Chapter One

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
A Maximum Power Point Tracking Module of Solar Photo voltaic Cell is an automated solar
panel, which actually follows the sun to get maximum power. The primary benefit of a tracking
system is to collect solar energy for the longest period of the day, and with the most accurate
alignment as the Sun’s position shifts with the seasons. Dual Axis Tracker have two different
degrees through which they use as axis of rotation. The dual axis are usually at a normal of each
rotate both east and west. Solar tracking is the most appropriate technology to enhance the
electricity production of a PV system. To achieve a high degree of tracking accuracy, several
approaches have been widely investigated.

1.2 Background
The goal of this project is to design a "smarter" Maximum Power Point Tracking Module and to
determine whether it will yield benefits, both environmental and economic. The solar tracker
currently in place at Swarthmore College has some major issues that we are hoping to fix by:
• Eliminating the need for manual adjustments.
• Making changes based on the Sun position
• Avoiding complete rotation overnight.

The main design of the solar tracking system relies heavily on the day-to-day positioning of the
sun in the sky. Alone this strictly time-based portion of the tracking program will act very
similarly to the current system in place, where the motors are controlled by a clock drive. The
amount of sunlight that reaches a surface can be measured in many ways.

1.3 Purpose
A typical solar panel converts only 30 to 40 percent of the incident solar irradiation into
electrical energy. Thus to get a constant output, an automated system is required which should be

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capable to constantly rotate the solar panel. The Sun Tracking System (STS) was made as a
prototype to solve the problem, mentioned above. It is completely automatic and keeps the panel
in front of sun until that is visible. The unique feature of this system is that instead of taking the
earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guiding source. Its active sensors constantly monitor
the sunlight and rotate the panel towards the direction where the intensity of sunlight is
maximum. With the rapid increase in population and economic development, the problems of the
energy crisis and global warming effects are today a cause for increasing concern. Solar energy
is one of the primary sources of clean, abundant and inexhaustible energy, that not only provides
alternative energy resources, but also improves environmental pollution. The most immediate
and technologically attractive use of solar energy is through photovoltaic conversion. The
physics of the PV cell (also called solar cell) is very similar to the classical p-n junction diode.
The PV cell converts the sunlight directly into direct current (DC) electricity by the photovoltaic
effect. A PV panel or module is a packaged interconnected assembly of PV cells. In order to
maximize the power output from the PV panels, one needs to keep the panels in an optimum
position perpendicular to the solar radiation during the day. As such, it is necessary to have it
equipped with a Sun tracker. Compared to a fixed panel, a mobile PV panel driven by a Sun
tracker may boost consistently the energy gain of the PV panel

1.4 Scope
It can be used for small and medium scale power generations.
It can be used for power generation at remote places where power lines are not
accessible.
It can be used for domestic and industrial power backup system.
Solar radiation Tracker has played a vital role in increasing the efficiency of solar

panels in recent years, thus proving to be a better technological achievement. The vital
importance of a dual axis solar tracker lies in its better efficiency and sustainability to give a
better output compared to a fived solar panel or a single axis solar tracker. The tracking system is
designed such that it can trap the solar energy in all possible directions

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1.5 Methodology
The solar tracking system comprises of a solar panel, Arduino microcontroller and sensors. For
this system to operate there must be emission of light through the sun. The LDRs serve as the
sensors to detect the intensity of light entering the solar panels. The LDR then sends information
to the Arduino microcontroller. The servo motor circuit is then constructed. The servo has 3 pins
of which the positive side is connected to the +5v of the arduino microcontroller. The negative of
the servo is connected to the ground. The data point on the servo is connected to the analog point
on the microcontroller. A potentiometer is connected so as to regulate the speed of the servo
motor

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 Chapter 2
2. Literature review
2.1 Introduction
A solar cell is a device which converts light energy to electrical energy through photovoltaic
effect. Solar cells are the building blocks of photovoltaic modules known as solar panels. In solar
tracking system, the module’s surface tracks the position of the sun automatically as the day runs
by. The position of the sun varies as the sun moves across the sky. For a solar powered
equipment to work best, it must be placed near the sun and the solar tracker can increase the
efficiency of that equipment at any fixed position. Based on sophistication, costs and
performance. One common type of tracker is the heliostat, a movable mirror that reflects the
position of the sun to a fixed location. A solar trackers accuracy depends on the application.
Concentrators, especially in solar cell applications, require a high degree of accuracy to make
sure that the concentrated sunlight is directed exactly to the powered device, which is close to the
focal point of the reflector or lens. Without tracking, concentrator systems will not work at all,
therefore single-axis tracking is mandatory. Non-concentrating applications require less
accuracy, and many are likely to work without any tracking. However, tracking with great effect
can improve both the amount of total output power produced by a system and that produced
during critical system demand periods (usually late afternoon in hot climates). Researchers have
been done to improve the energy production of solar panels. These researches include; double-
sided panels, conversion stages improvement, building panels integration geometrically and so
on. Maximum energy is produced by a solar PV panel when it is positioned at right angle to the
sun. For this reason, several researches developed different types of solar panel tracking systems.
Therefore, the primary purpose of this work is to develop a solar panel tracker based on Arduino
advances so as to enhance the energy production of solar panel.

