Development of static solar panel equipped by an active reflector based on LDR sensors

Abstract

Solar panels are a very effective source of renewable energy in Indonesia. To increase the output power of solar panels, especially on the static solar panels, a reflector is required as an additional device. This paper describes development of a static solar panel equipped with an active reflector. Five LDR sensors are mounted on the top of the reflector, to detect the highest solar intensity. Meanwhile, a DC motor as a reflector drive system is mounted on the bottom of the reflector. The tilt angle of the solar panel is 450 to the negative x-axis and the reflector is 750 to the positive x-axis. The reflector will move in a semi-circular path, following the direction of the highest solar intensity detected by the LDR sensor. Three different reflectors used to optimize the output power, there are stainless steel, aluminium foil, and mirror. Solar panel with mirror reflector produces the largest output power compared to other reflectors. The output power of this device increases 1.6 times to the solar panels without reflector.