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MIT UNIVERSITY’S – ABHIVRUDDHI JOURNAL

VOL.1 (01) , JUNE , 2021 pp -30-34

Design and Fabrication of Dual Axis Solar Tracking

System For Performance Enhancement

Ayush Giri Kalpesh Kolte Akshay Nangare

Dept. Of Mechanical engineering Dept. Of Mechanical engineering Dept. Of Mechanical engineering
MIT ADT University. MIT ADT University. MIT ADT University
Pune, India Pune , India Pune, India
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Aarti Gholap Prajwal Wakhare Prashant Patunkar

Dept. Of Mechanical engineering Dept. Of Electrical engineering Dept. Of Mechanical engineering
MIT ADT University. MIT ADT University MIT ADT University
Pune, India Pune, India Pune, India
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
n

integration of solar detection sensors into photovoltaic

Abstract— The upward trend in energy demand across globe,
dual- axis sun tracker systems is presented here. The
renewable energy sources have emerged as one of the most prototype has been constructed and put through its paces,
viable options. The increasing pollution of the environment which has resultedin a broad field of solar [1]. The
as well as the rising costs of fossil fuels have brought a structure of system is that ofa PILOT-PANEL, with every
significant amount of attention to renewable energy sources. panel having a light to frequency converter (LTF) installed
Solar power is a significant contributor to the overall supply in it. The output frequency of LTF is proportional to
of renewable energy. Because of the ever-increasing need for irradiation, which also means that it is proportional to the
solar power in a variety of contexts, including but not limited power. This is an advantage of the LTF.
to the generation of electricity, the provision of heating, the
illumination of public spaces, solar charging stations, and use The PILOT will proceed to follow the rising sun
constantly. A microcontroller is responsible for reading the
in industry, etc. Therefore, solar energy is the best and most
frequencies of both LTFs and comparing them whenever the
efficient option for a variety of uses. According to studies and
PILOT is moved to another location. If the disparity is smaller
data, the efficiency of solar panels is approximately 16% to compared to the offsets, the Panels will remain in its present
18%. As a result, research and development are currently location while the PILOT will continue to follow its course.
being conducted to enhance of solar panel performance by [2]. Using the dual-axis solar monitor, that is capable of
increasing gross power it produces. The present work is rotating in both the horizontal and altitude directions, the goal
focussed to implement dual-axis solar tracker arrangement to of this study will be to mimic and then build the algorithm for
improve the overall efficiency of system. The fabrication of control that will prove to be the most appropriate and effective.
entire set up along with experimental work and testing has The simulation provides tracker with various angles needed to
been conducted at MIT ADT University. The work on the position the solar panel together with path of sun's rays in such
project primarily centered on the design of the hardware, the a way that its surface receives maximum possible solar
manufactured part, and the assembly. The comparative study irradiation [3].
for single and dual axis solar tracker reveals superior This system has been shown highly effective and
performance of dual axis solar tracker arrangement. As a advantageous over single-axis and fixed arrangements [4],
result of the testing that was carried out, we have come to this even though the decision to make use of trackers is primarily
conclusion. This method produces a broad field of view while determined by the physical characteristics of the land. In
also reducing the amount of error effectiveness. general, however, this is the case. The idea that was ultimately
chosen was developed and improved in order to improve
performance of solar panel. This has been accomplished by
Keywords—Real time clock, Arduino, stepper Motor, DC angling the panel in such a way that it was always
Motor.
perpendicular to the solar radiation.
I. INTRODUCTION As we fabricated the entire system and after placing the solar
The various thermal power stations in India consumed panel, we take readings in a day from 8 am to 6 pm by
approximately 470 million tonnes of coal in 2017, which comparing with single axis solar panel. According to readings
resulted in a significant amount of pollution. The solar taken the efficiency is calculated and the dual axis solar
tracking system plays a significant part, as its primary function tracking system is more efficient .
is to collect highest of energy possible from the sun. In those
A. Arrangement of Base for Dual Axis solar Tracker .
days, the method for generating electricity was not nearly as
efficient as it is today. This is due to the fact that there are Specifications:-
many different kinds of power generation systems available Solar Panel (Havells 100 W Polycrystalline Panel)
today of various other non-renewable and renewable energy MS Rectangular Coil Tube 3x1 inch(For Frame).
source power generation methods. A novel approach to the MS Square Plate - 300mm x 300mm x 5mm.
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Two MS Square Plates - 200mm x 200mm x 4mm.