2.2 RELATED WORK

The following is a brief description of the papers that were studied to understand about solar
tracker.

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2.1.1 Technology Of Solar Panel
Solar panels are defined as to convert light into electricity. They are called solar after the sun
because the sun is the best powerful source of the light obtainable for use. They are sometimes
called photovoltaic which means "light-electricity". Solar cells or PV cells depend on the
photovoltaic effect to absorb the energy of the sun. Each solar cell provides a comparatively
small amount of power, a lot of solar cells spread over a large area can provide enough power to
be useful. To develop the most power, solar panels have to be pointed directly next to the Sun. A
solar panel is a collection of solar cells. The development of solar cell technology begins with
1839 examination of French physicist Antoine-Cesar Becquerel and he observed the photovoltaic
effect while experimenting with a compact electrode in an electrolyte solution. Subsequently he
saw a voltage developed when light fell upon the electrode.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica the first honest for solar panel was built around 1883 by
Charles Fritts. He used connections formed by coating selenium (a semiconductor) with an
extremely thin layer of gold. Crystalline silicon and gallium arsenide are usual varieties of
materials for solar panels. Gallium arsenide crystals are grown especially for photovoltaic use,
but silicon crystals are obtainable in less-expensive standard ingots, which are produced mostly
for intake in the microelectronics industry. Norway’s Renewable Energy Corporation has
confirmed that it will construct a solar developed plant in Singapore by 2010 - the largest in the
world. This plant will be able to produce products that can create up to 1.5 Gw of energy every
year. That is enough to power several million households at any one time. Last year the world as
whole formed products that could generate just 2 GW in total.

2.1.2 Microcontroller Based Automatic Solar Tracker

F. Huang et al. had aimed a microcontroller based automatic sun tracker combined with a new
solar energy conversion unit in 1998 .The automatic sun tracker was implemented with a dc
motor and a dc motor controller. The solar energy transformation unit involved of an array of
solar panels, a step-up chopper, a single-phase inverter, an ac mains power source and a
microcontroller based control unit. High efficiency was achieved through the automatic sun
tracker and the MPP detector. In this system, the MPP finding and the power conversion were
realized by using the same hardware circuit. In the existed MPP detectors, the detection of the
MPP was achieved by using analog computing, comparing, and holding. In compare to the

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existed ones, in the fresh system, the MPP was detected by software which was embedded in a
microcontroller.

2.1.3 Evolution Of Solar Tracker

Since the sun transfers across the sky through the day, in order to receive the best angle of
exposure to sunlight for collection energy. A tracking mechanism is frequently incorporated into
the solar arrays to keep the array pointed in the direction of the sun. A solar tracker is a device
onto which solar panels are fixed which tracks the motion of the sun across the sky ensuring that
the extreme amount of sunlight strikes the panels throughout the day. When relate to the price of
the PV solar panels, the cost of a solar tracker is comparatively low. Most photovoltaic solar
panels are fitted in a secure location- for example on the inclined roof of a house, or on
framework fixed to the ground. Since the sun moves across the sky and yet the day, this is far
from an ideal solution. Solar panels are usually set up to be in full direct sunshine at the medium
of the day in front of South in the Northern Hemisphere, or North in the Southern Hemisphere.
Consequently morning and evening sunlight triumphs the panels at an acute angle decreasing the
total amount of electricity which can be generated each day.

2.3 PROPOSED SYSTEM DESIGN

In this projects include design and construction of an arduino based solar tracker. This solar
tracker system uses the arduino board, a servomotor, 2 LDR and 2 resistors to rotate the solar
panel towards the sun or a source of light. In this project LDR was selected since it has no
polarity, and easy to interface with circuit, cheap, reliable and is described by high spectral
sensitivity, so that difference in high intensity is represented immediately by change in its
resistance value. The block diagram of proposed system as shown in figure 2.3.

