International Journal of Academic Scientific Research

ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65

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Design and Implementation of a Two Axis Solar Tracking System

Using PLC Techniques by an Inexpensive Method
E. Michael Assaf
(Department of Design & Producing Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical and Electricity Engineering,
Damascus University, Syria)

ABSTRACT
This paper presents the design and implementation of an experimental study of a two-axis (Azimuth and Altitude)
automatic control solar tracking system to measure the solar radiation in an inexpensive way by a tracking solar PV
panel according to the direction of the beam propagation of the solar radiation from dawn to dusk. The designed
tracking system consists of four sensors (LDR) and a programmable logic controller (PLC) which controls two DC
servomotors with control software designed for this purpose to move the system panel according to the information
from the input sensors, keeping the panel always perpendicular to sunrays.
The designed software contains also a backup program (override part of the software) which controls the tracker in
adverse weather conditions (cloudy or partly cloudy). To investigate the effect of using two-axis sun tracker system
in measuring the solar radiation, an experimental study is carried out to evaluate its performance in the territory of
Faculty of Mechanical and Electricity Engineering, Damascus University, Syria.

Keywords: Programmable Logic Control (PLC), Photo Voltaic (PV) system, Solar Radiation, Two-axis Solar
Tracker.

INTRODUCTION:
The solar tracker, a device that keeps photo voltaic CPV) or photo thermal panel in an optimum position
perpendicularly to the solar radiation during daylight hours, can increase the collected energy from the sun by up to
40% [1]. Usually, the fixed PV panels cannot follow the sun movement. The single-axis tracker follows the sun's
East-West movement, while the two-axis tracker follows the sun's changing altitude angle too.
Sun tracking systems have been studied with different applications to improve the efficiency of solar
systems by adding the tracking equipment to these systems through various methods [2] [3]. A tracking system must
be able to follow the sun with a certain degree of accuracy, returns the panel to its original position at the end of the
day, and also tracks during cloudy periods; figure (1) shows the axes of rotation of a two-axis tracking system and
its basic operation.

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International Journal of Academic Scientific Research

ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65

Fig. (1): Basic operation of a two-axis tracking system

Theoretical calculation of the energy in the PV panel [4] [5] leads to the following equations:

Where:
E

fixed:

Falling energy per unit area calculated for the whole day in (watts. second) on a fixed PV
panel.

Etracker: Falling energy per unit area calculated for the whole day in (watts. second) on a tracking
PV panel.
I: Maximum solar radiation (1100 watts 1m2).
: Projection of 60 perpendicular to radiation beams (m2)
0:

PV panel area (m2)

: The angular velocity of the sun across the sky (7.27 x 10-5 rad.s-1)
t: daylight time (12 hours =43200 seconds)
Comparison of equation (1) and equation (2) shows that the energy surplus is 57% when it does not
consider the atmosphere influence.

I.

Design of a two-axis solar tracking system:

A. The electromechanical system:

The designed tracking system consists of a software based tracking method [2] [5] as shown in figure (2).
The main components of the designed system are four light dependent resistors (LDR) as sun sensors,
programmable logic controller (PLC) with analog inputs, two driving relay sets, two mechanical limit switches, two
DC servomotors and a PV panel supporting metallic structure with mechanical gears mechanism. Table (1) lists the
components of the electromechanically system and the PLC specification (technical data) used in the experiment.
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International Journal of Academic Scientific Research

ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65

Fig. (2): Block diagram of a two-axis tracker

The electromechanical system consists of two driving relay sets, two mechanical limit switches with two
DC servomotors, the first joint rotating about the vertical axis and the second for the East-West tracking as shown in
figure(3).