Square Pipe - 100mm x 100mm x 3mm
4 Nut Bolts - 12mm
Ball Bearings
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where ‘d’ is the day of the year. The following Eq. (2)
⚫ Arrangement of Spur gear for smooth rotation :- provides the azimuth calculation,

As the solar panel is placed on frame and below the cos(Ψ )= (sin( ) +sin(L) –sin( ) / (cos( ) cos(L)) (2)
frame, we had made one arrangement of spur gear for smooth
rotation of solar panel in north – south direction and due to where ’L’ is the latitude. The vertical angle ‘α’ is denoted as
the arrangement of spur gear the load acting or weight acting altitude angle.
will manage by gears and it reduced the speed of rotation. The altitude angle is calculated by:

sin( ) [cos(L)cos( )cos(H)][sin(L)*sin(D)] (3)

B. Governing Equation for the Analysis :- where 'H' denotes inclination of the hourly. As determined by
the next equations (4) and (5), the solar altitude in the
The mechanical arrangement to follow the sun, it first northern region and the southern hemisphere, respectively.
needs to know where the sun is located. During the = 900 - (- ) (4)
daytime, there are two different ways to track the sun. = 900 + (- ) (5)
There is also a passive mode, which contrasts with the The solar hour angle will increase by 15 degrees for each hour
active mode. Linearity is the foundation of the passive that passes. At twelve o'clock, the hour angle will be equal to
mode's system. It is entirely dependent on the output of zero degrees. The formula that is listed below can be used to
the sensors. This sensor determines where the sun is in determine it.
relation to the atmosphere and then transmits that cos(Hs ) = - tan(L)* tan( ) (6)
information to the controlling device. The disadvantage of The sun rise angle (Hs) ranges from -180 degrees to 0
using a tracking system based on linearity is that it is degrees, and the sun set angle (Hs ranges from 0 degrees to
susceptible to being affected both physically and 180 degrees).The angle formed by the sun and the line that
environmentally. The amount of solar radiation and the extends vertically from the ground plane to the zenith is
angle of solar incidence will shift throughout the year due known as the solar zenith angle. Equations (7) and (8), which
to variations in climate. When the altitude and azimuth can be found below, can be used to determine the zenith angle
angle of the concentrators are in sun position, they are able at the summer and winter solstices, respectively.
to yield the highest amount of solar energy possible. The = L - 23.5 (7)
tracking device is essential in order to correctly position = L + 23.5 (8)
the concentrator in relation to the sun. Calculating the The equation that describes the position of the sun indicates
angles of azimuth and altitude is essentialif one is to make that the tracker system is capable of following the sun. The
use of the solar radiation that is available. location of sun can be entered into the microcontroller so that
it will move in the same direction as that of sun. The linearity
The angle at which the sun is positioned is depicted in Figure system will not have any influence on the tracking system in
1. any way.
C. Description and Apparatus :-

Arduino UNO controller

● ATMEGA328P-PU is an 8-bit Microcontroller
● RISC Architecture
● Operating Voltage :- 1.8 to 5.5V
● Input Voltage:-7 to 12V
● Digital I/O pins:- 14
● Flash Memory:- 32k bytes.
● SRAM:- 2KB
● EEPROM:- 1KB
● Clock Speed:- 16MHz
Motor 1
Type= DC Planetary Geared Motor
Torque = 40 KG CM
RPM = 10 Shaft Diameter:- 10 mm
Weight = 400 g
Figure 1 Direction of sun. Supplier- HITECH ELECTRONICS
Motor 2: -
The angle known as the declination is shown by the symbol. Type = Stepper Motor
Despite this, the axis of rotation of the earth is tilted at a 23.5- Torque=30.61 KG CM
degree angle, and the range of the declination angle is Shaft Diameter = 6.35mm
-23.5o ≤ δ ≤ +23.5o Step angle :- 1.8 degree

23.45sin[360/365 d 240 ( 1) Driver Module

Type :- TB6600 Stepper Motor driver controller
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Input current :- 0 -5 A
Micro step :- 1, 2/A, 2/B, 4, 8, 16, 32.
Power :- 160W
Temperature :- 10 - 45 Degre
⚫ Solar Panel
Rated power (Pmax) Wp = 100 W
Max power voltage (Vmp),V = 19.12 V
Max power current (Imp),A = 5.23 A
Open circuit voltage (Voc), V = 22.68 V
Short circuit current (Isc), A = 5.60 A
Module efficiency (%) = 14.90 %
Number of cells = 4 * 9
Module dimensions (mm) = 1005 * 668
Module thickness (mm) = 35
Approximate weight (kg) = 9.7
Ambient temperature °C = -40 to +85
Hail impact velocity, m/sec = 23 Figure 3 :- Testing Done at 4 pm evening
Frame = Silver Anodized Aluminum Alloy
Solar Module Price = Rs.5376/-
⚫ RTC ( Real Time Clock)
Type :- DS1302
With Battery