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 Fig -2.3: Block Diagram of Project

In constructing the solar tracking system, LDRs are used to determine solar light intensity. The 2
LDRs are connected to pin A0 and A1 on the board. One servo motor is used for rotation part.
Usually the servo has a yellow wire that is used to control the cycle and it must be associated on
pin 9 on the board. When light falls on the LDR, its resistance differs and a potential divider
circuit is used to obtain corresponding voltage value from the resistance of LDR. The voltage
signal is send to the microcontroller. Constructed on the voltage signal, a corresponding PWM
signal is send to the servo motor which origins it to rotate and finally attains a position where
intensity of light falls on the solar panel is maximum.

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 Chapter Three
3. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
3.1 Introduction
This chapter will focus on how the different components of the build have been constructed and
assembled. For the purchased components, product type and performance data will be reviewed.
The two points of emphasis will be hardware and software.

3.2 Problem Formulation

The goal of the project is to design a model mechanism that allows a solar panel to follow a light
source. In order to do this there are a number of problems that need to be solved, mainly:
➢ Getting the solar panel to know the position of the sun.
➢ Making the panels point in a specific direction.
➢ Measuring the results.

3.3 Arduino
The Arduino Uno is an open source single-board microcontroller that is based on the
ATMega328. It can be powered by a 5V Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, or alternatively
with an external power supply. The board has 14 digital input/output pins, among which 6 can be
used as pulse-width modulation (PWM) outputs. There are also 6 analog input pins on the board,
along with a reset button. The Programming of the board is done with the Arduino software, and
the programming language is C with the Arduino library included. The capabilities of the
Arduino Uno was deemed to be sufficient to control the solar panel mechanism.

Arduino is an open source, computer hardware and software company, project, and user
community that designs and manufactures microcontroller kits for building digital devices and
interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical world. The project's products
are distributed as open-source hardware and software, which are licensed under the GNU Lesser
General Public License (LGPL) or the GNU General Public License (GPL) permitting the
manufacture of Arduino boards and software distribution by anyone. Arduino boards are

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available commercially in preassembled form, or as do-it yourself kits. Arduino board designs
use a variety of microprocessors and controllers. The boards are equipped with sets of digital and
analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be interfaced to various expansion boards (shields) and
other circuits. The boards feature serial communications interfaces, including Universal Serial
Bus (USB) on some models, which are also used for loading programs from personal computers.
The microcontrollers are typically programmed using a dialect of features from the programming
languages C and C++. In addition to using traditional compiler toolchains, the Arduino project
provides an integrated development environment (IDE) based on the Processing language
project.

Fig 3.3: Arduino Uno R3

Reprinted from the Arduino Board Uno Fig 1 shows the Arduino Uno Board manufactured by
the Arduino in Italy. It can be powered via a USB connection or with an external power supply.
As can be seen in Fig 1, pins A0 to A5 are the analog input pins, pins 0 to 13 are 14 digital
input/output pins and the pins with a “~” sign can be used asdigital pins PWM o can be used as
input or output pins by selecting the mode by using the function Pin-Mode() and then using the

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function digitalRead() or digitalWrite() according to the ne-cessity. Pins 0(RX) and 1(TX) are
used for serial communication while pins 10(SS), 11(MOSI), 12(MISO) and 13(SCK) are used
for SPI(Serial Peripheral Interface) communication. In addition to pin 0 and 1, a SoftwareSerial
library allows serial communication on any of the Uno’s digital pin.

3.3.1 ATmega328P Microcontroller

The microcontroller is a low-power CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) 8-bit
microcontroller based on the AVR enhanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
architecture. The powerful execution of instructions in a single clock cycle leads to the
achievement of 1 MIPS per MHz throughputs allowing the designer to optimize power
consumption versus processing speed.

Fig 3.3.1 (1): ATmega328P Microcontroller

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 Fig 3.3.1 (2): ATmega328 Microcontroller Architecture

Reprinted from Datasheet of ATMega328 the internal architecture of the microcontroller is

shown in Fig 2.3.3 (02). The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of the microcontroller
which controls the execution of the program. The MCU (Microcontroller unit) consists of 4K/8K
bytes of in-system programmable flash with read-while-write capabilities, 256/412/1K bytes
EEPROM along with the 512/1K/2K bytes of SRAM. Along with this, the MCU consists of
many other features
• 14 general purpose I/O lines and 32general purpose working registers
• flexible timer/counters with compare modes, internal and external interrupts and a serial
programmable USART