Fig. (3): Components of a Complete Solar Tracking System

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International Journal of Academic Scientific Research

ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65
Table (1): Technical data of the electromechanical system and PLC (hardware & software)
COMPONENT

TECHNICAL DATA

NOTES

Model : Reliance MT 14

1- Solar PV panel

Is.c.: 2.586 Amps

Vo.c.: 21.64 Volts
Max. Power: 42.9 Watts
Panel Area: 0.36 m2
Irradiance : 1100 W 1m2

one

Max. Operating Current :

2.421 Amps
Max. Operating Voltage :
17.72 Volts
2- D.C. Servomotors (Ml, M2)

24VDC,1.2A

two

3- Relays

24VDC ,1.6 A , 1 NO contact

four

1000 Lux: 400 Q

10Lux:9KQ
Full Darkness: IMQ

four

5-Limit Switches (LSI, LS2)

Mechanical, Total Travel 70

Operating Torque: 0.15 N.M

two

6- LOGO! 12/24 Rc (Main Module)

Supply Voltage: 10.8 to 28.8 VDC

Inputs : 8 Digital + 4 Analog (0-10 V)
Outputs: 4 Relay

one

7 - LOGO! Soft Comfort , Ver.6.1

Program Representation.
Simulation.
On Line Test.

Function Block Diagram (FBD)

Ladder Diagram (LAD).
Without Hardware
With Connected Hardware

4- LDR sensors (SI, S2, S3, S4)

The sun position sensors, (LDRs), give a voltage, which is proportional linearly to the solar radiation beam
position inside the sensors [6] [7]. The sensors are oriented to keep the solar radiation beam normal with PV panel.
Sun sensors detector determines the system misalignment (position error of the PV panel) and then sends analog
signals to the controller (PLC's software). The controller (PLC's software) uses the sun sensors information as inputs
to generate proper motors commands to rotate the motor at a definite angle according to the controller commands
that slew the PV panel. After finding the sun, the system starts working in "CLOSED LOOP" mode.
It is rather complicated to get the transfer function of this system [2] [5], but it can be derived from the
block diagram of figure (4).

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Fig. (4): Block diagram of transfer function for both axis

Where s is the angle of the sun, m is the direction to which the mechanism moves. The cross-coupling
of AA and BB, Figure (4), is nearly zero because of the orthogonal disposition of the axes and the parallel mounting
of the sensors [4] [5].

B. Control software:
Control software has been developed to determine the optimum position of the panel during daylight, i.e.,
how much deviated from maximum power point. The outputs of the two sensors in each group are determined and
their differences are fed to the PLC program via its analog inputs to control the mechanism of the PV panel to the
optimal position of the tracking panel during daylight hours. The program of the horizontal and vertical axes
tracking system consists of two parts related to the forward and backward motions. In this paper, the programming
method of control works efficiently in sunny days. For all weather conditions, an override technique is used to solve
the problem of bad weathers (cloudy and partly cloudy). The control software of the solar tracker is written with
Soft Comfort V6.1 software (by Siemens) [8]. Figure (5) shows the complete flowchart of the control software.

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ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65

Fig. (5): Flowchart of the Control Software

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II.

Measurement of Solar Radiation:

Industrial devices for measuring solar radiation are delicate and expensive; they are called "pyranometers".
A pyranometer is basically a flat plate, covered with a transparent dome, which is coated with an extremely
absorptive surface. As the sun strikes it, the surface gets hot. The temperature of the surface is measured with a
thermopile, giving an output voltage related to the amount of solar radiation striking the surface [9].
In this paper, an inexpensive device for measuring the solar radiation is built using the PV panel that works
pretty well out of inexpensive and readily available components. Although it will not be of laboratory quality, it will
suffice for comparative measurements and educational purposes.
PV panels act like a current source over a part of their operating region, they act like a voltage source over
the other part of their region. Figure (6) shows what is known a (V-I) characteristics curve of a PV panel, it shows
how current and voltage related to each other in a typical PV panel [9] [10].
Note that when voltage is very low, the PV panel acts like a current source. That is, it delivers a rather
constant current, independent of the voltage .The point at which the V-I curve intersects the vertical axis is called
short circuit current (Isc). Isc is directly proportional to the solar radiation striking the PV panel [9] [10].

Fig. (6): V-I characteristics of a typical PV panel

III.

Experimental Procedure:

A software-based online tracking method has been used in this designed tracking system to obtain the PV
panel performance of the tracking module where firstly, the system was kept in fixed mode and secondly it was kept
in tracking mode. The simplest method to obtain a V-I characteristics is to load the PV panel with a variable resistor
and measure the voltage and the current through digital meters as shown in figure (7).

