Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of an Automatic Solar Tracker

Abstract

In this research paper, an automatic solar tracker based on gear system is designed and developed. The solar tracker follows the sun from east to west during the day. Driving software has been developed using FLOWCODE and then it is burnt into the microcontroller (PIC 16F72). An intelligent sensor board followed by a sensor circuit has been used to sense the position of the sun.The system has been programmed to detect the intensity of sunlight by a differential arrangement of two LDRs and subsequently actuate the motor to position the solar panel where it can receive maximum sunlight. The solar tracking system is a mechatronic system that integrates electrical and mechanical systems and computer hardware & software. The driving gear system and the structure of the PV module have been developed by using the locally available materials.In our research, the efficiency of this automatic solar tracker is 15% higher than the conventional tracker because of the designing automatic solar tracker and has got it successfully.This reveals that our system is compatible with the additional energy production.