2017 International Conference on Electrical and Computing Technologies and Applications (ICECTA)
Performance Evaluation of Solar Tracking Systems
for Power Generation Based on Simulation
Analysis: Solar Island Concept
Nada Al Safarini, Omar Akash, Mousa Mohsen, Zaki Iqbal
RAK Research and Innovation Center
American University of Ras Al Khaimah
Abstract— Solar island concept was built in Ras Al Khaimah,
UAE for the purpose of power generation using renewable
technologies while tracking the azimuth of the sun with high
precision. In this paper the concept of floating solar tracking
platform is presented, looking into details other similar
developments around the world. Taking the Solar Island concept,
simulation is carried out to estimate the power generated from
installing solar system on the structure. Skelion and PVsyst 6.0
were used to simulate the power output from PV modules. While
a calculation procedure was followed to evaluate the power
output from CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) linear Fresnel
technology. The analysis showed power yield increase of 14.8 %
and 15.03% when PV solar system and CSP solar system were
evaluated respectively, as compared to fixed PV solar system.
Keywords— Solar Energy, Solar Tracking Systems, Power
Output, Rotating Structure.
I. INTRODUCTION
The aim behind studying the performance of solar systems
with trackers is to realize the percentage of power increase
when tracking the sun as compared to fixed solar systems.
Several parameters such as initial cost, maintenance cost, ROI
and other factors can play important role in determining
whether or not to invest in solar systems with trackers. Kacira
et al [1] identified the optimum tilt angel suitable for the
photovoltaic panels using a mathematical model that can be
used for any location. Using the optimum angel can lead to
maximizing the amount of energy received by the panels and
the amount of energy output. By computing the energy output
for each month separately and considering the life cycle cost
of the tracking system, the practicality and the feasibility of
the tracking system can be decided. Joseph J. Wysocki and
Paul Rappaport [2] carried out analysis on the effect of the
temperature on the photovoltaic solar energy conversion. The
temperature range varied between 0 and 400 degrees Celsius,
with a solar power density of 135 mw/cm2, the research
suggested that the best conversion ratio is obtained when the
current is ideal, when there is leakage or a recombination on
the surface a degradation in the performance will occur, the
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higher the doping level, the higher the conversion ratio will
be, and as the temperature increases the maximum efficiency
will be in the materials with largest band gaps. H. Zhai et al
[3] investigated and analyzed concentrating solar collector
with linear Fresnel lens. An experiment was done on a
concentrating solar collector then a mathematical model was
built to verify the results. This confirmed that the thermal
efficiency of the linear Fresnel lens concentrator can be 9%
higher than the evacuated tube collectors if the inlet water
temperature is from 80 to 90 degrees Celsius. Heimsatha et al
[4] presented a sensitivity analysis for different geometries
and material parameters for a linear Fresnel collector receiver,
the analysis showed that it is essential to take into account the
absorption of the concentrated solar radiation on the mirrors of
the linear Fresnel collector receiver, especially the second
mirror. Also, the absorbed radiation can have larger effect than
the material parameter used. Therefore, the heat loss in the
linear Fresnel collector receiver depends on parameters such
as: the absorber temperature, sun position, collector geometry
and other parameters. Ali Al-Mohamad [5] studied the effect
of using a sun tracking system on the efficiency of PV panels
using a programmable logic-controller unit. A PV system
along with a software were designed to perform this operation.
It was found that the power output from the PV system was
increased by almost 20% when using a tracker. Furthermore,
the programmable logic-controller allows to connect more PV
modules in both configurations (series, parallel) which will
lead to a reduction of the tracking system price and will make
it more cost effective.In this paper a unique design of a
rotating structure that can be populated with a solar system
and track the sun is presented. A simulation comparison of
power generated from PV solar system versus CSP solar
system is presented. A floating PV system results from the
combination of photovoltaic power plant technology and
floating technology. Sahu et al [6] gave more insight about the
Floating PV technology, its pre- sent status & various design
options. They stated that floating type solar photovoltaic
panels have numerous advantages compared to overland
installed solar panels, including fewer obstacles to block
sunlight, convenient, energy efficiency, higher power
generation efficiency owing to its lower temperature
underneath the panels.
