Photovoltaic Single Axis Tracker Based on Solar
Position Algorithm
Joenathan Ambross
School of Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Joeambross95@gmail.com
Abstract—The solar tracker can maximize the energy
extraction from the solar system by directing a collector face to
the sun. There are different ways of tracking solar energy. In this
thesis, my aim is to develop a photovoltaic single axis solar
tracker based on solar position algorithm that tracks the sun
with an optimal tracker rotation on a single inclined axis. I
calculated the solar position with the Platforma Solar de Almeria
(PSA) algorithm from the time, date and location of the inputs
into our device. I have optimized the single axis tracker rotation
for maximum received solar radiation from the calculated data. I
have implemented the optimal rotation of the tracker with a DC
motor coupled mechanically with a gyroscope. The gyroscope
calibrated in relation to the rotation angle sends the control unit
a position feedback. The control unit ends the rotation at the
required position representing the respective optimum rotation
angle and passes through a certain interval, depending on the
position feedback. The sun is thus tracked at certain intervals.
The robustness and reliability of the system have been
emphasized in the design. Finally, I analyzed energy extraction of
the solar tracker with respect to fixed system experimentally.
Keywords—Platforma Solar de Almeria; solar tracker;solar
position algorithm; energy extraction; optimum rotation.
Introduction
I. INTRODUCTION
Solar tracking system has proven to improve energy
harvesting to maximize the contribution of intense direct sun
beam radiation compare to the fixed panel system. Solar
tracking work by introducing a control mechanism that aligns
the PV panels orthogonally to the sun and will received the
maximum radiation of the sun so that the output power can be
obtained at the very best. There are many solar tracking system
and mechanism, closed loop and open loop solar tracking
system are some part of it depending of the feedback
mechanisms.[1]
The closed loop tracking system actively takes dynamic
feedback from the sun using sensors to orient the collector
towards the sun orthogonally. Whereas for the open loop
tracking system is based on mathematical modeling by
calculating the position of the sun based on location, time, date
using the solar position equation or the solar position look-up
table.[2] Closed loop tracking system is sensitive to reflection
and shading disorders. It might not track the sun in such
Tan Chee Wei
Division of Electrical Power Engineering
School of Electrical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
cheewei@utm.my
disturbances. On the other hand, the open loop tracking system
is immune to disturbances such as shading or reflection and
will thus successfully track the sun. The closed loop tracking
system uses a relatively complex circuit structure while the
open loop tracking system uses a much simpler circuit setting.
The active tracking system is based on dynamic sun
feedback and the sensor technology is a high cost
implementation. It requires no complex mounting. As it tries to
track the sun from any given position, small mounting errors or
small disruption of the tracker's position due to shock will not
affect its performance. However, the open loop tracking system
requires computer hardware, a calibrated linear position sensor,
a data input mechanism with an interface that can increase
costs. It also tracks the position of the sun regarding the tracker
position. If minor errors occur in tracker mounting or tracker
positioning, system performance may be affected. This system
requires more complex and rigid tracker mounting with regard
to tracker loop tracking system.
In this work the photovoltaic single axis tracking based on
solar position algorithm is the open loop type of feedback
mechanism.[1]
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Solar Tracking System
Solar tracking is a method for keeping the solar collector,
either photovoltaic (PV) or photo thermal, in an optimum
position perpendicular to the solar radiation during daylight
hours to increase the energy collected and at all times receive
maximum solar irradiation. The solar tracker can be classified
into two types depending on axes; single axis tracker and dual
axis tracker.[3]
Single axis tracker tracks the sun with one degree of
freedom, about a single rotation axis; the rotation axis is
generally north- south axis, as shown in Figure 2.1. The axis
can be inclined to an optimal tilt angle depending on the
location, panel position and time of year to maximize solar
irradiance on the collector.[4]