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 • A byte-oriented 2-wire serial interface, an SPI serial port,a 6-channel 10-bit ADC (8
channels in TQFP and QFN/MLF packages), a programmable watch-dog timer with an
internal oscillator and 5 software-selectable power saving modes.
The five, software selectable, power saving modes are idle mode, Power-down mode, Power-
save mode, ADC Noise Reduction mode and theStandby mode. As mentioned in section 2.1.2,
the CPU is the brain of the microcontroller which controls the execution of the program.
Therefore the CPU is able to access the memories, perform calculations, control peripherals and
handle interrupts. The AVR uses the Harvard architecture with separate memories and buses for
program and data to maximize the performance as well as the parallelism. The principle of
execution of instructions in the program memory is the single-level pipelining. The concept of
pre-fetching the next instruction while executing one instruction enables the instructions to be
executed in every clock cycle and the program memory is in the System Reprogrammable Flash
memory.
Reprinted from Datasheet of ATMega328,The block diagram of AVR CPU Core architecture is
shown in Fig 3. The fast-access Register File contains 32 x 8 bit general-purpose working
registers with a single cycle access time which results in a single-cycle ALU operation. The
arithmetic and logical operations between the registers or between the constant and a register are
supported by the ALU. The status register is updated to reflect information about the result of the
operation after an arithmetic operation. The boot program section and the application program
section are the two main sections of the program flash memory. Stack stores the return address of
the program counter during the interrupts and subroutine calls which is allocated in the general
data SRAM. The size of the stack is limited by the total size and usage of the SRAM. The data
SRAM is accessible through fivedifferent addressing modes supported in the AVR architecture
while the stack pointer is read/write accessible in the I/O space. The memory spaces in the AVR
architecture are all linear and regular memory maps

3.4 Servo Motor

A servomotor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for precise control of angular or
linear position, velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor coupled to a sensor for
position feedback. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated module
designed specifically for use with servomotors. Servomotors are not a specific class of motor

12
although the term servomotor is often used to refer to a motor suitable for use in a closed-loop
control system. A servomotor is a closed-loop servomechanism that uses position feedback to
control its motion and final position. The input to its control is a signal (either analogue or
digital) representing the position commanded for the output shaft. The motor is paired with some
type of encoder to provide position and speed feedback. In the simplest case, only the position is
measured. The measured position of the output is compared to the command position, the
external input to the controller. If the output position differs from that required, an error signal is
generated which then causes the motor to rotate in either direction, as needed to bring the output
shaft to the appropriate position. As the positions approach, the error signal reduces to zero and
the motor stops. The very simplest servomotors use position-only sensing via a potentiometer
and bang-bang control of their motor; the motor always rotates at full speed (or is stopped). This
type of servomotor is not widely used in industrial motion control, but it forms the basis of the
simple and cheap servos used for radio-controlled models. More sophisticated servomotors use
optical rotary encoders to measure the speed of the output shaft and a variable-speed drive to
control the motor speed. Both of these enhancements, usually in combination with a PID control
algorithm, allow the servomotor to be brought to its commanded position more quickly and more
precisely, with less overshooting.

Fig 3.4 : Servo Motor

3.5 LDR Circuit

A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) or a photo resistor is a device whose resistivity is a function
of the incident electromagnetic radiation. Hence, they are light sensitive devices. They are also

13
called as photo conductors, photo conductive cells or simply photocells. They are made up of
semiconductor materials having high resistance. A photoresistor is made of a high resistance
semiconductor. In the dark, a photoresistor can have a resistance as high as several megohms
(MΩ), while in the light, a photoresistor can have a resistance as low as a few hundred ohms. If
incident light on a photoresistor exceeds a certain frequency, photons absorbed by the
miconductor give bound electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction band. The
resulting free electrons (and their hole partners) conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance.
The resistance range and sensitivity of a photoresistor can substantially differ among dissimilar
devices. Moreover, unique photoresistors may react substantially differently to photons within
certain wavelength bands.

Fig 3.5: LDR

3.6 Solar Panel

The solar panels are polycrystalline with a max power of 0.5 W each. The panels are connected
in series with a resistance of 1.4 kohm to be able to measure the voltage and calculate the
current.
Solar panel refers to a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for
generating electricity or heating. Photovoltaic modules use light energy (photons) from the Sun
to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect. The majority of modules use wafer-based
crystalline silicon cells or thin-film cells. The structural (load carrying) member of a module can
either be the top layer or the back layer. Cells must also be protected from mechanical damage

14
and moisture. Most modules are rigid, but semi-flexible ones are available, based on thin-film
cells. The cells must be connected electrically in series, one to another. Externally, most of
photovoltaic modules use MC4 connectors type to facilitate easy weatherproof connections to the
rest of the system. Modules electrical connections are made in series to achieve a desired output
voltage and/or in parallel to provide a desired current capability. The conducting wires that take
the current off the modules may contain silver, copper or other non-magnetic conductive
transition metals. Bypass diodes may be incorporated or used externally, in case of partial
module shading, to maximize the output of module sections still illuminated.

