if (servoh < servohLimitLow)
{
servoh = servohLimitLow;
}
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("PANEL TO WEST ");
}
else if (avl < avr) //if average left is less than average right
{
servoh = ++servoh;
if (servoh > servohLimitHigh)
{
servoh = servohLimitHigh;
}
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("PANEL TO EAST ");

}
else
{
}
}
delay(dtime);
}

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dual axis solar tracking system

2. Borufen Mekuria ____________

3. Yibeltal Yalew _____________

4. Yesuneh Girma _____________

Project Advisor Signature

Board of Examiners Signature Date

2. __________________ _____________ ______________

3. __________________ _____________ _____________

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page i

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page ii

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page iii

3.2.8 Inverter (DC to AC converter) ............................................................................................. 24

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page iv

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page v

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page vi

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page vii

ADC Analog to digital converter

I/O Input- Output

ICSR Individual cases safety reports

ISC Short-circuit current

LCD Liquid crystal display

LDR Light dependent resistors

LED Light emitting diode

LVD Low voltage disconnect

MPP Maximum power point

PCB Printed circuit board

PLC Programmable Logic Controller

PWM Pulse width modulation

RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer

VOC Open-circuit voltage

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page viii

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 1

1.2 Statement of the problem

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 2

1.3 Objective of the project

1.3.1 General objective

1.3.2 Specific objectives

 Data collection and data analysis of the project.

1.4 Scope and limitation of the project

1.5 Significance of the Project

 To increase efficiency of solar panel systems.

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 3

 Literature review to understand the concept and functional of the project

Figure 1.1: Methodology of the project

1.6.1 Hardware used in the project

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 4

1.6.2 Software used in the project

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 5

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 6

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 7

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 8

3 SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

3.1 System design of the Project

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 9

Solar Charge Controller

Figure 3.1: Block diagram of the setup

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 10

3.2 System Components and Operations

3.2.1 Solar Panel

Figure 3.2: Solar panel

Angle of incidence calculation:

The angles and a set of consistent sign conventions are as follows:

Department of Electrical Power and Control Engineering Page 11

2. ____________ _ ________

3. ____________ _ _______