SOLAR PANEL WITH SUN POSITION TRACKING

Abstract

ABSTRACT Solar energy is rapidly advancing as an important means of renewable energy resource. Solar tracking enables more solar energy to be generated because the solnr panel is able to maintain a perpendicular profile to the sun's rays. Though initial cost of setting up a solar tracking system is high, this paper proposes a cheaper solution. Design and construction of a prototype for solar tracking system with single degree of freedom, which detects the sunlight using Light Dependent Resistors (LDR), is discussed in this paper. The control circuit for the solar tracker is based on an Node JVICU microcontrollcr. This is programmed to detect the sunlight through the LDRs and then actuate the servo motor to position the solar panel where it can receive maximum sunlight. Compared with any other type of motor, the servo motor _is more controllable, more energy eflicicnt, more steady and has high tracking accuracy and suffers little environmental c!Tcct. Theoretical analysis and research results have been shown in this paper to advocate that the designed system realized precise automatic tracking of the sun and can greatly improve the utilization of solar energy

Specification

FIELD OF INVENTION
As the nonrenewable energy resources are decreasing, usc of renewable resources for
producing electricity is increasing. Solar panels are becoming more popular clay by day.
Solar panel absorbs the energy from the Sun, converts it into electrical energy and stores
the energy in a b"attery.
This energy can be utilized when required or can be used as a direct alternative to the grid
supply. Utilization of the energy stored in batteries is mentioned in below given
applications.
The position of the Sun with respect to the solar panel is not fixed clue to the rotation of
the Earth. For an efficient usage of the solar energy, the Solar panels should absorb energy
to a maximum extent.
This can be done only if the panels are continuously placed towards the direction of the
Sun. So, solar panel should continuously rotate in the direction ol:· Su11. This article
describes about circuit that rotates solar panel.
Principle of Sun Tracking Solar J>ancl
The Sun tracking solar panel cqnsists of two LDRs, solar panel and a servo motor and
A Tmega328 Micro controller.
Two light dependent resistors are arranged on the edges of the solar panel. Light
dependent resistors produce low resistance when light falls on them. The servo motor
cotmected to the panel rotates the. panel in the direction of Sun. Panel is <ltT<IIlgccl in such a
way that light on two LDRs is compared and panel is rotated towru·cls LOR which have
high intensity i.e. low resistance compared to other. Servo motor rotates the panel at
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When the intensity of the light falling on right LOR is more, panel slowly moves towards
right and if intensity on the left LOR is more, panel slowly moves towards lcfl. In the noon
time, Sun is ahead and intensity oflight on both the panels is same. In such cases, panel is
constant and there is no rotation. ·

Automated Sun Tracking Solar Panel Circuit Design
The proposed system consists of ATmega328 mtcro controller, Sol~r panel, Light
Dependent resistors and Servo Motor.
ATmega328 Microcontroller
ATn1ega328 is an AVR family mtcro controller. It is based on ~dv;mcecl RISC
architecture. It is an 8-bit controller. It has 32K Bytes of Programnwble f'lash memory, I K
Bytes of EEPROM and 2K Bytes of SRAM. It has 23 progr~unmahle 110 pins. It supports
p~ripheral features like two 8-bit timers, one 16-bit timer, 6 channel ADC with !O-bit
resolution, programmable USART, Serial Peripheral Interface, 2 wire serial interface
(I2C), etc.
Solar Panel
Solar panel is placed on a piece of cardboard and the bottom of the c:mlb0<1rcl is connected
to Servo motor .. Solar panel consists of photovoltaic cells arranged in ~n order.
Photovoltaic cell is nothing but a solar cell. Solar cell is made up of semiconductor
material silicon .
When a light ray from Sun is incident on the solar cell, some mnount of energy is :1bsorbed
by this material. The absorbed energy is enough for the electrons to jump f"rom one orbit to
other inside the atom. Cells have one or more electric field that directs the electrons which
creates current. By placing metal contact energy can be obtained from these cells.
LDR
N o Light Dependent Resistors or LDRs are the resistors whose resislancc. v:ducs depend on
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I t) intensity of the light. As the intensity of light falling on the LDR in<2!T<_Jscs, resiswnce
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value decreases. In dark, LDR will have maximum resistnnce. LDR will output an analog
value which should be converted to digital. This can be done using analog to digital
converter.
ATmcga328 has analog to digital convertt:r internally. It has six i\DC channels froin
ADCO to ADC5 (Pins 23- 28). The two LDRs are connected to ;\DC pins i.e. 27 and 28
in a voltage divider fashion with the help of individual 1 OK0. Resistors. 1\ DC conversion
is done using successive approximation method.
Servo motor is used to rotate the panel. To drive the servo motor, a PWM Signal must be
provided to its control pin and hence Pin 17 (which has P\Vlvl) is connected to the control
pin of the servo motor.
By connecting a battery to the solar panel, you can store the energy generated hy the solar
cells and this energy can be used when required. There me separate charge controller
circuits dedicated to efficiently control the charge acquired from solar panels and charge
the batteries .
Code
The code for the project is given below .
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo;
int ldrl = 4;
int ldr2 = 5;
int vall;
. int val2;
int pos=90;
void setupO
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myservo.attach(ll );
Serial.bcgin(9600);
myservo. write(pos );
void loop()
{
vall = analogRead(ldrl );
val2 = a.nalogRead(ldr2); ..
vall-= map(vall, 0, 1023,0, 180);
val2 = map(val2, 0, I 023, 0, 180);
if( vall > (val2+50))
{
}
if(pos<l80)
pos=pos+l;
myservo.write(pos); .
Serial. println(" back warci");
delay(IO);
else if(vnl2 > (vall+SO))
{
}
if(pos>O)
pos=pos-1;
myservo. write(pos);
Serial. println("forward ");
delay(IO);
How Sun Tracking Solar Panel Works'!
• Assemble the circuit as described and upload the code to AT'mega328
Microcontroller.
• Power on the circuit and place the set up directly under the Sun (on the rooftop).
• Based on the light falling on the two LDRs, the ATmcga32o Microcontroller
changes the position of the Servo Motor which in turn moves in the panel.
. ~ Advantages of Sun Tracking Solar Panel
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• This also saves money as there is no need to p~y for energy usee! (excluding the
initial setup cost)
• Helps in maximizing the solar energy absorption by continuously tracking the sun.
Sun Tracking Solar Panel Applications
• These panels can be used to power the traffic lights and streetlights
• These can be used in home to power the appliances using solar power.
• These can be used in industries as more energy can be saved by rotating the panel.
Limitations of Sun. Tracking Solar l'ancl Cin,uit
I. Though solar energy cazi'"be utilized to maximum extent this n1av crc;ltc problems
in rainy season.
2. Althougli solar energy can be saved to batteries, they are heavy and occupy more
space and required to change time to time.
3. They are expensive.
CONCLUSION
o An Arduino solar tracker was designed and constructed in the current wori-;. LDR light
sensors were used to sense the intensity of the solar light occurrence on the photovoltaic
cells paneL
o Conclusions of this system is summarized as ,the existing tracking system successfully
sketched the light source even it is a small torch light, in a cbrk room, or it is the sun light
rays.
o The cost and reliability of this solar tracker creates it suitable for the rur;il usage. The
purpose of renewable energy from this paper offered new and advanced idea to help the
people.



CLAIMS

1. We claim for systematic and conceptual Sun Tracking Solar panel

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