Proceeding hed neromtonal Conference oa Sar Electonics ané Communication ICOSEC 2022) IoT-based Solar Panel Tracking System to Enhance the Output Power Mani P.K!, Prashant Sunagar’, Madhuri N $°, A. Joseph Lourdu Rajah’, Ramya.D*, I.Kathir®, ‘Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Vel Tech ‘MulitechDr-RangarajanDr.Sakunthala Engineering College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600062,Indis, manipudhurkennan@gmailcom *Department of Civil engineering, M S Ramaish institute of Technology, Bengaluru, Kamataka 360054, India *Department of Electrical and Eleetronies Engineering, SreeVidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh 517102,india, “Department of English, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu 624622,Inda, “Department of Electrical and Blectronics Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology,Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600119, India “Department of ectrical & Electronics Engineering, V.S.B. Engineering College, Karur, Tamil Nadu 63911 Lndia, Abstract—| foday's world, power takes an important role in day-to-day life. Power is generated by using different natural resources like light, wind, and water. From the sun, light energy is converted into power with the use of solar panels, Wind energy is converted into power by using a windmill. Hydro energy from water can be converted into power. So, power can be generated with the use of natural resources. By using the solar panel, the Wight emitting from the sun is converted into power and ‘that power can be used for many purposes. Solar panels ‘can be seen in tall buildings like schools, colleges, offices, and And solar panels can be implemented where the sunlight falls like a terrace in houses, terraces in buildings, and can be on Highway roads, But the sunlight cannot be falling all the time at the same place ‘where the solar panel is implemented in a stable state. So, to observe the light from the sun all the time, Solar Panel ‘Tracking System is implemented based on the domain of ‘the Internet of Things (oT). With the use of Light Dependent Resistors (LDR), Voltage sensor, Current sensor, Servo motor, NodeMCU, and ThingSpeak Cloud is applied for Solar Panel Tracking System. LDR senses ‘the light from the sun, the Serv motor is used to rotate ‘the panel.and the Voltage and Current sensorssense the soltage and current from the panel for comerting to power. NodeMCU configures the sensors and motor and dus tries to the cloud. ThingSpeak cloud displays the values of the ta, Keywords— Power, Voltage sensor, Current sensor, I0T, NodeMCU, Servo motor, LDR, Solar Panel, ThingSpeak Cloud. 1. INTRODUCTION In this moder ge source to survive. Power can be produced in many ways such sation, power is much necessary as from the sun by using the solar panel, Hydroelectiity s generated from the water, Coal buming can help to produce ower, through wind by using a windmill. In most of the countries lke developing countries face the main problem to produce power in cities. Further, developed countries namely Canada, Japan, China, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), and Germany have bloomed in the production of power. loT platform to control and moniter a solar panel tracking system at low-cost Hardware devices are connected 10 an [oT platform to transmit, receive, and process various data. This soluti includes alert messages to the users by sending themthrough The solar tracking data can be easily monitored cline via phone or mail I]. In article [2], the energy emitted from the Photovoltaic (PV) or light source collecting devices depends on the solar luminosity. Solar panel tracking the mil ‘Aurize ented so oite o Energy Corporation, Downloaded on December 152022 a 18.3408 UTC tom IEE Xoo, Resbctons sophProceedings ofthe Thi Inrontonal Confreace on Sman Electonics IEEE Xplore Par Nomer CHP2DVOO-ART ISBN: 976. 1-66589758 increases the production of power in the collection of light from the sun source. LDR, humidity sensor, electic citcuit, and temperature sensorame used in this article for solar tacking. The sensor values are measured and displayed ia ToT. The solar panel i customized in Proteus software to ‘rack the sunlight. The tracking relies on the angle of descent ‘of sunlight and the energy can be observed according to the sun's rays, Customizing the tracking of solar light will increase the efficiency of output power over norral solar panels output. fn the Proteus platform, the tracking systemis prototyped and implemented in a real model tracking system ‘of sole radiation which improves in power system{3]. In paper [4], solar energy can be tracked by the use ofa basic solar tracking system. The solar panelis positioned based on Global Positioning System (GPS), Inuge Processing (IP), and Arificial Neural Network (ANN). The position of the sun is calculated by using the values of longitude, latitude, date, and time, With the use of GPS. To detect the image of the sun by calculating the GPS values and centroid and to target the tracking point image processing is used, By using Anifcial Inteligence (AI) algorithms the condition of weather and forecast are detected, The gain of power of this proposed system is10.32% and 59.21% whe compared to the Two-Axs Following System (TASF) at Stable System SS). Utlizing the JoT application, solar energy is supervised and monitors the performance of the tracker. It helps to track the solar panel when the dust is filled in the panel. According to the path of the sun ray's radiation the solar panel observed the maximum amount of power of the sunlight. The panels >| L ‘Voltage sensor ‘Current sensor Servo Motor Fig 1: Block Figure 1 gives the pictorial representation of the proposed method. It contains LDR, Voltage sensor, Current 978 1.6554.9768-02831.00 62022 IEEE Rirscc 4 0d Communication (1COSEC 2022) are connected and each sensor is attached to the panels to ‘monitor the loads and panels. The user can detect the voltage, current, and power ofthe sunlight [5]. Among the renewable energy sources, solar energy pleyed a major role than the other sources. An automatic tricking systemof the sun is Implemented by using moving solar panels and a stepper ‘motor. To receive a light source from the sun, the solar panels rust be perpendicular to the solar radiation, This will help the panel to move according to the sunlight’s direction, CH will be used to adjust the solar panels according tothe sun's direction [6 ‘The rest of the sections of this paper ae as follows: Section II is about the proposed methodology of this article, Section II follows the hardware requirements, Section TV carries the software representation used in tis paper, Section V contains the result and discussion, finally Section VI is carried oul with the conclusion of this paper. Ul, PRopost Work ‘The main motive of this paper is to increase the efficiency of power that i observed from the sun, The solar panel will observe the lightffom the sun's rays. The solar panel will convert the light energy into power. The stable solar panel will receive the light energy highly in the mid- aftemoon. In the moming and evening, the light of the sun will not hit the panel when compared to mid-aflemoon, So, to observe the light for the entire day to inerease the power, a solar panel tracking system is implemented by using a Servo rotor, sensors, LDR, NodeMCU, and ThingSpeak Cloud, Figure I shows the block diagram of the proposed method. | Solar Panel Voltage Value Current value Power Value LDR value servo Mator Clockwise Anticlockwise Diagram sensor, Servo motor, NodeMCU, and Cloud. The sensor senses the readings of voltage, cument, and LDR. The ‘Aorze ented use ite a Energy Comoran, Donlonded on December 152022 a 18.3408 UTC tom IEE Xoo, Resbctons sphProceedings ofthe Thid Inerontonal Confrece oa Sman Electonics IEEE Xplore Par Nomer CFPZDVOO-ART; ISBN: 976 1-66589758 readings are transfered to the NodeMCU to calculate the power. Power is calculated by using the values of eumrent and voltage. Power = Voltage X Current [P = V*C], The Node MCU transfer the collected data to the ThingSpeak cloud, ‘The cloud then displays the received values in the display panel. The serve ator is used to rotate the panel according to the direction of the light source from the sun. NodeMCU is interfaced with the sensors. The cloud will receive the data fom the NodeMCU and displays the data in the display panel. The display panel shows the values of the solar panel like the voltage, current, power, and LDR values and for the servo motor, it shows the direction like clockwise or anticlockwise. Figure 2 gives the low chart of the method, ‘The below figure shows the flow chart of the proposed method, Two LDRs are connected to the panel. ‘When the light hits the panel the LDR will sense and get the readings. Get the values of LDR | and LDR 2 fiom the sensors. IMLDR | is greater than LDR 2 the servo motor will rotate in a clockwise direction, If LDR I is not greater than LDR 2 then the serve motor will rotate in an anticlockwise irection. The readings are taken continuously, and the process will repeat. $o, by using the LDR and servo motor solar panel will rotate and observes more light energy to convert it into power. These