CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW :
The world population is increasing day by day and the
demand for energy is increasing accordingly. Oil and coal as the
main source of energy nowadays, is expected to end up from the
world during the recent century which explores a serious problem
in providing the humanity with an affordable and reliable source of
energy. The need of the hour is renewable energy resources with
cheap running costs. Solar energy is considered as one of the main
energy resources in warm countries.
Fig. 1.1 Sun path at latitude of 31
In general, India has a relatively long sunny day for more than
ten months and partly cloudy sky for most of the days of the rest two
months. This makes our country, especially the desert sides in the west,
which include Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh etc. very
rich is solar energy. Many projects have been done on using photovoltaic
cells in collecting solar radiation and converting it into electrical energy
but most of these projects did not take into account the difference of the
sun angle of incidence by installing the panels in a fixed orientation
which influences very highly the solar energy collected by the panel.
As we know that the angle of inclination ranges between
-90o after sun rise and +90o before sun set passing with 0o at noon. This
makes the collected solar radiation to be 0% at sun rise and sun set and
100% at noon. This variation of solar radiations collection leads the
photovoltaic panel to lose more than 40% of the collected energy. Fig.
1.1 shows the yearly sun path at the latitude of30o. From the figure 1.1,
one can estimate the exact position of sun in every
Solar angle of incidence
Fig1. 2 Curve for the relationship between the solar radiation
and the solar angle of incidence.
Month and at any time during the day. The position is decided
by two angles in spherical coordinates; the Altitude angle which is the
angle of the sun in the vertical plane in which the sun lies, and the
Azimuth angle which represents the angle of the projected position of
the sun in the horizontal plane. These two angles will be discussed
deeply later in this document. Fig. 1.2 shows a curve for the relationship
between the solar radiation and the solar angle of incidence. This figure
shows that solar radiations falling on the solar array will be maximum
when the angle of incidence on the panel is 00 which means that the
panel is perpendicular to the sun.
1.2 SOLAR POWER IN INDIA :
In July 2009, India unveiled a US$19 billion plan to produce 20
GW (20,000MW) of solar power by 2020. Under the plan, the use of
solar-powered equipment and applications would be made compulsory
in all government buildings, as well as hospitals and hotels. On
November 18, 2009, it was reported that India was ready to launch its
National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate
Change, with plans to generate 1,000 MW of power by 2013.
India's largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants:
1. Reliance Power Pokaran Solar PV Plant, Rajasthan, 40MW 0201106 June 2011 Commissioning in March 2012
2. Adani Bitta Solar Plant, Gujarat, 40MW 02011-06 June 2011 To be
Completed December 2011
3. Moser Baer - Patan, Gujarat,30MW 02011-06 June 2011
Commissioned July 2011
4. Azure Power - Sabarkantha, Gujarat, 10MW 02011-06 June 2011
Commissioned June 2011
5. Green Infra Solar Energy Limited - Rajkot, Gujarat, 10MW 2011-1129 November 29, 2 011 Commissioned November 2011.
The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from
4 to 7 kWh/m2 with about 15002000 sunshine hours per year
(depending upon location), which is far more than current total energy
consumption. For example, assuming the efficiency of PV modules were
as low as 10%, this would still be a thousand times greater than the
domestic electricity demand projected for 2015. Gujarat government has
signed a MoU with Clinton Foundation to build the worlds largest solarpower plant in the region. The 3,000-megawatt plant near the border
between India and Pakistan would be one of four planned by the
initiative, a William J. Clinton Foundation program to
promote renewable energy. The other proposed sites are in California,
South Africa, and Australia.
1.3 AIM OF THE PROJECT :
The aim of the project is to keep the solar photovoltaic
panel perpendicular to the sun throughout the year in order to make it
more efficient. The dual axis solar photovoltaic panel takes astronomical
data as reference and the tracking system has the capability to always
point the solar array toward the sun and can be installed in various
regions with minor modifications. The vertical and horizontal motion of
the panel is obtained by taking altitude angle and azimuth angle as
reference. The mathematical simulation control of dual axis solar
tracking system ensures the point to point motion of the DC motors
while tracking the sun.
1.4 Literature Survey:
Daniel A. Pritchard had given the design, development, and evaluation
of a microcomputer-based solar tracking and control system (TACS) in
1983. It was capable of maintaining the peak power position of a
photovoltaic (PV) array by adjusting the load on the array for maximum
efficiency and changed the position of the array relative to the sun. At
large PV array system installations, inverters were used to convert the dc
electrical output to ac for power grid compatibility. Adjustment of the
inverter or load for maximum array output was one function performed
by the tracking and control system. Another important function of the
system was the tracking of the sun, often a necessity for concentrating
arrays. The TACS also minimized several other problems associated
with conventional shadow-band sun trackers such as their susceptibility
to dust and dirt that might cause drift in solar alignment. It also
minimized effects of structural war page or sag to which large arrays
might be subjected during the day. Array positioning was controlled by
Q single-board computer used with a specially designed input output
board. An orderly method of stepped movements and the finding of new
peak power points was implemented. This maximum power positioning
concept was tested using a small two-axis tracking concentrator array. A
real-time profile of the TACS activity was produced and the data
analysis showed a deviation in maximum power of less than 1% during
the day after accounting for other variations [Daniel A. Pritchard, 1983].
