The generation of power from the reduction of fossil fuels is the biggest challenge for the next half century. The idea of converting solar energy into electrical energy using photovoltaic panels holds its place in the front row compared to other renewable sources. But the continuous change in the relative angle of the sun with reference to the earth reduces the watts delivered by solar panel. In this context solar tracking system is the best alternative to increase the efficiency of the photovoltaic panel. Solar trackers move the payload towards the sun throughout the day. In this paper different types of tracking systems are reviewed and their pros and cons are discussed in detail. The results presented in this review confirm that the azimuth and altitude dual axis tracking system is more efficient compared to other tracking systems. However in cost and flexibility point of view single axis tracking system is more feasible than dual axis tracking system.
The two influencing factors of power output are intensity and wave length of sun light were addressed in detail. The results concluded that the efficiency is drastically more compared to fixed panel and the total cost of the tracker is very low. Bakos (2013) implemented a two-axis sun tracking system for parabolic trough collector efficiency improvement. Parabolic trough is used with two axis rotation to the sun. The results conclude that parabolic collector is increasing the energy than flat collector. Rodiek, julie, and steve (2010) conducted solar photovoltaic array tilt angle and tracking performance experiment. Advanced software models were developed to calculate the change of path by the sun throughout the year and to predict the optimum angle for the single axis tracker to obtain maximum energy output for the entire year. Two modelling programs were discussed to predict the optimal angle. For t
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One more panel was a fixed control panel facing south at latitude tilt. The results were taken for one year and they conclude that a higher tilted panel (50) will produce more power throughout the year compared to modelling from PV Watts that suggests a 32 tilt.
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4.3. Based on driver 4.3.1. Active tracker 4.3.1.1. Microcontroller and electro-optical sensor based solar tracker. Ray et al. (2012) presented two ways of rotating freedom solar tracker by using microcontroller. The work included the design of a two ways rotating freedom solar tracker INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING Figure 7. Dual axis solar tracker. Figure 8. Position of PV modules in the forenoon and afternoon.
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The microcontroller PIC16F72 was used to activate the motors to get two ways rotation. Light detection sensors were used to get the information about sun radiation. The results were compared with conventional solar tracker without microcontroller and also with fixed panels. The difference was almost 37% between fixed panel and tracking system with microcontroller. Tous, Badran, and AlMofleh (2012) studied the thermal evaluation of a sun tracking solar cooker using microcontroller. The work contained the implementation of tracking system developed for getting the solar heating using solar cooker. A microcontroller was used for rotating the solar heater with the movement of the sun. Programmable logic control system was used as control system. A comparison between fixed and sun tracked cooker showed that the use of sun tracking increased the heating temperature by 36%. Ghassoul (2013) proposed design of an automatic solar tracking system to maximise energy ext
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