D. Result and Discussion

⚫ Comparison between Existing and Proposed system

The comparison of solar panels to dual axis solar trackers

from eight in the early hours till six in the late afternoon, it is
observed that dual axis solar trackers are significantly
effective over one-axis solar tracking devices. This
conclusion is based on reading comparisons. The solar panel
moves in the direction of RTC t and encounters a range of
light intensities as it traverses the horizontal and vertical
planes at varied angles and for varying amounts of time. This
movement takes place as the panel moves in the direction of
RTC t. The results of the important comparison that was The x-axis of the graph that is being shown represents time,
carried out are presented in table no. 1 down here. and the y-axis represents power in watts. The blue line
represents a solar panel with a single axis, and the red line
represents a solar tracker with two axes. When we look at the
graph, we can see that the performance of the red line starts
to shift slightly in the afternoon, and then a more significant
shift takes place around noon. Therefore, the power output is
maximized by using a solar panel with dual axes. In light of
what has been discussed thus far, it should come as nosurprise
that the Dual-axis Solar Tracker Systems come out on top in
terms of both cost and benefits when pitted against the Fixed
Solar System. Controlling stepper motors is just one of the
many applications that can be made better with the assistance
of an Arduino microcontroller. There are many others. For
instance, the amount of time it takes for the position of a
stepper motor to change in a step-by-step manner.

Figure 2:- Testing done in Morning

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⚫ INITIALLY THE COMPARISON IS MADE BETWEEN STATIC The solar tracking system can generate mobile solar
AND SINGLE AXIS SETUP electricity anywhere in the world due to its mobility,
efficiency, and ease of use. It's versatile.

TIME FIXED MODULE DUAL-AXIS SOLAR TRACKER Power

VOLTAGE CURRENT POWER VOLTAGE CURRENT POWER %

(V) (I) (WATT) (V) (I) (WATT) Change

9 AM 21 3.90 81.9 21 3.90 81.9 0
10 AM 22.7 5.05 100.16 21.8 5.10 111.18 +0.11
11 AM 22.4 5.56 86.88 22.6 5.25 118.65 +0.35
12 PM 22.1 5.1 112.71 22.6 5.03 113.678 +0.85
1 PM 24.5 5.7 139.65 23.8 6.4 152.32 +8.3

2 PM 22.4 3.1 73.92 22.6 4.5 101.7 +37.58

3 PM 21.9 2.40 52.56 22.6 4.27 96.502 +83.6

4 PM 21.5 1.95 41.92 21.7 4.58 99.386 +137

The dual-axis solar tracking device will boost energy

E Overall system : efficiency by tracking the sun's daily and seasonal
movements. Efficiency gains will reduce solar panel size and
electricity generation costs while maintaining output. An
RTC-based dual-axis automatic sun tracking system will be
designed, implemented, and tested in this project. The novel
system was compared to a fixed solar tracking system. This
RTC-based dual-axis solar tracking device produces more
solar thermal output than a stationary solar concentrator. The
real-time clock-based solar tracking system provides 75%
better thermal gain than a fixed solar tracking system. system

G. Acknowledgement
This project has been sponsored by the CRIEYA Department,
MIT ADT University, Pune, under CRIYA INNO.
PROJECT/21/2021. The author sincerely thanks to the
CRIEYA Department for their valuable support.

Figure 4 : - System REFERENCES

[1] Y.Away and M.Ikhsan, “Dual-axis sun tracker sensor based on
We use RTCs that track the sun at a rate of one degree every tetrahedron geometry,” , 73, pp. 175-183, 2017.
five minutes, and from eight in the morning until six in the [2] ] Ghassoul M. “Single axis automatic tracking system based on PILOT
evening, after which the RTCs stop functioning. schemeto control the solar panel to optimize solar energy extraction.
Consequently, dual-axis solar tracking is more effective than Energy Rep”;4:0–7, 2018.
fixed solar tracking. [3] Woradej Manosroi , Pitchporn Prompattra, Praw
Kerngburee,”Performance improvement of two-axis solar tracking
system by using flat-mirror reflectors” 2020
CONCLUSION: -
[4] .Anshul Awasthi , Akash Kumar Shukla , Murali Manohar S.R.
Dual-axis solar trackers create more electricity than fixed- ,Chandrakant Dondariya , K.N. Shukla , Deepak Porwal , Geetam
mount systems. This power-generating prototype is scalable. Richhariya Review on sun tracking system in solar PV system Vol. 6,
p. 392-405 , 2020.