2019 International Conference on Computing, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies – iCoMET 2019

Design and Fabrication of Automatic Single Axis

Solar Tracker for Solar Panel
Ghazanfar Mehdia,b, Naveed Alia, Shafquat Hussaina Asad A. Zaidib,c, Ahmer Hussain Shahd, M. Mustafa Azeeme
a Mechanical Engineering Department Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, Nawabshah, Pakistan
b College of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
c Department of Engineering Sciences, PN Engineering College, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan
d Balochistan University of information technology , engineering and management sciences, Quetta, Pakistan
e College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
ghazanfarmehdi22@gmail.com, naveed-ali@gmail.com, 13me31@quest.edu.pk asadali@pnec.nust.edu.pk,
ahmer.shah@butims.edu.pk, ravian20052007@gmail.com
*Corresponding author: ghazanfarmehdi22@gmail.com

Abstract— Sun energy is a considered to be one of most

promising source to address the world energy crises. Photovoltaic
cell is one of the prominent sources of energy. The most
important factors that affect the efficiency of solar cells are cell
temperature, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and
energy conversion efficiency. The optimization of these factors
improves solar cells efficiency for more reliable applications.
This study associated by means of the designing and
manufacturing process of single axis tracker device by using
photo voltaic conversion panels. This solar tracker system
assures the conversion optimization of electricity from the source
of sun energy by proper using of orientated photovoltaic panel in
a manner conforming to the actual direction of sun.
Experimental system based on the function of DC motor, which is
controlled by dedicated drive astutely so as to move the PV panel
in accordance with the signals be given as of effective light
sensors. It has been found that at the same sunny day the energy Fig. 1 Total sun energy consumed in Million tonnes oil equivalent
output of solar panel with tracking system was 1742.88Wh and
with non tracking system was 829.6Wh and

Keywords— Photovoltaic, microcontroller, DC motor, MPPT

I. INTRODUCTION
Due to the dwindling and pollution of fossil fuels, many
researchers have got attention to the advancement of renewable
energy [1, 2]. Solar energy is the best option now a day’s using
worldwide. In 2016, the maximum consumption of solar
energy has been observed. Compiled data from various official
sources as shown in Fig 1 [3]. Solar cell is the main source that
converts the light energy in to electricity [4].
The quantity, quality and time availability of solar
radiations are the three important parameters which effects the
conversion of solar energy [5]. Automatic solar tracking
system is the possible approach to maximize the solar cell Fig. 2 (a) Without tracking system (b) With tracking system
efficiency [6]. Tracker system tracks the location of sun hence
it increases the input of sun radiation. Fig. 2 shows the fixed to obtain the maximum solar radiations.
photovoltaic and tracking photovoltaic system [7-9]. The
II. Materials and Methods
novelty of tracking system of sun energy is to enhance the tilt
angle for obtaining the maximum available radiations [10]. This project deals with the fabrication of a single axis sun
tracker method that electronically controlled the best possible
The aim of this research is to fabricate a solar tracking system
Photo voltaic panel location in accordance with sun. The
for photovoltaic cell to harvest the maximum efficiency. To
system consists of solar panel, DC motor, spur gear, sensors
analyse critical factors that affect the efficiency of solar
(limit switches, light dependent resistor), battery, relays, IC
photovoltaic cell by rotating the solar panel from east to west
and Arduino microprocessor. Polycrystalline Silicon solar

978-1-5386-9509-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

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cells are used to perform the experiment, specification is TABLE IV. SLOPE ANGLE OR TILT ANGLE FOR MONTHS
shown in Table. 1. Arduino microcontroller smart drive unit
is used to control the DC motor by means of receiving the Month Tilt Angle (Degree)
input data from a light power sensor. As Dc motor has high
speed and low torque but for rotating solar panel we need low January 48
speed and high torque which is achieved by gear motor
connected to a gear train. The gear mechanism reduces the February 56
speed from motor and increase the torque to greater extent.
Specifications of DC Motor and Gear are shown in Table 2 March 64
and Table 3 respectively. The system is simple in construction
and has low weight due to use of hollow Structural Sections April 72
which has low weight and high strength. Components used are
simple and easily available in the market. In two axis solar May 80
trackers there are lot of losses because control in two
directions requires more power and components, but in this June 88
system losses and power required for tracking system is very
low. The tilt or slope angle is calculated on the basis of July 80
Nawabshah, Sindh latitude which is 26. For achieving the
better efficiency of solar panel Table.4 shows the tilt angle for August 72
months, Table. 5 represent the slope angle for different
seasons [11]. Experiment has been performed at Quaid-e- September 64
Awam University of engineering science and technology,
Nawabshah. Fig. 3 shows the final view of solar panel October 56
tracking system.
November 48
TABLE I. SPECIFICATION OF SOLAR PANEL
December 40
Type Polycrystalline Silicon Solar
Cells
Power (W) 70 TABLE V. SLOPE ANGLE OR TILT ANGLE FOR SEASONS

St. Voltage (V) 12

Season Tilt Angle (Degree)
2
Size (mm ) 540×840
Winter 40
Open Circuit Current (I) 3.8

