Solar Based Home Automation System

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 Muhammad Hamza Muneeb
Zain Ali Hamza Amin
Electrical Engineering Dpartment
Electrical Engineering Dpartment Electrical Engineering Dpartment
HITEC University
HITEC University HITEC University
Taxila, Pakistan
Taxila, Pakistan Taxila, Pakistan
hamzamunib@gmail.com
zain29047@gmail.com hamzaamin152@gmail.com
Muhammad Hanaan Ali
Electrical Engineering Dpartment
HITEC University
Taxila, Pakistan
hanandar420@gmail.com
 Abstract—The main purpose of our project is Home appliance by using a Bluetooth module and also design
Automation by using solar energy. The proposed system uses Bluetooth app on MIT app inventor.
the solar tracking phenomena to increase the efficiency of solar
panel. In our project we can control our electrical appliances A. Abbreviations
by using Android Application. The design of our project is
based on Arduino. Solar Panel will collect the sunlight and with DC Direct Current
the help of Solar Charge Controller the solar energy is stored AC Alternating Current
in battery. After that inverter converts the DC energy to AC
energy and supplies power to all connected appliances. In this PV Photovoltaic
project we use DC gear motor, H-Bridge IC and photo sensors.
These sensors will detect solar energy from sun. The solar PWM Pulse Width Modulation
panel will move towards direction of maximum sunlight with SPWM Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation
the help of DC gear motor. The output of the inverter followed
by LC-Filter to reduce the harmonics and to convert the wave THD Total Harmonic Distortion
into sine wave. This design also has the ability to switch
between solar supply and WAPDA supply as a backup for
CSP Concentration Solar Plant
home appliances. For Home automation we used Arduino PCB Printed Circuit Board
which is connected with Bluetooth Module for data
transmission and Relays for switching. MCU Micro Controller Unit
App. Application
I. INTRODUCTION LDR Light Dependent Resistor
In Pakistan, most of the rural areas have still no IC Integrated Circuit
transmission line form grid. So, solar energy plays very
important role in rural areas. Solar power generating systems USP Utility Scaled Plant
utilize sunlight and convert that sunlight into electrical
SPP Serial Port Protocol
power. The sun transmits approximately 42 trillion
kilocalories of energy to the earth every second. If we utilize EDR Enhanced Data Rate
90% of this energy and convert it into electricity then in only
one hour, we can create power of one year for the whole B. Units
planet. Besides this using of a smartphone is increasing if we
 W Watt
create a combination between them it will be easier for the
customers to operate the system. Considering all these facts  I Ampere
we are motivated to do this project as it will help our people
components.  V Volt
To produce solar energy, Photovoltaic cells, are used. To  k kilo
get the maximum amount of energy from Photovoltaic cells  m mili
the first step which we take is sunlight tracking. For this

purpose, we used a sensor which can sense the sunlight and  C Celsius
move according to the sunlight, so that we get the maximum
amount of energy for use. In solar energy, another most  Hz Hertz
important factor is to design charge controller which, can  F Farad
protect our batteries from overcharging and keep on the
charging on constant rate. Inverter is used to convert the DC  H Henry
voltages to AC voltages. As we know our home appliances  B Byte
are worked on AC voltages. So, for this purpose we used the
SPWM inverter. SPWM inverter topology has the maximum
efficiency as compared to all other topologies. We also III. HARDWARE DESIGN
provide home automation facility so that they can access
their home appliances easily. A smart home has its own solar A. Solar Panel And Solar Tracking
power and one can turn it on or off by using Bluetooth In single axis solar panel, our panel will move only in
devices. Home automation is a system in which we can one direction. The axis of one rotation of single axis trackers
access our appliances automatically. is commonly adjusted along a genuine north meridian.
The home automation system can save energy and it is There are a few normal executions of single pivot trackers.
more convenient for the customer. It can automatically These incorporate level single pivot trackers, flat single axis
control all the electric equipment in the home through trackers and polar adjusted single axis trackers. The
wireless communication. All the electric equipment that is introduction of the module concerning the tracker pivot is
used in home is possible to control by this system. significant when displaying execution. The even sort is
utilized in tropical areas where the sun gets exceptionally
II. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES high around early afternoon as the days are short. Then
again, the vertical sort is utilized in high scopes where the
In our project we done solar tracking so that maximum
sun isn’t exceptionally high yet summer days can be
amount of energy we get from the sun .We know that energy
extremely long. In our project we are using single axis solar
produce by the sun is DC and all the home appliance are
design for the AC for that purpose we also design a inverter panel. Due to some reasons we are using single axis solar
which can convert DC into AC and store into the battery . In panel. First of all cost of the single axis solar panel is lower
the end we done home automation and control the home than the dual axis and higher reliability than the dual axis
solar panel and also have the higher lifespan than the dual
axis solar panel.