Fig 3.6 : Solar Panel

3.7 Power Booster

The Arduino operating voltage is 5 V which is used to power the LDR-circuits and servo motor.
There are several ways to power up the robot. Traditionally, it has been done with a transformer
and rectifier. However, in applications that involve providing a DC voltage to only the
microcontroller and a few other low-current devices, transformer-based power supplies may not
be cost effective and it is not possible to set inside the robot, for that reason we use small
rechargeable battery and use a boost circuit for powering up all equipment.

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 Fig 3.7: Power Booster

3.8 Rechargeable battery

Rechargeable lithium ion batteries commonly found in home appliances, high-end toys, laptops
and similar devices that require light and powerful source of electricity. They are even often used
in electric and hybrid cars. The 3.7 volts is just the nominal voltage for the lithium battery;
chargers for them charge up to 4.2 volts. Here we used rechargeable battery is an electrical
device that provides instant power to the microcontroller (For continuous connected to the
internet application system) and DC motor.

Fig 3.8: Rechargeable battery

3.9 Software
When started, the solar panels will be in their neutral state. Depending on the measured value
over the LDRs, the servo motors will rotate the panel so that the top side and the bottom side of
the plate differ no more than the tolerance. If the top and bottom sides are not within the
tolerance. The servo motor will do 90 degree position . The left and the right LDRs are then

16
evaluated in the same way. Once left versus right and top versus bottom have been compared, the
process restarts.

3.10 LCD
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and find a wide range of
applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very commonly used in various
devices and circuits. These modules are preferred over seven segments and other multi segment
LEDs.
The reasons being: LCDs are economical; easily programmable; have no limitation of displaying
special & even custom characters (unlike in seven segments), animations and so on. A 16x2
LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines. In this LCD each
character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. This LCD has two registers, namely, Command and
Data. The command register stores the command instructions given to the LCD. A command is
an instruction

given to LCD to do a predefined task like initializing it, clearing its screen, setting the cursor
position, controlling display etc.

Figure 3.10: 16x2 LCD Display

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Features of LCD Display

5 x 8 dots with cursor

Built-in controller (KS 0066 or Equivalent) + 5V power supply (Also available for + 3V) 1/16
duty cycle
B/L to be driven by pin 1, pin 2 or pin 15, pin 16 or A.K (LED) N.V. optional for + 3V power
supply.

3.11 Arduino IDE

A program for Arduino may be written in any programming language for a compiler that
produces binary machine code for the target processor. Atmel provides a development
environment for their microcontrollers, AVR Studio and the newer Atmel Studio . The Arduino
project provides the Arduino integrated development environment (IDE), which is a cross-
platform application written in the programming language Java. It originated from the IDE for
the languages Processing and Wiring. It includes a code editor with features such as text cutting
and pasting, searching and replacing text, automatic indenting, brace matching, and syntax
highlighting, and provides simple one-click mechanisms to compile and upload programs to an
Arduino board. It also contains a message area, a text console, a toolbar with buttons for ommon
functions and a hierarchy of operation menus. A program written with the IDE for Arduino is
called a sketch. Sketches are saved on the development computer as text files with the file
extension .ino. Arduino Software (IDE) pre- 1.0 saved sketches with the extension .pde. The
Arduino IDE supports the languages C and C++ using special rules of code structuring. The
Arduino IDE supplies a software library from the Wiring project, which provides many common
input and output procedures. User-written code only requires two basic functions, for starting the
sketch and the main program loop, that are compiled and linked with a program stub main() into
an executable cyclic executive program with the GNU toolchain, also included with the IDE
distribution. The Arduino IDE employs the program avrdude to convert the executable code into
a text file in hexadecimal encoding that is loaded into the Arduino board by a loader program in
the board's firmware.

