MechatronicsTerm Paper 2012 SMMEE , IIT Ropar Roopnagar, Punjab, India

SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM

Prashant Pratap Singh P2008ME1119 SMMEE, IIT Ropar Raj Narayan Saha P2008ME1124 SMMEE, IIT Ropar

ABSTRACT The following term paper documents the design, development and production of a Sun-Tracking Solar Cell Array System. The primary purpose of this system is to maximize the amount of solar energy that can be received from the sun. Due to the negative environmental effects that conventional energy production cause, an alternative source of energy has to be developed. This new source has to be pollution and hazardous by-product free. One of the few energy options that meet these criteria is solar energy. However, for solar energy to be a viable source the efficiency of present collection methods has to be increased. This is where the importance of a sun-tracking system comes into play. By tracking the sun, such that the suns rays always strike normal to the arrays surface, more energy can be received. The system outlined in this paper proved to be successful in maximising the energy received from the sun. Although it is not the only solution available, it is however, the most efficient one. INTRODUCTION Before solar energy can be used as an alternative source of energy for the worlds ever increasing requirements, the efficiency of solar cells must be increased. Currently the average efficiency of a normal sized solar (photovoltaic) cell is only adequate enough to power small commercial devices, eg. calculators and toys. In order to supply enough power to operate larger devices, larger solar cell arrays are required. These are typically too large, and therefore unfeasible, for the application. Instead of increasing the size of the array, it is more beneficial to increase the performance of the solar cell. The overall performance (amount of solar power that be collected) of solar cells can be attributed to these two main factors: 1) the efficiency of the cell and 2) the intensity of the source radiation on the cell. The materials used in the manufacture of solar cells are the biggest factors that limit the cell efficiency. This makes it difficult to improve the efficiency of the cell, and hence restricts the overall performance of the cell. However, it is an easier process to increase the amount of source radiation that is 1

received at the cell. Figure 1 shows the variation of voltage received with angle of incidence of sun light.

There are three methods that can be implemented to increase the intensity of solar radiation received by a solar array. These are: Focusing the suns incident rays onto a rigid array Tracking the suns path using fixed control algorithms Tracking the suns path using a dynamic tracking system The main difference between these two methods is the way the position of the sun is determined. The fixed control algorithm method determines the path of the sun by referencing an algorithm that calculates, for each time period, the position of the sun. This method does not actually find the sun in the sky, but instead works out the position of the sun from specific, given data. This data is usually the current time, day, month and year. The dynamic method is a system that actually finds the position of the sun based on sensory input. That is, data from light sensitive sensors is used such that the system can actively find the sun. Since the sensory data is continuous, the system can follow (track) the suns movement across the sky. This paper will discuss the implementation and results obtained with dynamic method of tracking the sun. DESIGN The following sections discuss the methods and designs used to implement this system.

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Method of Alignment There are two feasible methods for aligning the array. The first method involves tilting the array in two axes to maintain the required position, illustrated in Figure 1(a). The second method involves rotating and tilting the array to achieve the same result, illustrated in Figure 1(b). Performing the force and stress analysis it can be concluded that the rotate and tilt method was mechanically less complicated to construct. The mechanical design of the tracking system involves two stepper motors that are directed by the controller circuit, as shown in Figure 2.

order to controls the movement of the motor. 3. Sensor Design The sensor design of Larard [1] was a very effective way of locating the position of the sun. This design incorporates a four sided pyramid structure with solar cells mounted on each side. The solar cells, which are acting as sensors, are positioned so they are orthogonal to the opposing sensor. Figure 4.

This structure assures that when the pyramid is pointing directly at the sun the foursensors will have the same voltage reading. By having the sensors set at 45 angles, when the pyramid is not pointing directly at the sun the voltage will increase on the side(s) which is the most exposed to the sun. This allows for comparisons to be made between opposing sets of sensors, which in turn can be used to control the direction of movement of the array. As the output from the sensor is pretty small an amplifier circuit is required to make the value usable. 4. 2. Stepper Motors Stepper motors used to rotate and tilt the array are unipolar stepper motors. The main reason of choosing the stepper motors is its precision and stepped movement and better control to cost ratio. A voltage across each of the motor's windings is applied in a set Motor Gearing System From the sensitivity analysis of the chosen solar cell it was observed that for the system to be 100% accurate the motors would have to rotate less than 3 degreesper-step. If the number of degrees-per-step were any larger than this then the array would never be able to line up accurately with the sun to receive maximum energy. So, a gearing system is supposed to be implemented to get the required resolution.

AUTOMATIC ALIGNMENT CONTROL To perform the alignment control the gains of the amplifiers were adjusted so the sensors read 5 volts when the array was pointed directly at the sun (high reference), and 0 volts when the sensors received no light (low reference). Comparisons could then be made between opposite sensors, and the movement of the motors controlled. An example of this would be that if Sensor A1 (Figure 4.1) has a greater voltage reading then Sensor A2, then Motor would be required to rotate clockwise until both sensors read the same value. However, if Sensor A1 has a smaller voltage reading then A2, then Motor would be required to rotate counterclockwise. The same technique applies for Sensors B1/ B2 and Motor B. The following flowchart (Figure 5) outlines the steps that the program will follow during operation [2].

AREAS OF FURTHER RESEARCH The most logical next-step in research in this area would be to minimise the amount of power that is required to operate the system. While not minimising the power used by the system, a solar battery charger could be used to run the system. Solar energy could be used to charge a battery, which then could be used to power the electronics and motors of the system. The benefit of this would be that the array would not need to use an external power supply, thus being more power efficient. Other aspects may include using different motors that require less power, and modifying the source code such that power consumption is reduced. PROSPECTS IN IIT ROPAR Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar being situated in a place of no sky scraper buildings, and ample amount of open land in and near by the campus, has got a great opportunity to utilize solar power. By Setting up solar panels with solar tracker, on and near by the campus and utilizing the eleectricity generated in lightning up the campus , thermal power consumption can be reduced by approximately 30 %. Considering the fact that IIT Ropar has taken up the responsibility to take steps in finding out a way to bring Punjab out of the power cut problems, so, utilizing this technology and developing moore to make it more energy efficient may help in some way. This can also be incorporated with Dr. Tyagi's research work to make it more efficient in harnessing solar energy utilizing Solar Tracking and nanofluid applications.

RESULT As can be inferred from the Figure 6, the sun tracking system collects the maximum amount of solar energy possible across the entire day, whereas, the stationary system only collects maximum energy when the sun is overhead. Thus, sun tracking will always be a benefit over non sun tracking systems.

REFERENCES [1] Larard, E., Sun Tracking Solar Array System, University of Queensland Undergraduate (Pass) Thesis, 1998. [2] Koyuncu, b., and Balasubramanian, K., "A microprocessor controlled automatic sun tracker," IEEE. [3] Scott J. Hamilton Sun Tracking Solar Array System, University of Queensland Undergraduate (Pass) Thesis, 1999.