Dual axis tracker tracks the sun with two degrees of
freedom, centering two normal rotation axes. The axis
connected to the base is called the primary axis and the axis
connected to the primary axis as the secondary axis, as shown
in Figure 2.2.
B. Comparison of Single Axis Solar Tracker and Dual Axis
Solar Tracker
The single axis has a very simple mechanical configuration
and control mechanism because of the one degree of freedom.
Consist only one motor and a motor driver, the power loss due
to the mechanical movement is reduced in the single axis
trackers. Besides, the costs are relatively low in the single axis
tracker compare to the dual axis tracker because of the simple
construction and less component involved.[5]
However, in term of accuracy the single axis solar tracker
seems to have a low accuracy with respect to the dual axis
solar tracker. Seasonal changes cannot also be taken into
account by a single axis tracker. The improvement in energy
extraction by tracking is therefore slightly lower than with the
dual axis tracking system. The precision of single axis solar
tracking can be improved slightly by optimizing the angle of
inclination and manually adjusting the optimal angle of
inclination on a monthly or seasonal basis, depending on
convenience. The improvement in energy extraction by
tracking is therefore slightly more than the single axis tracker,
but it offsets the increased cost and complexity of the
mechanical structure and control system.[5]
Dual axis tracker with two motor drivers and two motors
uses a two- dimensional control system. The improvement of
the energy harvest by a dual axis tracker in relation to a single
axis tracker in a particular region must be taken into account
in relation to its added cost and complexity before the
installation of dual axis trackers in that region.[5]
On the other hand, the dual axis tracker with its two
degrees of freedom is relatively accurate in solar tracking and
can account for seasonal changes.
C. Solar Tracker Feedback Mechanism.
Solar tracker feedback mechanism typically are available
in two types, closed loop sensor based solar tracking, and the
open loop solar tracking. The solar tracker actively recovers
dynamic feedback from the sun using sensors to orthogonally
orient the collector to the sun.[6] The Light Dependent
Resistor (LDR) is used in the sensor based closed loop solar
tracker the block diagram is represent in the Figure 2.3.
As for the open loop solar tracking mechanism, the solar
tracker system calculates the position of the sun according to
location, time, date using the solar position equation or the
solar position lookup table.[7] Depending on the pre-
calculated solar position and the known tracker position, it
determines and implements the appropriate tracker rotation.
The feedback that is employed in this mechanism is just by
controlling the motor position since there is no sensor based
implemented for the feedback. To summarizes the operation
for the open loop solar tracking mechanism, the block diagram
provided as shown in Figure 2.4.
D. Solar Positioning Angle
The tracker angle for solar tracking depends on the solar
positioning angles. The position of the sun can be determined
mainly from two angles, the first is the solar azimuth angle, 𝛾𝑠
the second is the solar zenith angle, 𝜃𝑧 or the elevation angle,
𝜀. Solar azimuth angle, 𝛾𝑠 may be defined as the horizontal
angle at which the sun's rays are projected on the surface
in either the north or the south direction.[8] The north
direction is regarded as a reference in this thesis and the
angle values are positive in the direction of the clock.
Figure 2.5 shows the schematic diagram of the azimuth
angle, 𝛾𝑠.
Solar zenith, 𝜃𝑧 is the angle between the solar rays and the
observation point vertical, elevation, 𝜀 is the angle between
the solar rays and the horizontal surface at a particular point
and the angular height of the sun from the surface is
determined. The 𝜃𝑧 is the complement for 𝜀. Figure 2.6 shows
the both solar zenith and elevation angle relationship.
E. Solar Tacker Angles
The angle formed at one point by the sun's rays and the
normal line to the surface of the collector is called the angle of
incidence, 𝜃. Figure 2.7 represents the angle of incidence, 𝜃
The axis tilt angle, 𝛽𝑎 can be defined as the horizontal
surface inclination of the tracker axis. It reaches 0 ° to 90 ° as
shown in Figure 2.8. For the rotational angle, R It is the
angular displacement of the collector rotating around its axis
in the reference position. When the normal surface of the
collector is parallel to the vertical plane, the position is
considered to be the reference position where the angle of
rotation is zero degrees. The rotational angle, R is positive for
the rotation in the clockwise direction and negative for the
rotation in the opposite direction. In Figure 2.8, the rotational
angle is R. While for axis azimuth, 𝛾𝑎 it is the horizontal
projection angle of the tracker axis in relation to the real north
as shown in Figure 2.8.
III. PROJECT METHODLOGY
The initial data is entered into the system at the start. The
initial data are latitude (' + ' entered for north - equator
location and ' - ' for south - equator location), Longitude (' + '
for west meridian location and ' - ' for east meridian location),
GMT offset, tilt, local time and date. Through three push
button switches and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), the
initialization of the input is achieved in this thesis. The push
button switches are intended for the purpose of increasing,
decreasing and setting. In the LCD, the increase, decrease
value setting for the required input is observed with the input
name or type. The initialization of input can also be achieved
by means of a keypad and other display types.

