A novel design and simulation of a mechanical coordinate based photovoltaic solar tracking system

Sabir Rustemli, Zeki İlcihan, Gökhan Sahin*, Wilfried G.J.H.M. van Sark

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Various methods have been developed to increase electrical energy production gains in photovoltaic (PV) systems. These can be classified as solar tracking systems, cooling systems and methods of reducing the effect of shading. In order to maximise the PV energy yield, the PV systems must follow the sun. In this study, the effect of solar tracking systems on the energy yield gains of PV systems is investigated, and various types of solar tracking systems are discussed in detail. To ensure accuracte tracking of the postion of the sun, a new, low-cost, system has been developed that employs a global positioning system (GPS) module, compass and accelerometer. With this necessary angle information a dual-axis coordinate-based solar tracking system was designed using the Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroler with home-built control software. The system is validated by comparing it to a fixed angle system and an energy yield gain of 33–38% is found.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)753-773
Number of pages21
JournalAIMS Energy
Volume11
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • incidence angles
  • photovoltaic systems
  • solar energy
  • solar tracking systems
  • yield enhancement

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