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Design of Open Loop Single Axis Solar Tracker System

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Design of Open Loop Single Axis Solar Tracker System

Rizal Rinaldi 1, Bandiyah Sri Aprillia1,2, Cahyantari Ekaputri 1, Muhamad Reza1

Abstract. The amount of power output in a solar power system depends on the intensity of
solar radiation. The earth's movements however cause changes in the intensity of solar
radiation received by solar panels on the daily. Therefore, the implementation of a controller
that can track the position of the sun (solar tracker) is believed to increase the power output of
solar panels. This research focuses on the design of a photovoltaic panel drive system using an
Android-based application as a monitoring media. The application is used to monitor the
current temperature and provide a desired angle input. Based on the test results, the average
power output of a fixed PV reached only 17.15 Watt, while on a single axis PV, average output
reached 21.50 Watt. It can be concluded that in the single axis PV, average power output
increased by more than 25% compared to the fixed PV.

1. Introduction
Indonesia is a tropical country that has solar radiation intensity exposure reaching 4 kWh / m2 / day in
each area [1]. Thus, to take advantage of this fact, technology to convert solar energy into electrical
energy has been widely implemented in Indonesia. One of the means of converting solar radiation into
electrical energy commonly used are solar panels. Solar panel is a device consisting of several
semiconductor-based solar cells that are able to convert sunlight radiation into electrical energy based
on the principle of the photovoltaic effect. In general, solar power integration can be connected on-
grid or standalone [2-4]. In standalone solar power systems, solar panels are connected to batteries or
other energy storage media to be connected to a converter to meet load requirements [5]. On-grid solar
power systems on the other hand involve solar panels being connected to the State Power Plant (PLN)
network. The implementation of electric energy source control methods in an on-grid solar power
system can also improve the efficiency of energy use, because energy flow can be adjusted according
to load requirements [2, 6].
The amount of power output in a solar power system depends on the intensity of solar radiation [7,
8]. The earth's movements however cause changes in the intensity of solar radiation received by solar
panels on the daily. Therefore, the implementation of a controller that can track the position of the sun
(solar tracker) is believed to increase the output power of solar panels. In theoretical analysis and
experimental evidence, the solar tracker is able to increase the output power of solar panels by up to
60% [9, 10].
To produce optimal power from photovoltaics we can use a control system that functions as a
driving and monitoring. This research focuses on the design of a photovoltaic panel drive system using
an Android-based application as a monitoring media. The android application is used to monitor the
current temperature and provide the desired angle input.

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ICETIR 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 982 (2020) 012016 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/982/1/012016

2. Method
A single axis solar tracker is controlled by an open loop control system. Mechanical parts are used by
servo motors that are connected to bike wheels to make solar panels move to follow the sun's
movements. Bike gear is used to reduce torque load on servo motors.
It is important to use gear because they are engine elements used to transmit motion and power
from one shaft to another without slippage. The use of gear transmission is the appropriate choice
because the distance between the drive and the driven components are not far apart, making it
compact. For this study, straight gears are used. Using 15 gear drivers, for 18 gear driven drives, the
gear ratio is 15/18 = 0.83. The gear driver rotates 1.2 times for every 1 gear driven rotation.
Connections between gears are maintained by using a belt (chain). The chain reduces slip between
gears. The gear chain uses iron to reduce maintenance costs. To determine the length of the belt:

( )
( ) { } (1)

where:
x = shaft axis distance (mm)
= small shaft radius (mm)
= large shaft radius (mm)
L = belt length (mm)
Therefore, the length of the belt (chain) is 133.97 cm

Figure 1. Block diagram of a single axis PV drive system.

The application used in this Android-based system can be controlled via mobile phones. In the app,
there are features which can control the angle and monitor the temperature readings on the panel.
Controls from the smartphone are very important because temperature and PV angle can greatly affect
the output voltage generated by the panel.
The use of node MCU on the system is intended as communication media with the microcontroller.
This communication uses the application media on mobile phones. Smartphones would send data
through the application and then forward it to the controller. The data sent would be processed by node
MCU and produce an angular output.
This system uses a motor as a drive which can later move the plan to a system in the form of a 100
Wp solar panel with a mass of 7 kg. Servo motor specifications on the system have a torque that can
rotate that weighs 23 kg and can rotate up to 180 degrees of angle. The PV position would be adjusted
to correspond to the input command given by the application and driven by a servo motor.

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ICETIR 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 982 (2020) 012016 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/982/1/012016

Figure 2. System Flowchart

Based on Figure 2, the system will identify the angle value. Furthermore, this angle value is in the
form of data sent through the mobile application and then processed by the controller. If the data has
reached the controller, the data in the form of an angle value will be a reference to the system. The
servo will move if there is a deviation from the reference angle value and will adjust back. This angle
will affect the position of the panel so that the resulting output voltage is always at maximum values.

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ICETIR 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 982 (2020) 012016 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/982/1/012016

Figure 3. Overall Drive System Mechanism Design

Figure 3 represents a mechanical merging of the whole system that has been connected with solar
panels, modules and a 23 kg servo motor. In this mechanism, both sides of the triangle can be folded
and then inserted into the iron beam at the bottom.

3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Figure 4. Testing of Angle Validation and Potentiometers.

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ICETIR 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 982 (2020) 012016 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/982/1/012016

Based on Figure 4, it can be seen that the error in an open loop drive system compared to the
results entered from the application with an angle value has an average error value of 1.94% and
compared with a potentiometer reaching an average error value of 1.4%. This error value is obtained
from the average value of the whole test.

Figure 5. Solar Panel Power Output untracking and tracking systems.

To measure the power output between a fixed and single axis PV as in Figure 5, current and
voltage measurements are taken. Figure 5 shows a slight increase in power output for the single axis
PV.

Figure 6. Statistical study of Solar Panel Power Output for untracking and tracking systems.

To investigate variations in solar panel output during the day, statistical studies have been provided
in Figure 6. In general, the distance between the various parts of the box shows the degree of spread

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ICETIR 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 982 (2020) 012016 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/982/1/012016

and slope in the data, and shows the outlier. In addition, from the bottom up, each line represents the
minimum value, the bottom quartile, the median upper quartile, and the maximum values respectively
[11]. An average power output of 17.15 Watt is obtained from the fixed system, while the single axis
system shows an average power output of 21.50 Watt. An increase of more than 25% for the single
axis systems

4. CONCLUSSION
Based on the results of testing a single axis PV drive system, the error in the open loop drive system
compared to the results entered from the application with angle values has an average error value of
1.94% and compared with a potentiometer reaching an average error value of 1.4%. This error value is
obtained from the average value of the whole test. The average power output in the fixed system
reached 17.15 Watt, while in the single axis system the average power output reached 21.50 Watt. It
can be concluded that in the single axis system the average power output has increased by more than
25% compared to the fixed system.

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