The RTC (Real - Time Clock) is initialized by the inputs of

time and date. The arduino reads the date and time from RTC
at the start of the tracking loop and determines the PSA
algorithm's solar azimuth and zenith angle. Using equation,
the optimal rotation angle of the tracker is determined from
the determined azimuth and zenith. B. Determination of Optimum Rotation Angle for Single Axis
Tracking
The angle of rotation here is limited to the range of The cosine of angle of incidence can be expressed as function
tracking. In our prototype tracking range, the angle of rotation of rotation angle.
is between -70 ° and 70 °. That is, if the angle of rotation is
less than -70 ° then it is deemed to be -70 ° and if the angle of cos   cos R [sin  z cos( s   a )sin  a  cos  z cos  a ]
rotation is greater than 70 ° then it is deemed to be 70 °. The
angle of rotation is converted to read value of a gyroscope.  sin R sin  z sin( s   a ) (1)
The arduino converted reading for the required rotation angle
is found using the calibration data from the gyroscope in linear
interpolation. The block diagram was shown in Figure 2.9.

The incidence angle must be minimal at the optimum tracking

angle, so the incidence angle cosine will be maximum. For
Johor Bahru, Malaysia, the value of  z and  s is obtained
from the date and location parameters (latitude, longitude, and
GMT offset). As shown in Table 1.1.

According to Table 1.0, the value for  a is considered for

the month and the value of indicates the direction the panel is
facing, without limiting the angle of rotation. Thus, the
optimum angle of rotation can be found by differentiating
equation (1) with respect to R, which equates the derivative to
A. Tracker Tilt Angle Adjustment zero.
In order to obtain solar radiation on a tilted surface, several d (cos  )
  sin R [sin  z cos( s   a )sin  a  cos  z cos  a ]
equations and models have been developed. Using the dR
equations and the solar radiation model at a given location and  cos R sin  z sin( s   a )  0
time, which shows a maximum, can be plotted against the tilt
sin R sin  z sin( s   a )
angle. The average optimum tilt angle can be permanently  
fixed on the fixed surface to one value corresponding to the cos R sin  z cos( s   a )sin  a  cos  z cos  a
maximum annual solar radiation, or the tilt angle can be  R  tan 1 X 
adjusted on a monthly or seasonal basis for better optimization where,
to maximize annual solar radiation on the collector surface.
sin  z sin( s   a )
Table 1.0 shows optimum tilt angle of solar panel (from X
horizontal) on monthly basis for Johor Bahru, Malaysia which sin  z cos( s   a )sin  a  cos  z cos  a
is computed using solar angle calculator. From study it has   0 if X=0, or if X>0 and ( s   a )  0, if X<0 and ( s   a )  0
been found that the optimum tilt angle for Malaysia is range
  180 if X<0 and ( s   a )  0
from 10 degree approximately.
  180 if X>0 and ( s   a )  0 (2)
To place R in the correct trigonometric quadrant, the variable
 is used. The difference ( s   a ) is evaluated to
determine which value of  to use so that it falls within the
range of -180 degree to +180 degree.
IV. RESULT AND ANALYSIS
A. Optimum Rotational Angle, R
If the normal surface of the collector is parallel to the
vertical plane, the position is considered as the position of
reference, where R=0 °. R is positive for rotation in clockwise
direction and negative for rotation in counterclockwise
direction. The tracker can rotate in -65 ° <R<65 °.
The discrete data above shows the Rotational angle, R for
the solar panel from time 8.00a.m-6.00p.m. At 1.00p.m the
solar panel position almost flat at 1.6696 degree from the
horizontal reference. As shown in Figure 4.0.
Rotational Angle, R Versus Time
100
71
57
43
50 30
Rotational angle, R
Figure 4.1 shows power data obtained for both panels from
trackers and fixed panels at different times and power vs. time
curve. Using Excel to plot the data for the energy extracted by
tracker panel and fixed panel from 7.15 am to 4:15 pm. With
regard to the fixed panel system, solar tracker PV system
generates about 21% higher energy. Cloud covered the sun
position during this experiment for more than 30% of the day
of the experiment. The percentage of improved energy
harvesting will obviously be higher in clear sky condition.
V. CONCLUSION
In this work, we developed a single axis photovoltaic solar
tracker system using the solar position algorithm to improve
energy extraction with optimum panel rotation. The tracker
system performance and energy obtained from this system are
observed with regard to the fixed PV system. The panel's
rotation angle is determined using time, date, location
parameters and selected algorithm and compared to the
rotation angle calculated from Excel data as a benchmark for
this work. The variations were within ±5 °, ensuring that the
tracker's expected performance was achieved. In addition,