conditions and calculations of the power code are dumped into the NodeMCU nicroconteolle, Read LDRI sad LDR? Readings _ UDRIPLDR2_ T Yes Rotate Servo Motor Clockwise Route Servo Motor ‘Aatclek Flow Chart of Solar Panel Tracking System TI HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ‘The hardware components required for the solar panel tracking system containSolar panel, LDR, Voltage 978 1.6554.9768-022831.00 62022 IEEE nd Communication (1COSEC 2022) sensor, Curent sensor, Servo motor, and NodeMCU rmicrocontraler, The servo motor, Voltage sensor, and Current sensor are connected to the solar panel. LDRis used to measure the intensity ofight and to specify the absence or presence of light. Vollaze and Current sensors are used 10 measure the voltage and curtent ofthe light. The serve motor js used lo rotate the panel according to the direction of the light source from the sun. NodeMCU is interfaced with the sensors. The clad will eceive the data from the NodeMCU and displays the data inthe display panel. 1.Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) allows the light t0 fallin this component. LDR is used to find the level of ight intensity, an analogue component. The resistance wil change according to the light intensity [7]. LDR works on the principle of photoconductivity, which is an optical conductance. Resistance of LDR may dilfer from 1000 in sunlight to 10MQ in darkness. The output of this resistence variation is voltage variation. The light intensity of LDR is inversely proportional to the resistance (i., when the light intensity increases the resistance of LDR will decreases), 2.A voltage sensor is one of the types of sensors, that measures the volage in a particular object. The voltage sensor ean determine the voltage in Alremative Curent (AC) and Direct Curent (DC). This sensor helps to find the difference in voltage between two points [8] In this paper, a voltage sensor is used to measure the amount of voltage in the solar panel to caleulate the power consumed from the solar light 3.The device used to measure the flow of current to an jobject is the current sensor. It measures the electrical signal and converts it to digital or analogue value [9]. The output of the curent seasor ray be the voltage in analogue or current in ampere, This sensor i used to measure the current flowing. through the circuit without any disturbance. To ealeulate the power consumed fiom the solar panel, 2 current value is needed to measure the power 4The solar panel is used to genemte electricity by absorbing light energy through the sunlight. The solar panel contains photovoltaic cells to absorb the light. So, the solar panel is also called a Photovoltaic module (PV). This will convert the ight energy into the current as a DC{10}. To give the current and voltage solar panel ean be connected in parallel or series according to the needs. In most cases, the solar panel's ffamework is in 6 X 10 solar cells in one solar panel. The maximum power produced by converting the energy from light to power may differ from 100W to 3S0W. in DC, S.Servo motor is one of the types of actuators, which is used to rotate a specific object with high precision. In the snotor shaft, it gives feedback on the curent position which allows the motor to rotate, The flow of current ta the motor s ‘Aerize ented seit a Energy Comoran, Donlonded on December 152022 a 18.3408 UTC tom IEE Xoo, Resbctons apyProceedings ofthe Thi Inrontonal Confrece on Sman Electonics IEEE Xplore Par Nomer CFPZDVOO-ART SBN: 976. 1-66589758 DG, then the motor is PC mator. When the current flor isin AG, then the motor will be an AC motor. The motor will use the feedback to control the speed, position, and torque of the servo mo‘or. In this paper, the rotation takes place in the clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. Tae maximum rotation speed of the serve motor is 7000 RPM Rotates per Minute) To rotate in these directions the continuous rotation type of servo motor is used. This type of motor rotates at 360 degrees and it is also called a full rotation motor, The servo rotor adjusts the direction of the panel according to the direction of the sunlight. This will increase the intensity of light when it falls on the panel 6NodeMCU is a type of microcontroller wich is an open-source ToT pltfomm This microcontrolr is created to use as an easier and smooth Application Programming Interfice (APD, In NodeMCU microcontroller board comprise of an integrated ISPS268. Wi-Fi module NodeMCU has the benefit of programming in any language with an open-source IDE [12], To operate the NodeMCU the voltage should be from 33V to SV. In this aniele, Arduino IDE is used to write the code and interfaced with the Central Processing Unit (CPU) to dump the code into the nicrovontroller using Universal Serial Bus (USB). TV. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ‘ThingSpeak is open-source, and the platform is free to access. This cloud is an loT-based platform available with APL. Cloud it used to retrieve and store the data through the intemet or Local Area Network (LAN) using Hyper Text ‘Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The min features of ThingSpeak hhave two channels, that cary eight fields, @ status fick’, and three location details [13]. ThingSpeak ean store, analyze, collect, and visualize the data from actuators like Raspheny PF, Arduino, and NodeMCU. And it can store the data of sensors. The two channels are public and private. Ina private channel, the uploaded data cannot be shared with others, and it's the defaul, In public channel, the file uploaded ca be shared with others. ThingSpeak allows us to convey the data to the users, social media, and other websites. The data uploading time to the cloud is 15 seconds, With the help of MATLAB in ThingSpeak, used to examine the data and cary out calibrations and transfer the data. ThingSpeak transmits the data to the user through the Small Message Service (SMS), mail, or Twitter. \V. RESULT AND DISCUSSION ‘The primary objective ofthis study isto increase the efficiency of power using a solar tracking system To observe the light for the entve day to increase the power, a Solar panel tracking system is implemented by using a Serve mot senso, LDR, NedeMCU, and ThingSpeak Cloud Solar 9781.6554.9768-02831.00 62022 IEEE nd Communication (COSEC 2022) panel absorbs the light ftom the sun and convert the light enetgy into power. The universal fact of the sun is the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Ifthe solar panel is placed in one position, the sunlight that falls on the panel is Jess when the sun's direction and the panels direction arethe same, The sunlight won't fallroughout the day on the panel if the panel is stable at one position, So, the solar tracking system comes into the role to absorb the sunlight for the entire day, Figure 3 gives the voltage and current readings of the light energy which is absorbed from the sunlight with the help of a solar tracking panel throughout the day. aa EA CY YY Na a (29.784 Fig 3: Amount of Power absorbed fiom sunlight From the above figure 3, shows the power consumed from the light energy. To caleulate the power, voltage and current readings ere required. The voltage reading is sensed by the voltage sensor in the solar panel and the absorbed. voltage is 12486V, The current sensor senses the curent reading of the solar panel and the consumed eurtent fromthe panel is 2378A, The voltage and current value in ThingSpeak cloud give as in digital and analogue. The power js calculated by using the power fonmla that is programmed in the NodeMCU microcontroller. With the help of vollage and current values, power is caleulated in Watts. The formals to caleulate the power is P= VX C. By multiplying the voltage and current power is determined. In this paper, when voltage is multiplied by curent gots power of 29.784W, Figure 4 gives the resuk ofthe LDRI_ value being higher. a CE 74 63 Soo mndtion 1: LDRI is higher ‘Aerize ented sete to Energy Corparaon, Donlonded on December 162022 a 18.3408 UTC tm IEE Xoo, Resbctons sphProceedings ofthe Thi Introntonal Confrece on Sman Electonics IEEE Xplore Par Nomer CFPZDVOO-ART; ISBN: 976.1-66589758 In the above-given figure 4, LDRI senses the value of 74 of the light consumed by LDRI. In LDR2, the light sensor, Sense the value of 6 of light absorbed by the LDR2. In this case, LDR! value is greater than LDR2 value. So, the servo motor will rotate in a clockwise direction to absorb rove light from the sun, The ThingSpeak cloud displays the value of LDRI, and LDR2 and ako gives information about the direction of the panel with the use of a digital Light Emitting Diode (LED), If LDRI is higher the LED will be in fn ON state which represents the panel should rotate in the clockwise direction. If LDR2 is the greater LED will bein an OFF state, which shows the panel to rotate in the ant clockwise ditection. The above figure shows the panel should rotate in a clockwise direction because LDRI is higher thas, LDR? val. ae See 64 ” nn Fig $:Condition 2: LDR 1 is lower POWER COMPAR! Stationary solar panel Fig 6: Power comparison of stati Figure 6 shows the comparison graph ofthe tacking solar panel and stationary solar panel. In X-anis, time