Short Circuit Current (I) 4.7 Spring/Autumn 64

Company Cell Germany Summer 88

TABLE II. SPECIFICATION OF DC MOTOR

Type DC Geared Motor
Current (A) 4
Speed (rpm) 70
Voltage (V) 12
Power (W) 50

TABLE III. SPECIFICATIONS OF GEAR

Gear No of Face Diameter Circular Depth of

Teeth’s Width (mm) Pitch Teeth
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)

Driver 11 12 23 5 4

Driven 36 10 66 5 4
Fig. 3 Solar tracker system

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 III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The observations were taken with and without tracking
system to obtain the clear view of merits of using solar based
solar photovoltaic tracking system. The observations were
taken for two days with similar loads and time duration. On
Day-1 (20th December 2017) the photovoltaic output was
observed without using the tracking system. And on Day-2
(21th December, 2017,) the photovoltaic output results were
taken by using timer based tracking system. It was clearly
observed that the addition of simple LDR based tracking
system can tremendously enhance the output power of
photovoltaic panel systems. The comparison of LDR based
photovoltaic tracking system with Non-Tracking system is
clearly shown in the Table 6 and Table 7. The PV output is
increased with tracking system and decreased without tracking
system. The load is connected to both tracking system and Fig. 4. Comparisons of “Voltage Readings” with tracking system and without
non-tracking system. tracking system

It has been proved that with the use of tracking system PV-
TABLE VI. OBSERVATIONS OF SOLAR PANEL WITHOUT TRACKING
SYSTEM UNDER LOAD (75 WATT, 5.1 AMPERE)
output current increased to the reasonable level as represented
in Fig. 5.

PV 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00

output AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM
Voltage
6.0 6.8 6.8 6.9 9.2 12.8 12 8 6.8
Volt (V)
Current
0.5 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.5 2.0 2.0 1.5 0.8
Ampere
(A)

Power
Watt 3.0 4.8 6.8 8.3 13.8 25.6 24.0 12.0 5.4
(W)

TABLE VII. OBSERVATIONS OF SOLAR PANEL WITH TRACKING SYSTEM

UNDER LOAD (75 WATT, 5.1 AMPERE) Fig. 5. Comparisons of “Current Readings” with tracking system and with non
tracking system
PV 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00
output AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM It has been shown that PV-output power increased with the
Voltage
9.6 12.0 14.1 14.7 14.2 14.0 14.0 13.0 12.0
use of tracking system as shown in Fig. 6.
Volt (V)
Current
1.2 1.5 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.1
Ampere
(A)
Power
Watt 11.52 18.0 29.2 35.3 31.24 28.0 28.0 23.4 13.2
(W)

It was observed that by tracking system the PV-output

voltage was higher than the without tracking system. Fig. 4
shows PV-output (voltage) with and without tracking system.
The graph shows the variations in voltage with respect of time
and it was calculated in Non-Tracking System (NTS) and
With-Tracking System (WTS) in two consecutive days.

Fig. 6. Comparisons of “Current Readings” with tracking system and non

tracking system

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 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS [7] Tudorache T, Kreindler L. Design of a solar tracker system for PV
power plants. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica 2010;7(1):23–39.
The energy in watt hour can be determined by multiplying [8] Iqdour R, Zeroual A. Prediction of daily global solar radiation using
total power by total time. It has been calculated that at the fuzzy systems. Int J Sustain Energy 2007;26(1):19–29.
same sunny day the energy output of solar panel of Non [9] Stand WDT, The Economic and Policy Setting of Renewable Energy.
tracking system was 829.6Wh and with tracking system was 2003.
1742.88Wh. By using tracking system almost double of the [10] Masters GM. Renewable and efficient electric power systems. John
original energy is obtained by solar tracking system. It is also Wiley&Sons; 2013.
observed that by using LDR-Arduino controlled based solar [11] http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html
tracking system the battery is frequently charged than that in
the stationary photovoltaic panel. The PV panel attached to
this LDR-Arduino controlled based solar Photovoltaic
tracking system is of 70 W, which can be used to charge the
batteries. The power in the batteries can be converted from DC
to AC by using power inverter. The power produced from this
system can directly be used to fulfill our home’s energy
requirements and can simultaneously be used to charged
battery.
This system can further improved by following ways and
effective suggestion. The structure of the solar tracker can be
made more light by using composite materials. The tracking
can be done more precisely by using servo motor instead of
gear motor. Here we have only horizontal axis which can track
the sun by linear actuator mechanism and position setting, and
the vertical axis is set and controlled manually. So, we can fix
another linear actuator at the hinges of panel frame which can
track the sun more efficient not only dawn to dusk daily but
also seasonal vise. Effective tracking can be done by photo
conductive cells for sensing the heat of the sun seasonally
(means north-south). To avoid negative impacts of Voltage
fluctuations a regulation system should be installed before
storing current and for direct usage. The system should work
more effectively when seasonal position adjustment are made
properly. Another additional mechanism of concentrator
(mirrors) can be fit at the edges of the panel frame with
calculated tilt angels so that more sunlight can be reflected to
the PV panel and more will be the power output. Hourly and
daily inspection is needed. It is effectively used for battery
charging and can be used for standby system.

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