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Presentation slides: Dual Axis Solar Tracer: Design and

Implementation

Research · July 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4341.9123

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DUAL AXIS SOLAR
TRACKER
Project Supervisor:
Dr. Arvind Kumar Mishra
 Introduction
 Uses of non-renewable energy is inviting environmental
problems
 solar energy is one of the most prominent renewable
energy resources and in fact the most attractive too
 For maximum output from PV panel, the panel should be
perpendicular to the sunlight
 the position of sun changes with time, so needs tracking
system to increase output
 A solar tracker is a system that tracks the sun in real time
 Dual axis solar trackers tracks the sun in both the
directions viz. azimuth & altitude tracking.
 Types of Tracker
Fixed Control Algorithm
•Data based tracking
•Use sun position
algorithms to determine the
position of the sun for any
given time and location.
•Azimuth angle and Zenith
angle completely defines the
position of the sun in the
sky.
•These angles are calculated
and stored in the database
•Open loop configuration
Out of these method we chose database tracking method which we will discuss in
Dynamic Tracking Timed Trackers
• Sensor based tracking •Tracker moves with
•Optical sensors operates constant angular
in differential mode, displacement per equal
measure the difference in interval of time
light intensity •Easy to built.
•The control system • Cannot accurately track
drives the motors to the sun.
attain equal intensity on •Cannot compensate
the sensors Seasonal variation .
•Closed loop operation
detail.
Objective
The prime objective of our project is to build a prototype
dual axis solar tracker. This objective is to be fulfilled
by achieving following three sub objectives.

To build a mechanical structure capable of

rotation in two axes.

To design necessary control circuitry for

position control of motor in both the axes.

To develop a reliable software for the

system.
 Earth Centered Coordinate System

Zenith
AZIMUTH

Azimuth +ve

Azimuth -ve
System Block Diagram
Mechanical Design
3D CAD
View of Real
Dual Axis Model
Solar
Tracker
Need of Stepper Motor
Minimum Relative change of azimuth is 10 per 15
min during sunrise and sunset.

• For constant velocity tracking the velocity of tracker would be

0.000185 RPM

If the tracker takes 1 sec to move the displacement

to be made after 15 minute, the speed of the motor
need is 0.16667 RPM
• Considering we can achieve the minimum speed of the dc
motor to about 25 RPM, the gear ratio required is 150
Azimuth Tracking Details
Stepper motor type: Unipolar motor
Step size=7.50
The shaft bush perimeter of the motor is (Pm) =20 mm
The gear used is of perimeter (Pg) =523 mm
Gear ratio = = 26.15
Precision of azimuth tracker is 7.50 /gear
ratio=7.5/26.15=0.28680

Stepper motor
Zenith Tracking Details
Stepper motor: Bipolar type
Step size=3.750
 perimeter of the shaft (Pm) =
Flat Screw with pitch=1.25 mm 44mm
 perimeter gear (Pg) = 142 mm
Gear ratio=(Pg/Pm) =3.2272727
Pitch of the flat screw = 1.25mm
1 revolution of the zenith axis gear is
equivalent to 1 pitch movement of flat
Circular screw
motion Step size of motor and gear
to linear combination = 3.750/3.22727 =
motion 1.16197280
Minimum achievable displacement
of flat screw =1.25 *1.16197280/3600 =
0.0040346 mm
 Zenith Tracking Details(contd….)
Precision of Tracking
Precision when panel is horizontal
Distance between the pivot and movable
support = b = 27 mm
minimum movement of flat screw =
0.00403mm
Angle moved by the panel = tan-1
(0.0040346/ 27) = 0.008550
Precision when panel is in its
maximum inclined position
b
Length between the movable support
and pivot=b/cos(700) = 78.94 mm
minimum movement of flat screw =
0.0040346mm
Angle moved by the panel(θ) = s/r =
(0.0040346/78.94)*1800/PI = 0.002930
 Reference Setting and Position
calculation
 Operation for the first time requires the panel in the reference position
 Azimuth is not beyond ±1200 between the sun rise and the sun set
 zenith angle is 900 in the east at sun rise and 900 in the west at sun set
 The tracker can track up to 700 Zenith
 Reference for Azimuth is -1200 and that for Zenith is 700