 DC Gear Motor offer a space sparing and conservative
method for adding motor capacity to your machine or
component. Various kinds are appraised for ceaseless
obligation and heading of turn can be set by just evolving
extremity. Motors are supplied with an indispensable
attractive corridor sensor encoder for interfacing with
outside control hardware. Most sorts accessible without
equipping and ostensible rates from 3200rmp.
B. Inverter
Inverter is an electrical device which is used to convert
DC voltage into AC voltage. Inverter are used in many
applications in our daily life.
In our project design we are using H-Bridge topology. It
is most commonly used topology.
MOSFET IRF7401 is used because it capable of fast
switching. It has simple drive requirements. It can handle
high currents and voltage. Gate driving circuit is required
for high voltage requirement on the gate to turn on the
MOSFET. Output of the micro controller is not enough for
the turning the gate ON. Our gate driving circuit consists of
microcontroller coding capacitor and resistors.
MOSFET gate driving that takes input of low power
and provide high power as output. As rating of MOSFET is
high as compared to the output current of PWM that is why
it is used to when PWM controller fails to give the output
that is required to drive the MOSFET. This circuit contains
Gate Driver IC IR2110.
The output of the inverter is distorted so we use filters
to convert the wave into sine wave. In our Project we use
LC filter. Filter will remove the harmonics from the output
ac voltage of our inverter.
After the wave is converted into the sine-wave we step
up it to produce voltage of 220v rms with the help of step up
transformer.
C. Home Automation
In this method we control the Ac appliances through the
mobile app, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth module. So we have
required these components for making our home
Automation. It gives you access to control appliances in a
home from a remote device. This term may be used for
isolated programmable device like thermostats but home
automation more accurately describes homes in which
nearly everything lights, electrical outlets, appliances,
cooling and heating systems are connected to a remote
control network.
IV. SOFTWARE
This includes software design of our work. With the help
of software tool, first of all we make our designs on the
software and check the working of our circuits. After getting
the results from software work than we proceed further for
the hardware design for our hardware work. Software’s that
we used during our work are as follows.
 Arduino
 Proteus.
A. Solar Tracker
The first part of our project is the solar tracker. We
implement the solar tracker on the software with the help of
coding. We will read the LDR values through the analog pins
of Arduino and a PWM is generated according to that analog
inputs all these will be happen through the coding.
First of all, Arduino will read the sensors value through
the analog pins. If the left sensor has the great intensity than
voltage appeared across the left LDR will be greater than the
voltage appeared across the right LDR and Arduino will
generate the PWM according to that and move the panel to
the left position with the help of motor. On the other hand, if
the right LDR has greater intensity of light than the left LDR.
Now the voltage appeared across the right LDR is greater
and Arduino will rotate panel toward right position.
In third case if light is falling on the both LDR’s with
same intensity than their voltage will also be equal and
Arduino will not rotate the motor and our panel is at its
position.
To control the direction of DC motor we use arduino uno
in the above software design. We attached LDR with
potential divider network at the analog pins of arduino.
Arduino will read the values of these sensors in the form of
voltages and then according to that it will turn on the
Specific Relay according the sensors input value. DC motor
is coonected between common terminals of both relays.
B. Inverter
In inverter design we will focus on two things. First one
is inverter type and the second is gating signal for the
inverter.
This technique is the best one as compared to above
techniques. With the help of this technique the output
waveform of our inverter will be same as the grid’s
waveform. Multiple pulses with different time period have
been generated in a half cycle of time period.
We generated the SPWM signal with the help of digital
method. There is also second method. But digital technique
is better technique. Digital technique is more flexible, we can
make any change with the help of coding.
Figure 1: SPWM Signal
Inverter converts DC to AC. Microcontroller is producing
the SPWM signal. Gate driver IC’s are used for strengthen
the gating signal of MOSFET that is produced by
microcontroller. Step-Up Transformer is used to convert the
output of Inverter (12V-AC) to 220V-AC. Filter is used to
remove harmonics from the output.