 2017 International Conference on Electrical and Computing Technologies and Applications (ICECTA)
Choi et al [7] performed a study on major design elements
of tracking-type floating photovoltaic systems, where they
studied two floating PV systems installed by K-Water, the first
one is a 100 kW floating PV system on the water surface on
Hapcheon dam reservoir has been operating it since 2011, the
second one is a 500 kW floating PV system on another
location nearby installed in July 2012, the authors introduced
the concept of tracking-type floating PV and the application
plan for the tracking algorithm and the rotation mechanism of
structure which is a major design element. Choi [8] verified
the superiority of floating PV system through comparison
analysis of generation amount by 2.4kW, 100kW and 500kW
floating PV system installed by K-water and the cause of such
superiority was analyzed. Also, effect of wind speed, and
waves on floating PV system structure was measured to
analyze the effect of the environment on floating PV system
generation efficiency.
Sharma and Kothari [9] analyzed the floating solar PV
potential in large reservoirs in India, also they reported the
types of floating solar PV systems and benefits of deployment
of such systems, they concluded that floating solar
Photovoltaic offers an economical, eco-friendly alternative to
Land or rooftop solar PV.Hartzell [10] evaluated the current
state of floating solar photovoltaic technology and proposes
use of the technology on water management infrastructure in
Arizona, USA, he found that floating solar photovoltaic has a
higher energy density (100 W/m2) than land-based, utility-
scale solar and does not involve significant cost increases. His
study recommends water reservoirs by hydropower dams as
ideal locations for floating photovoltaic installations and
implementation of floating solar photovoltaic technology
within a sustainable development paradigm.
Muscat [11] studied the effect of sea water on the
efficiency of solar cells, in her study, a number of experiments
were set up to analyze if the effect of salinity would indeed
affect the performance of solar cells comparisons were
conducted for two types of solar technologies: a floating
equivalent PV platform with a water pump allowing sea water
trickles down the face of the solar cell and a floating
equivalent PV platform subject to sea spray ultimately
transformed to sea salt residue accumulation. The author
concluded that floating solar systems with a constant supply of
sea water provides the best power output solution for solar
systems installed in Malta in the Spring and Summer months.
From the results, it is evident that the floating systems present
good opportunities, the author recommended that a pilot
project in this field should be conducted over a span of two
years; 1 year for proper planning of the suitable structure to be
used and 1 full year for testing in the real environment.
The design of the structure and the tracking system of the
structure is presented in this paper, also a simulation
comparison of power generated from PV solar system versus
CSP solar system is presented.
II. SOLAR ISLAND PLATFORM
A pilot project structure of the solar island has been built
in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. The structure has been successfully
tested for tracking the azimuth with a precision of+/- 0.026°.
The structure of the solar island rotates as a whole, this
enables the solar system populated on the island to be rotated
as a one tracking system and this is a major advantage over the
conventional tracking systems available at the market. Main
parts of the solar island consist of the following: a rotating
steel torus that floats on a water channel, a plastic membrane
sealed against the steel torus, a set of rubber wheels rotating
against the water channel walls and a network of equally
spaced x-y steel cables fixed on the torus. Air blowers which
are located on the center of the island provides light air
pressure below the membrane, which provides a sufficient
vertical force to support the load of the solar field.
III. GENERATING POWER FROM CSP
In this part, we present the proposed design for the thermal
loop to be used for power generation from CSP technology, the
current section estimates the power generated from populating
the solar island completely with CSP modules. The solar
modules are made of a steel skeleton which is designed to
support the mirror blades and the pipes carrying the heated
fluids. The flat mirror blades are precisely mounted on the
structure with the right inclination angle by means of suitable
flexible clips Fig.1. The thermal loop consists of two main
parts: 1) primary circuit 2) secondary circuit, the loop starts
from heating the water flowing through the solar field, as the
water is heated enough it is transferred to the storage tank. The
storage tank feeds the heat exchanger with the hot fluid at
around 200 C, and the heat is transferred to the working fluid
of the organic Rankine cycle, in which electricity is generated
from the cycle. A buffer tank is located after the secondary
circuit, the function of this tank is to take the condensed water
from heat exchanger during night operation.
One module structure has been built and tested as a
prototype to validate the input temperature Fig.2, the structure
tracks the azimuth direction of the sun automatically with the
help of a tracker, and the receiver is held 4 meters above the
field collector with the help of a receiver holder. The prototype
consists of 118 strips of mirrors located symmetrically relative
to the receiver. Water is used as the working fluid, and the
structure consisted of other parts such as: main water tank,
small water tank, centrifugal pumps, electric heater and flow
control valve. The operation of the tracker is based on DC
motors that are controlled by a dedicated drive unit that moves
the tracker according to the signals from control system using
Solar Position Algorithm (SPA) and encoder as feedback
element.