For Azimuth

The least count of the azimuth motor and Gear is

0.28680
Total number of steps =240o/0.28680=838
For -300 azimuth the number of step to be traveled
by the tracker from the reference is given by
=838/2-30o/0.2868o
=314.397 step=314 steps
Thus for øo Azimuth the number of steps to travel
from reference is the linear function of øo
i.e, 838/2-øo/0.2868o
Position calculation (Contd…)
For Zenith

 minimum displacement of flat screw

achievable is 0.00403 mm
 maximum length of screw from
horizontal plane is 74.18 mm
 For P=74.18 mm the total number of
steps is=18385.9614 steps
 P=b tan α
 For P=b tanα mm the total number of
steps is b tanα /(0.0040346)
steps=6692.113*tan α steps
 our reference is from P=74.18mm
 The displacement to be moved by the
panel of zenith angle α is
 =18385.9614-6692.113*tan α
 Electrical Design
Requirements

•should be able to •should handle the •position of the

communicate with required power by the panel for attaining
a PC and read the mechanical structure the required position
data to rotate should be precise

MAX232 DRIVER IC STEPPER MOTOR

Circuit Layout
Unipolar motor
Bipolar motor L293B

ULN2003

PC
microcontroller

MAX232
LCD
 Working details
•database for the Azimuth and Zenith angles in the PC
•communication between the PC and μC is required to transfer the data
•μC waits for the data from the PC.
•data in the packet format is processed by the program in μC
•LCD displays the current Azimuth and the current Zenith
•μC calculates the number of steps and the directions for both the motors
•Sends required number of pulses to the output port
•Driver IC’s amplify the currents and drives the motor

Data transmission
•serial port of PC is RS232 standard and the
serial port of μC is TTL standard
•MAXIMS MAX232 is the interfacing chip
•PC only sends data, simplex connection
•PC and μC in null modem connection ,
TXD of one DTE connected to RXD of
another

Max 232 connection diagram

STEPPER MOTOR DRIVING
•Microcontroller (AT89S52) used to implement control algorithm
•Two motors used, one for Azimuth axis and other for Zenith axis
•Both unipolar and bipolar motor operated at single stepping mode.
•Stepper motor driver should have a memory.

Driving Unipolar Motor Driving Bipolar Motor

From
μC
From
μC
+0- 0
-0+0
1000 0+0-
0010 0-0+
0100
0001
Software For PC
Database Generation & Data Fetching Data
Management and Transferring displaying &
processing

Database Generation & Management

•Database consists of Azimuth

and Zenith angle for the
year 2010 for Kathmandu
•MySQL is used for database
management
•JDBC (Java Database
Connectivity) driver required
to access database from JAVA
F
L
O
W
C
H
A
R
T
Transferring data to μC Data processing and display

•A program was written in JAVA to

read the Azimuth and
Zenith angles at real time
from the database
 transform it to the position
of motor in terms of number
of steps from reference
Make a data packet
containing position of motors
Transfer the data to the μC
Data packet is organized in
such a way that distinct data
ate separated by character ‘A’

•GUI was added in the program to display

the Azimuth and Zenith angle fetched from the database
the past & current tracker position
system calendar & clock and the status of the tracker
Software For μC
Requirements:
Communicate with the PC to
receive the data
Must be capable of decoding the
data send by PC
Should calculate the direction
and the no. of steps for the motors
Should implement error
correction for backlash in gears

Configured port parameters in the

project:
Baud rate : 1200
Number of data bits : 8
Parity : None
Stop bits : 1
Flow control: none

FLOWCHART
Future Enhancements
Updating the database feature could be added in the software.

Construction of real structure from the prototype

Addition of capability to track the sun up to 9o0 zenith axis

Elimination of database by using Dynamic Data Generation

The tracker can be waked up when it detects the sunlight using sensors.

Dual Axis tracking could be achieved by single motor using complex

mechanical structure.

The solar radiation measuring instrument and PV panel could be installed in it

and use it for dual benefit.
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