C. Home Automation
In home automation, we are turning ON/OFF our
electrical devices without physically accessing them with
the help of an Android device. So, in our project we will
perform this work with the help of Arduino, Bluetooth
Module (HC-05) and an Android device.
By using the microcontroller, we will control the AC
appliances. For this we will connect a relay with the Arduino
and Arduino will control the Relay. AC device will be
connected with the Relay. When we will turn ON/OFF
through mobile than a signal will be sent to the
microcontroller through the Bluetooth module and Arduino
will turn on or off the device. Relay will be connected with
the digital pin of Arduino. Relay terminals will change their
state from NO to NC, and device will be Turn ON or Turn
OFF.
For home automation through mobile we make an
Android application. Android app can also be downloaded
from the internet but we made custom application. Android
was built up on the MIT app Inventor. This is the online
inventor for developing the android app regarding to your
need. This is very simple to use. First of all, we watched
tutorials and then developed our app on the MIT app
Inventor.
V. RESULTS
A. Simulation Results
For final practical implementation we performed our
simulation on PROTEUS and designed our final PCB
design with PROTEUS
Figure 2: Simulation Output
This is the output of ARDUINO which generate pulses.
From output we can see that if we increase duty cycle then
the voltage also increase. By using several pulses in a half
cycle the harmonic content can be reduced in our output
voltage. It can also be seen that the output waveform is pure
sine wave. The output can be made more sinusoidal by
increasing the switching frequency and width of SPWM
signal.
B. Practical Results
Figure 3: Practical Output
The above figure is the final output wave form of our
inverter which is very similar to sine wave. The output
waveform is not pure sine wave because the filters we
selected could not filter out the higher frequencies.
C. Load Comparison Of Inverter
Table 1: Output Parameter Comparison
D. Limitations
 We cannot achieve 100% pure sine wave through
inverter; therefore, it will have some harmonics.
 Any equipment which converts DC to AC loses
power during the process of conversion. Let’s say if
an inverter is 80% efficient, it means that 20% of
power is lost during conversion process.
VI. CONCLUSION
In the future, the world will have to rely on renewable
sources of energy. Sunlight is one of the best source
available around us, and we can easily produce electricity
with sunlight using solar panels. To implement the solar
panel system in general purpose we need an efficient and
smart solar charge controller as the life of the battery mainly
depends on charge controller. In this project we used H-
Bridge inverter which converts DC into AC by the help of
SPWM. In this project design we also implemented a
Bluetooth-based home automation system that control home
appliances like light or fan. This is Android based project
which is Open Source Platform. The total cost of this project
is very low and it can be afforded by a common person. The
users interact with android application and send control
signal to Bluetooth module which is connected to Arduino
which in turn controls home appliances. The use of a
wireless medium assists the user to access all the appliances
from different locations of the house. The system is secured
for access from any intruder. Another advantage of the
system is the fact that it is an android based application,
which now-a-days has the largest mobile OS platform. This
system, though primarily aimed to reduce human effort, but
it has a great market value if we can introduce it properly. In
this project design we also used a backup power supply like
WAPDA in case if the weather is not sunny enough for the
Solar Panel to produce enough energy to run all the
appliances.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First of all we are very thankful to ALLAH (swt) who is
the most Kind and the most Merciful. The only one who has
created the Universe with beauty, balance and perfections.
All kinds of praises are for Almighty ALLAH (swt) who is
the most benevolent, whose blessing raised our thoughts and
provide us the opportunities which enabled us to improve our
knowledge up to this point. The Almighty ALLAH (swt) has
vastly blessed us with beloved parents and supportive friends
who always help me towards our studies. The completion of
this project is impossible without their help and guidance.
Finally, we wish to thank our dear friends for their support
and encouragement throughout our project and studies. The
success of this project needs a lot of guidance, help and
assistance from many people and we are extremely thankful
Parameters 0 watt 16 watt 32 watt
Output Voltage 253 V 233V 213 V
Output Current 0A 0.07 A 0.15 A
Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz
to have got this all along the completion of my project. This
is all due to such supervision and help and we would not
forget to thank them. We owe our deepest gratitude to our
supervisor Engr. Safee Ullah, who took interest in our project
and help us all along, until the completion of our project by
providing the necessary information for developing a good
project and complete our duty. We are very thankful and
lucky enough to get continuous encouragement, guidance,
support and help from all the teaching staffs of our Electrical
Department who helped us in completing our project work.
We would also like to give my thanks to all staff in
laboratory for their help and support.
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