displayed for every hour ffom the moming 6 to evening 5 where the sunlight fills for the entize day. In Y-axis, power consumed from the light source is displayed in watts, The blue line with the triangle represents power consumed in the stable soler panel, The black line with square indicates the tracking solar panel. The stationary solar panel absorbs the power at 6 AMis 21W and increases and decreases according 9781.6554.9768-02831.00 62022 IEEE 0d Communication (1COSEC 2022) ‘The above-given Sgure 5, gives the result of the rection of the panel to rotate. ThingSpeak cloud displays the value of LDRI, and LDR2 and also gives information ahout the direction ofthe panel withthe use of a digital Light Emitting Diode (LED). If LORI is higher the LED will be in an ON state which represents the panel should rotate in a clockwise direction, If LDR2 is the greater LED will be in an OFF state, witich shows the panel to rotate in the anti- clockwise direction, In figure 5, the value of LDRI is 64 and the value of LDR2 is 71, Here, LDRI is lower than LDR2. So, the LED light will be in an OFF state the servo motor will rolate in the anti-clockwise direction where the sunlight fll toa the panel is more than the stable solar panel, Figure 6 gives the comparison chart of stable solarpanels and tricking solarpancls. SON OF SOLAR PANEL -e Tracking solar panel ionary and tracking solar panel to the light that falls on the stable solar panel, The tacking solar panel absorbs the power at 6 AM is 24W and increases and decreases according to the light that falls on the tracking, solar panel. In a stationary solar panel, the panel will be a stable state and the sunlight that falls on that panel will be low therefore, the power consumption also will be low. In tracking a solar pene, the pane! will rotate ormove according, to the direction of the sun and therefore the sunlight wil fll fon the panel directly which consumes more light energy. BY ‘Aorze ented use o Energy Comoro, Danlonded on December 152022 a 18.3408 UTC tom IEE Xplore, Resbctons apProceedings ofthe Thi Iteratnal Conferece on Stan Electronics apd Communication (ICOSEC 2022) TEED Xplore Par Nomer CPPZDVOOART ISBN: 976.1 -66589758 comparing the tracking solar panel and the stationary solar panel in the graph chart, the tracking solar panel gives a high amount of power by absorbing more light energy fiom the VL Coxetusion In this technology and modem world, power is a ‘more important source of energy to live in this new tech ‘world. Power can be generated in many ways like from the sun by using a solar panel, hydroelectriity is generated from the water, Coal buming can help to produce power, and through the wind by using 2 windmill Developed countries like the USA, Japan, and the UK have achieved power ‘consumption and there will be demand for the power. Yet developing countries like India face many problems to ‘generate power and there will be a demand for power in developing countries. To generate more power from natural resources like sunlight from the sun, tracking solar pancls is implemented. In the solar panel two LDRs, a voltage sensor, and a current sensor are connected to sense the light and to ‘et the voltage and current readings of the light energy which iS absorbed fiom the sunlight. The servo motor is also ‘connected to the panel to rotate the solar panel in proportion to the direction of the sun. Then, the LDR, sensors, and Servo ‘motor are interfaced with NodeMCU to calculate and give the information to folate the motor by programmed using Arduino IDE to the microcontroller. The NodeMCU will transfer the data to the ThingSpeak cloud, the cloud displays the values of voltage, sensor, LDR 1, and LDR 2 values and shows the direction of the serve motor to rotate. This will help the solar pancl to absorb more light energy than the stable solar panel, REFERENCES: LH} El Hammouni, Abowakr and Motabie, Sad and Abdelaziz, shriralandDerovie, Ari, "Intenet of Thing ase’ Solr Tracker System", Advanced Techaologis for Solar Photovoltaics Energy Systems, 75.98, 2021, DOI: 10 10071978-3-030=n8565u68, [2] Reba Perveen, Abd Mabsen Mohsmmed, Koraniavind, “lo ‘Based Soler Tracking System for Efcieat Power Generation TnterraonalJoural ofRescarchand Analytical Reviews, 5,481 485.2018, [3] KB, Khuimstoy, DT, Khasinow, and BN, Revonararov, *Mosslingabd Reseach of Adematie Sun Tracking Syren onthe ‘mir of lo and Arno UNO."2019{nternational Conference om Information ence snd CommisientorsT sehnclogea(ICISCT), 1 5, 2019, DOF 10.1109i1CIScT#7635 2019.9011913. [s] Karhiya Kumar Loko Vrchey,A. 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