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To configure software we have to use ARDUINO IDE named arduino.exe To conFig this
programmer with computer we need a USB cable then check serial port and select the
programmer from IDE platform such as,

Fig 3.11 (1): IDE configuration for ARDUINO UNO Programmer

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After complete configuration IDE is ready for programming. At finally upload
main program to new ATMEGA328P using IDE

The program is given below,

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo
int pos = 0; // variable to store the servo position
const int rs = 2, en = 3, d4 = 4, d5 = 5, d6 = 6, d7 = 7;
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs, en, d4, d5, d6, d7);
void setup() {
myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
Serial.begin(9600);
lcd.begin(16,2);
lcd.setCursor(4,0);
lcd.print("Welcome");
lcd.setCursor(2,1);
lcd.print("MPPT Photovoltage");
delay(3000);
lcd.clear();
}
void loop() {
int ldr1 = analogRead(A0);
int ldr2 = analogRead(A1);
//int soler = analogRead(A2);
int load = analogRead(A2);
if (ldr1>=800)
{myservo.write(40);
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Sun Pos: West ");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);

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 lcd.print("Charging");
}

if (ldr2>=800)
{myservo.write(150);
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Sun Pos: East ");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Charging");}

if (ldr1>=800 && ldr2>=800)

{myservo.write(90);
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Sun Pos: Middle");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Charging");}
Serial.print(analogRead(A3) );
Serial.println(" ");
if (load>=800)
{lcd.setCursor(10,1);
lcd.print("LOAD ");}

if (load<=800)
{ lcd.setCursor(10,1);
lcd.print("ideal");}
if (ldr1<=800 && ldr2<=800)
{myservo.write(90);
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Sun Set ");
lcd.print(" ");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);

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 lcd.print("________");}
delay(1000);
}
Code: final program of the project

Fig 3.11 (2): Uploading program to Arduino

When microcontroller will programmed properly a confirmation message will be show, which
looks like,

Fig 3.11 (3): Message for upload complete

Now our Arduino UNO is ready to use.

3.12 Proteus Circuit Diagram

Generally for ARDUINO Proteus simulation is not necessary, but sometimes it needs to simulate
to check error of PID logic. To simulate there are some problem, such as ARDUINO has no
“HEX” file but it has “INO” when ARDUINO is simulate using Proteus then There must be app
are some technique to find “HEX” file for microcontroller. at first from start menu of computer
search “%temp%” then a lot of temporary file will found but when we search specifically “HEX”
on specific date then it is possible to find targeted hex file.

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 Fig 3.12: Circuit Diagram of Maximum Power Point Tracker

3.6 Summarization
In this chapter all hardware and software configuration and implementation and simulation are
explained properly. ARDUINO is an open source platform so clear concept is necessary to work
with ARDUINO. Bluetooth is common, popular and easy communication system by the use of it
this project may popular to all. After study this chapter concept will be clear about ARDUINO
Uno and project related all other equipment.

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 Chapter Four
4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Discussion
According to Solar Power World, an online resource for news regarding solar power, solar
trackers can increase energy production by as much as 40 %. That means that the result of 48 %
is slightly bigger than expected. Possible reasons for this will be discussed in the next sections.

4.2 Simulation
The simulation is a major factor in the result. First of all the simulation track does not fulfill the
purpose of simulating a day of light. One reason for this is that the increased distance to the solar
panels in the beginning of the track compared to at the middle of the track does not fully
represent the energy loss in the suns rays in the morning due to its passage through the air. This
implies that the directed solar
panels retrieves disproportionately much more energy in the beginning of the track compared to
what it would retrieve by the sun. Since the equation of energy loss in the suns rays due to the
passage through the atmosphere is hard to take into account in the simulation track, it is also
likely that the non directed solar panel would reach peak power sooner in reality than in the tests.
This would thus have a negative impact on the 48% efficiency increase result.

As dual-axis tracking generates 40% more power from each panel, you can achieve the same
power output with fewer panels, frames and so on, which reduces a project's upfront costs and
offsets to a great extent the additional cost for tracking hardware. On the other hand, you can use
the same number of panels as originally planned and generate 40% more power and higher
revenues. This reduces the project's payback time and also increases the overall return on
investment (ROI), depending on the financial specifics of the project. Solar radiation Tracker has
played a vital role in increasing the efficiency of solar panels in recent years, thus proving to be a
better technological achievement. The vital importance of a dual axis solar tracker lies in its
better efficiency and sustainability to give a better output compared to a fived solar panel or a

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single axis solar tracker. The tracking system is designed such that it can trap the solar energy in
all possible directions. Generally, in a single axis tracker that moves only along a single axis it is
not possible to track the maximum solar energy. In case of dual axis trackers, if the solar rays are
perpendicular to panel throughout the year. Hence, maximum possible energy is trapped
throughout the day as well as throughout the year. Thus, the output increases indicating that the
efficiency more than a fixed solar panel (about 30 -40% more) or a single axis solar tracker
(about 6-7% more).

