Dual axis solar tracker for solar panel with wireless switching

Abstract

Solar energy is rapidly becoming an important and viable means of renewable energy resource. Despite being ubiquitously present, harvesting it presents a major challenge, owing to the limited efficiency of solar array cells. One of the ways to enhance the efficiency of solar panels, as well as mitigating cost is the use of solar tracker. A tracking mechanism moves and positions the solar array, so as to achieve maximum power output. While a tracker can be either a single axis or dual axis. This paper aims to demonstrate the design and construction of a prototype for dual axis solar tracking system. Dual axis trackers have obvious advantages over single axis trackers. Dual axis trackers have two degrees of freedom which facilitates it to track sunlight with precision from both the axes. This improves the overall efficiency of the tracking mechanism. Dual axis trackers are also the best options for places where the position of the sun keeps changing throughout the year at different seasons.