energy obtained from the tracker system and the fixed panel
16
2 system is determined and evaluated over a day. On a 30%
0 overcast day, 21% more energy extraction from the tracker
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 panel was observed with respect to the fixed panel system.
-12
-50 -26
-40 Arduino Uno is used as a control unit by the prototype
-54 developed to demonstrate the idea. The device is not suitable
-68
-100 for marketing with arduino because with arduino it is not
Time, hour economically scalable. The control program must therefore be
transferred to a microcontroller chip to make the device
economically scalable and suitable for commercialize. The
Figure 4.0 Optimum rotational angles, R device also needs a rigid and robust mounting structure for
commercialize.
B. Improved Solar Tracker Energy Harvest
Two identical 5W panels for tracker panel and fixed panel In addition, the rotation angle calculation can be more
are used for solar tracking panel system and fixed panel optimized using a simpler solar position algorithm compared
system respectively to determine improvement in energy to the PSA algorithm, which can be used in this work to
extraction by solar tracker. Although the panels are identical, determine solar zenith and azimuth angles with optimum
there is fluctuation of panel to panel VOC (open circuit accuracy over the desired time period.
voltage). To eliminate this fluctuation, one panel's VOC
comparison needs to be scaled to another panel's VOC.
REFERENCES

Plot of power (mW) versus Time

1000 [1] Al-Rousan, N., N.A.M. Isa, and M.K.M. Desa,
Advances in solar photovoltaic tracking systems: A
Power, mW

800
Power curve review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
600
for tracker 2018. 82: p. 2548-2569.
400
panel [2] Garrido, R. and A. Díaz, Cascade closed-loop control
200
of solar trackers applied to HCPV systems.
0 Power curve
Renewable Energy, 2016. 97: p. 689-696.
for fixed [3] Mousazadeh, H., et al., A review of principle and
panel sun-tracking methods for maximizing solar systems
Time output. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
Figure 4.1 Plot of power (mW) versus Time. 2009. 13(8): p. 1800-1818.
[4] Chang, T.P., Output energy of a photovoltaic module
mounted on a single-axis tracking system. Applied
Energy, 2009. 86(10): p. 2071-2078.
[5] R, D., et al., Comparison of efficiencies of solar
tracker systems with static panel single-axis tracking
system and dual-axis tracking system with fixed
mount. Vol. 5. 2013. 1925-1933.
[6] Yao, Y., et al., A multipurpose dual-axis solar
tracker with two tracking strategies. Renewable
Energy, 2014. 72: p. 88-98.
[7] Chong, K.-K., et al., Integration of an On-Axis
General Sun-Tracking Formula in the Algorithm of
an Open-Loop Sun-Tracking System. Sensors, 2009.
9(10): p. 7849.
[8] Meeus, J.H., Astronomical Algorithms. 1991:
Willmann-Bell, Incorporated.