Fig 4.2 (1) : Final Project (Left view)

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 Fig 4.2 (2) : Final Project (Front view)

4.3. Summary
Throughout the brainstorming process, we knew that we wanted to incorporate a system that
would make a new engineering building more sustainable. Thoughts included a green roof
system as well as a possible grey water system for a building. We also considered testing the
possibilities of using storm water and runoff for visual and aesthetic components of the new
building. After deciding to base our design on solar energy systems, we narrowed our focus
down to the solar tracking system because of issues we had with the existing clock-driven pyr
heliometer on the roof of Hicks Hall. For our solar tracker to have a real impact on a new
building, it needed to be hooked up to a system whose performance could be improved with solar
tracking. We decided to incorporate the system into a solar light pipe, moving the dome based on
the position of the solar tracker. We were excited to explore an alternative light source that was
new to us both.

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The design of our solar tracking system consists of two components: the first portion is a clock-
driven solar tracker for large-scale rotation, and the second fine-tuning mechanism makes up for
motor error and overcast weather conditions. We also eliminated the need for the system to
continue rotating overnight, instead stopping the tracker and light pipe's motion at sunset and
having the system wait there until sunrise the next day. The dome of the solar tracker was
equipped with two sets of motors, one for NorthSouth rotation and one for East-West. Through
UART Arduino to Arduino™ communication and the Easy Transfer library's data structures, the
angles from the solar tracker were sent to the light pipe for dome adjustment. In this way, the
solar tracker drives the motion of the light pipe, which we hope will improve the overall
performance of the light

4.4 Costing
Costing is always a vital issue to make any project. Price of electronics is not stable for a
developing country like Bangladesh, because Bangladesh never produces electronics parts but
import from other developed country and during import price depends upon the stock of foreign
currency. Average price of parts used in this project is given bellow,

Name Quantity Unit Price Total Price

Microcontroller Arduino UNO 1 450 450

Solar Panel 1 320 320

Servo Motor 1 150 150

Charger Circuit 1 80 80

Boost Circuit 1 125 125

LCD 1 160 160

Push Buttom 1 15 15

LDR 2 10 20

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Battery 1 130 130

5K variable Resistor 1 10 10

Vero board, Jumper cable, 1 300 300

resistor, male & female header
wooden frame
TOTAL COST 1,760/- Taka

Table 4.4: Price list of hardware used at Automation System

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 Chapter Five
5. CONCLUSSION
5.1 Introduction
A solar panel tracking system was designed and implemented. The aim of the solar panel
tracking system is to track the positon of the sun for better efficiency of the solar panel has
shown in the experimental results. This work can be executed on an industrial scale which be
beneficial to developing countries like Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa countries. Our
recommendation for future works is to consider the use of more sensitive and efficient sensors
which consume less power and which are also cost effective. This would increase the efficiency
while reducing cost.

Since the solar panels worked as expected, the answer to the question if LDRs can be used to
track a light source’s motion is yes. Even though the testing experienced some lack of
preciseness, the overall shape of the curves in Figure 4.1 and 4.2 were in accordance with the
expectations. These graphs helped show that solar tracking improved energy production by
approximately 48 %, which is the answer to the second research question. On the third research
question regarding software complexity, it seems the answer would be ’quite complex’. Since
preprogrammed functions have been used for the measurements and to run the stepper motor,
most parts of the software were prepared. However, if one considers the method of using
preprogrammed functions satisfactory, combining them is not complicated. As the testing
showed the solar tracking worked fine. The slightly earlier reach of peak power and a higher
general power in the less energetic span of the day due to this tracking was the expected result.

5.2 Recommendations
There are a few areas of the construction that could be improved. The stepper motors used were
fairly weak and had low torque. This meant that a lot of focus went into making the mechanism
as frictionless as possible. Even so, the stepper motors sometimes struggled rotating the structure
and got caught a few times. With more powerful stepper motors this problem can be avoided.
Another thing that could be improved is the positioning of the lower stepper motor. The lower

29
stepper motor was attached to the bottom plate, with its axle sticking up through a hole in the
Arduino plate. If instead the motor would have been attached to the Arduino plate with its axle
pointing down to the bottom plate, the solar panels would be able to spin an unlimited amount of
degrees in either direction. The way the structure is right now, the panels can only rotate
approximately 90 degrees in either direction due to the wires of the stepper motor stopping the
structure from rotating more than that. The reason why the stepper motor was attached to the
bottom was to put as little load as possible on the stepper motors due to its low torque, and if it
was on the bottom it would not have to carry its own weight.
Finally, the electrical wires going from the solar panels and the LDRs down to the Arduino could
have been placed differently. Right now they are going from the bottom of the solar panel plate
down straight down to the Arduino, which means that they hinder the rotation of the plate
sometimes. If instead the wires would have gone through the support arms down to the Arduino,
the possible degrees of rotation might have been improved and it would also improve the
aesthetics.