 2017 International Conference on Electrical and Computing Technologies and Applications (ICECTA)
Fig.1: CAD model of a Standard Solar Module
Fig.2: Single Rotating Test Module
IV. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
The evaluation was carried out assuming different
scenarios. The first case was to study the energy produced
when installing PV system on zero tilt angle, in this case no
tracking was applied to the solar system. The second case
considered was a fixed PV system with 22-degree tilt angle
which is the optimum tilt angle for UAE. The third case
considered was a tilted 22 degree PV system with the option of
tracking the sun using the tracking system of the solar island.
A. Simulation of PV Technology
In this section, the simulation methodology used to estimate
the performance output from the solar island when populated
with PV modules is presented, the simulation was performed
using Skelion and Sketchup. Skelion is a tool integrated with
Sketchup that was used to estimate the maximum number of
PV panels that can be used to populate the solar island based
on area available and shed analysis. PVsyst was used to
simulate the performance of PV solar modules. Generally
speaking, PVsyst is used to test and analyze the performance of
PV systems based on different scenarios. The different
scenarios include analysis of different PV arrays configurations
such as: different tilt angles, tracking systems, fixed systems,
grid connected and standalone systems. A grid-connected
system was chosen in PVsyst, the type of inverter and the type
of PV module were selected. After that, the accurate
coordination of the location of the solar island was selected,
this will allow to transfer the meteorological details of the
location from the available databases. After finalizing the
location and the meteorological details of the system, the
orientation of the system and the tilt angle of the PV panels
were chosen. The software has the option of adding a tracking
system to the modules and to track the sun based on several
orientations and adjustments. Finally, the details of the system
design and specifications were selected, this included the
manufacturer and the size of the inverter and the type of the PV
panel used in the design.
B. Energy Output
Fig. 3 shows the total output energy for each month, for
the three systems. The energy output for the 22-degree tilt
with vertical tracking systems is between 42,000 KW in
January, and 66,258 KW in May where it has the maximum
output. Now comparing the zero tilt with the 22-degree tilt, it
can be noticed that the zero tilt angel PV system has a slightly
higher energy output from May till the end of July. However,
the optimum angel system has a higher output during the other
9 months of the year than the zero tilt. Which is why the total
output energy of the year is higher for the 22 degrees tilt
system 564,323 KW than the zero tilt system 526,444 KW.
Fig. 3: Monthly total energy generated to the grid for the three
simulated PV systems
C. PV System and Inverter Efficiency
Fig.5 shows the monthly variation between the inverter
efficiency and the 3 PV systems efficiency. The inverter's
efficiency is almost the same for all the systems with the
variation of 0.1 %. The average inverter efficiency for the
three system is 95.2%. Also, the zero tilt PV system with
the optimum angel tilt system have almost the same system
efficiency, varying between 11.5 % and 13.22 % across the
year. On the other side, the 22-degree tilt with the vertical
tracker has an efficiency ranging between 11.98% and
13.24% across the year. It can be noticed that the
efficiency is lowest during the second third of the year, this
is due to the increase in the ambient temperature which
leads to an increase in the internal shunt current and a
reduction in the PV output, leading to a lower output
energy.
 2017 International Conference on Electrical and Computing Technologies and Applications (ICECTA)
Fig. 4: Monthly inverter Performance Ratio for the Three
Simulated PV Systems.
[11] M. Muscat, "A study of floating PV module efficiency." Master's
Fig. 5: Annual Energy Output
V. CONCLUSION
Here a solar island concept, with single axis solar tracking
was presented. The platform rotates and tracks the sun in
order to increase the power output. As no solar system has
been populated on the platform yet, a software simulation
was performed to estimate power increase as compared to
conventional solar systems. The solar island concept gives a
significant advantage over the conventional solar tracking
systems, by rotating the whole system as one single
structure, as compared to multiple tracking modules. The
results showed an increase of the power output. However,
detailed financial analysis must be performed in order to
evaluate the viability of solar islands. Other factors that can
be considered includes: easiness of cleaning/ maintaining the
solar systems, social acceptance of the concept and
availability of required supplies and materials. Further
development can be achieved by incorporating double axis
tracking system into the concept of the solar island.
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