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Fig. (7): Connection diagram for determination of V-I of a PV panel

In fixed mode, the panel was kept tilted at an angle of 45 .where as in tracking mode; the tracking panel
tracks the sun through changing the Azimuth and Altitude positions so that it is always remained perpendicular to
the solar radiation. The measured values of voltage and current were the open circuit voltage and short circuit
current of the PV panel. To use a PV panel in measuring solar radiation, its output current must be calculated as
shown in figure (8).

Fig. (8): Measuring solar radiation by calculating Is.c of the PV panel

A very low resistance was chosen (approximately 0.0768 Q) to be connected across the output of the PV
panel used in the experiment in order to make the output voltage very low , so the panel will act as a current source
as shown in figure (9).

Fig (9): V-I characteristics of the PV panel used III the experimental work

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ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65
It can be noted from fig(9), that the current of the PV panel is calculated by measuring the voltage across a
very small resistor (Rsh) , so for smaller resistors, the operating points will fall along the constant current portion of
the PV panel characteristic ,so the current through the resistor is proportional to the falling solar radiation [9][10].

IV.

Results and Discussion:

Three tests were carried out in May 2013 at the Faculty of Mechanical and Electricity Engineering,
Damascus University, Syria (Latitude 33.33 N, Longitude 36.18 E, 690 m above sea level) [11]. In these tests, the
PV panel was used as a pyranometer. Measurements of the PV panel which are proportional to the solar radiation in
(watt/m2) were recorded every hour and stored (the measurements were in volts then by calculating the Isc in
Amps). The collected data were processed using excel Microsoft. The data presented in this paper were conducted
for the period 10, 11, 12 May 2013 and they were averaged and then plotted as shown in figure (10), it can be seen
from this figure that the pattern of hourly variations is typical of a cloudless day.

Fig (10): Solar radiation Measurements

Surplus energy at tracking system with respect to a fixed system of PV panel was obtained by the following
formula [5]:
Energy gain (%) = {(Ptracking - Pfixed)/ Pfixed}*100%

(3)

Where:
Ptracking: power obtained by tracking system.
Pfixed: power obtained by fixed system.
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The results shown in figure (11) indicate that there is an overall increase of output power about 30 - 40%
for the two-axis sun tracking system compared to the PV fixed system. High energy gains are found at the beginning
and at the end of the day compared to the fixed system, figure (12). The energy gains found at the midday period are
very low as shown in figure (12) because the sunray will be perpendicular on the PV panels of the two systems.

Fig. (1I): Power Output of the experimental solar PV panel in both fixed and tracking modes.

Fig. (l2): Energy Gain in percentage of the module III tracking mode compared to fixed mode.

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ISSN: 2272-6446 Volume 2, Issue 3 (September - October 2014), PP 54-65

CONCLUSION
The solar tracker has been designed to increase the efficiency of the solar panel through tracking the sun.
An experimental study has been performed to measure the solar radiation using the PV panel. The tracking
mechanism is capable of tracking the sun automatically so the direction of beam propagation of solar radiation is
always perpendicular to the PV panel.
From the results of the performance test of the designed system, the following conclusions can be drawn:
During the operation of the system at the testing period, it proved to be fairly precise and reliable, but it
was not tested in adverse weather conditions (cloudy and partly cloudy conditions). The override part of the
designed system will solve this problem as shown in fig. (5).
V-I characteristics were tested for PV panel outputs, which approximately meet with ideal characteristics
curve, and show good results for measuring of solar radiation which lead to a new and inexpensive method of
measuring this important variable.
Design simplicity, low cost, material availability, low maintenance requirements, ease of installation and
operation will make this PLC-based tracking system more effective and competitive to other tracking systems.
The results obtained have good agreements with that found in the results of Rustom, Nijmeh and Abdallah
(2006), and with some of the results found in Sarker, Pervez and Beg (2010).

Acknowledgment:
The author gratefully acknowledges the support of PHD. Mehieddin Alrifai in Department of Mechanical Design
Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical and Electricity Engineering, Damascus University, Syria

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