5.3 Future Work

The research question ”How much more energy will be produced if solar tracking is
implemented?” could be expanded into if it’s possible to get more energy out of the solar panel
with regard to the extra energy taken from the tracker system. If any project of this kind will be
taken to the consumer market, this question is central for the prospects of such a project. One
could think it would be interesting to increase the scale of this project. In that case one would
certainly have to redo the construction of the stepper motors. One way to redo it would be to put
both stepper motors on the bottom plate. The stepper motors could transfer the momentum with a
belt attached to the axis of respective plate. In this way the problem of the stepper motors being
to weak could be removed with the transmission of these belts. Further on the stepper motors
could be changed into DC motors. With a low gearing and the fact that the sun moves very
slowly over the sky, a DC motor run at a relative slow pace would be well adapted to the system.
A possible twist to this project is to direct a solar collector to point in the suns direction instead
of a solar panel. Unlike the solar panel, there is no physical limit of how much energy a solar
collector could pick up as long as there is something to heat up. This kind of project would of

30
course include a set of other difficulties to solve such as how to design a dynamic water to panel
connection. However, this might be a better application for the solar tracking system.

31
Code:
// microcontroller library and declaration

#include <LiquidCrystal.h> //adding LCD library

#include <Servo.h> //add servo library

Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo

int pos = 0; // variable to store the servo position

const int rs = 2, en = 3, d4 = 4, d5 = 5, d6 = 6, d7 = 7; //define arduino to lcd connection

LiquidCrystal lcd(rs, en, d4, d5, d6, d7); //define arduino to lcd connection

///////// microcontroller setting

void setup() {

myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object

Serial.begin(9600);

lcd.begin(16,2);

lcd.setCursor(4,0);

lcd.print("Welcome");////////Display project name

lcd.setCursor(2,1);

lcd.print("MPPT Photovoltage"); ////////Display project name

delay(3000); ////////delay

lcd.clear();////////Display c;ear

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///////// microcontroller loop function (Monitoring function)

void loop() {

int ldr1 = analogRead(A0); ////// Solar sensor 1 (LDR1)

int ldr2 = analogRead(A1); ////// Solar sensor 2(LDR2)

int load = analogRead(A2); ////// Load sensor

////// if Solar sensor 1 (LDR1) get light///////////

if (ldr1>=800)

{myservo.write(40);

lcd.setCursor(0,0);

lcd.print("Sun Pos: West ");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);

lcd.print("Charging");

////// if Solar sensor 2 (LDR2) get light///////////

if (ldr2>=800)

{myservo.write(150);

lcd.setCursor(0,0);

lcd.print("Sun Pos: East ");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);

lcd.print("Charging");}

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////// if Solar sensor 2 (LDR2) get light and Solar sensor 1 (LDR1) get light together///////////

if (ldr1>=800 && ldr2>=800)

{myservo.write(90);

lcd.setCursor(0,0);

lcd.print("Sun Pos: Middle");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);

lcd.print("Charging");}

/////////////////Monitoring by computer/////////////////////////

Serial.print(analogRead(A0) );

Serial.print(" ");

Serial.print(analogRead(A1) );

Serial.print(" ");

Serial.print(" ");

Serial.print(analogRead(A3) );

Serial.println(" ");

///////////////// this section is for load /////////////////////////

if (load>=800)

lcd.setCursor(10,1);

lcd.print("LOAD ");}

if (load<=800)

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{

lcd.setCursor(10,1);

lcd.print("ideal");}

////// if Solar sensor 2 (LDR2) and Solar sensor 1 (LDR1) get no light together///////////

if (ldr1<=800 && ldr2<=800)

{myservo.write(90);

lcd.setCursor(0,0);

lcd.print("Sun Set ");

lcd.print(" ");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);

lcd.print("________");}

delay(1000);

35
REFERENCE
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[2] M.T.A. Khan, S.M.S. Tanzil, R. Rahman, S.M.S. Alam. ‘’Design and Construction of an
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[5]. Yousef, H.A. Design and implementation of a fuzzy logic computer-controlled sun tracking
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[7] Van der Meer, D.W.; Widen, J.; Munkhammar, J. Review on probabilistic forecasting of
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