Ashok Kumar Saxena and V. Dutta had designed a versatile
microprocessor based controller for solar tracking in 1990 .Controller
had the capability of acquiring photovoltaic and metereological data
from a photovoltaic system and controlled the battery /load. These
features were useful in autonomous PV systems that were installed for
system control as well as monitoring in remote areas .Solar tracking was
achieved in both open loop as well as closed loop modes. The controller
was totally automatic and did not require any operator interference
unless needed [Ashok Kumar
Saxena and V.Dutta, 1990].
A. Konar and A.K. Mandal had given a microprocessor based
automatic position control scheme in 1991. They had designed for
controlling the azimuth angle of an optimally tilted photovoltaic flat type
solar panel or a cylindrical parabolic reflector to get the illuminating
surface appropriately positioned for the collection of maximum solar
irradiance. The proposed system resulted in saving of energy .It was
designed as a pseudo tracker in which step tracking scheme had been
used to keep the motor idle to save energy . The tracking system was not
constrained by the geographical location of installation of the solar panel
since it was designed for searching the MSI in the whole azimuth angle
of 360 during the locking cycle. Temporal variations in environmental
parameters caused by fog, rain etc., at a distance from the location where
panel was mounted, did not affect proper direction finding [A. Konar
and A.K Mandal, 1991]
A. Zeroual et al. had designed an automatic sun-tracker system for
optimum solar energy collection in 1997. They used electro-optical
sensors for sun finding and a microprocessor controller unit for data
processing and for control of the mechanical drive system. This system
allowed solar energy collectors to follow the sun position for optimum
efficiency. It had a modular structure which facilitates its application to
different systems without great modifications. The system had been
applied to control a water heating parabolic solar system for domestic
uses. Many parameters had been controlled for system security such as
temperature, pressure and wind velocity. The system had been tested for
a long period in variable illumination. The result showed that it operated
satisfactorily with high accuracy [A.Zeroual et al., 1997].
F. Huang et al. had designed a microcontroller based automatic sun
tracker combined with a new solar energy conversion unit in 1998 .The
automatic sun tracker was implemented with a dc motor and a dc motor
controller. The solar energy conversion unit consisted of an array of
solar panels, a step-up chopper, a single-phase inverter, an ac mains
power source and a microcontroller based control unit. High efficiency
was achieved through the automatic sun tracker and the MPP detector. In
this system, the MPP detection and the power conversion were realized
by using the same hardware circuit. In the existed MPP detectors, the
detection of the MPP was achieved by using analog computing,
comparing, and holding. In contrast to the existed ones, in the new
system, the MPP was detected by software which was embedded in a
microcontroller [F. Huang et al., 1998].
Hasan A. Yousef had given the design and Implementation of a fuzzy
logic computer controlled sun tracking system to enhance the power
output of photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels in 1999. The tracking system
was driven by two permanent magnet DC motors to provide motion of
the PV panels in two axes. A PC-based fuzzy logic control algorithm
utilizing the knowledge of the system behaviour was designed in order
to achieve the control objectives because the control of the dual axis
tracking system was not an easy task due to nonlinear dynamics and
unavailability of the model parameters. The implementation of such a
controller was realized by building an interfacing card consisting of
sensor data acquisition, motor driving circuits, signal conditioning
circuits and serial communication with the PC. The developed fuzzy
logic controller algorithm had a simple structure, in fact it was of P-type
like controller [ Hasan A. Yousef , 1999].
Chee-Yee Chong et al. had given the process architectures for track
fusion in 2000. They used the concept of multiple targets tracking
because it had shown that tracking with multiple sensors can provide
better performance than using a single sensor. One approach to multiple
targets tracking with multiple sensors was to first perform single sensor
tracking and then fused the tracks from the different sensors. Two
processing architectures for track fusion were presented: sensor to sensor
track fusion, and sensor to system track fusion. They presented different
approaches for fusing track state estimates, and compared their
performance through theoretical analysis and simulations [Chee-Yee
Chong et al., 2000].
Eftichios Koutroulis et al. had given the microcontroller based
photovoltaic maximum power point tracking control system in 2001.
Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) was used in photovoltaic (PV)
systems to maximize the photovoltaic array output power, irrespective of
the temperature and irradiation conditions and of the load electrical
characteristics. A new MPPT system had developed, consisting of a
Buck-type dc/dc converter, which was controlled by a microcontrollerbased unit. The PV array output power delivered to a load was
maximized using MPPT control systems, which consisted of a power
conditioner to interface the PV output to the load, and a control unit,
which drove the power conditioner such that it extracted the maximum
power from a PV array. It was used to directly control the dc/dc
converter, thus reducing the complexity of the system. The resulting
system had high-efficiency, lower-cost [ Eftichios Koutroulis et al. ,
2001].
Yeong Chau Kuo et al. proposed a novel maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) controller for a photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion
system in 2001. They used the slope of power versus voltage of a PV
array, the proposed MPPT controller allowed the conversion system to
track the maximum power point very rapidly. As opposed to
conventional two-stage designs, a single stage configuration was
implemented, resulted in size and weight reduction and increased
efficiency. The proposed system acted as a solar generator on sunny
days, in addition to working as an active power line conditioner on rainy
days. Finally, computer simulations and experimental results
demonstrated the superior performance of the proposed technique
[Yeong Chau Kuoet al., 2001]
Z.G. Piao et al. proposed a 150W solar tracking system in 2003. In solar
tracking system, they used DC motors, special motors like stepper
motors, servo motors, real time actuators, to operate moving parts. DC
motors were normally used to operate solar tracking system but it was
highly expensive to maintain and repair. The system was designed as the
normal line of the solar cell always moved parallel to the ray of the sun.
Designed like this one could minimize the cosign loss of the system
[Z.G. Piao et al., 2003].
A. A.Khalil et al. had presented experimental investigation of a sun
tracking system in 2004. This Tracking system tried to collect the largest
amount of solar radiation and converted it into usable form of electrical
energy (DC voltage) and stored this energy into batteries for different
types of applications. The sun tracking systems could collect more
energy than what a fixed panel system collected. Therefore, the
proposed system was easy to implement and efficient. The sun tracking
system was an efficient system for solar energy collection [A.A. Khalil
et al., 2004].
S. Armstrong et al. had investigated the effectiveness of maximum
power point tracking (MPPT) and proposed a quantitative measure of
MPPT efficiency in 2005. Used a vector methodology to track the
direction and path of the sun throughout the day, the optimal solar
tracking angle and angle of incidence of the suns rays were derived. The
solar arrays output power was monitored, under sunny sky conditions,
with and without the use of maximum power point tracking in order to
study the difference in efficiencies and to quantify the benefits of
maximum power point tracking. He presented results for the efficiency
of MPPT under fixed horizontal solar panel conditions and optimal solar
tracking. It had been shown that solar panel east-west tracking combined
with maximum power point tracking provided optimum amount of
available energy at any time [S. Armstrong et al., 2005]
S. Shanmugam et al. had given the tracking of the sun for solar
paraboloidal dish concentrators in 2005. Paraboloidal dish concentrators
need tracking the sun in the east-west and north-south direction
continuously throughout the year but they explained the method of
intermittent tracking of the sun in the north-south direction
with no tracking in the east-west direction for less energy yield. The
frequency of tracking in the north-south direction was determined by the
relationship between the variation in solar altitude angle and the size of
the absorber in the paraboloidal dish concentrator. A computer program
in visual basic was written to enable the detailed calculations of data for
the analysis [S.Shanmugam et al., 2005].
Ross McCluney et al. presented a new approach to beam day lighting
with an active tracking system in 2006 which was capable of
illuminating a 1000 square foot area with no glare or localized
overheating and with relatively uniform illumination over the course of
most of the daylight hours in the day. For good performance at low solar
elevation angles, a one-axis tracking system was employed, along with a
patentpending optical system to accommodate changes in solar elevation
throughout the day. The design included a glazed collection head on the
roof, which redirected incident beam sunlight downward into a reflective
light shaft through the ceiling below. A ceiling luminaire distributed this
light flux across a diffusely-reflecting white ceiling and into the space
below that [Ross McCluney et al., 2006].
Cemil Sungur had given the electromechanical control system of a
photovoltaic (PV) panel tracking the sun on the axis it moved along
according to its azimuth angle in 2007. In this system, Programmable
Logic Controls (PLC) was used instead of photosensors which were
widely used for tracking the sun. The azimuth angle of the sun from
sunrise to sunset times was calculated for each day of the year at 37.6
degrees latitude in the Northern hemisphere, the location of the city
where the experiment was conducted. According to this azimuth angle,
the required analog signal was taken from the PLC analog module and
sent to the actuator motor, which controlled the position of the panel to
ensure that the rays fell vertically on the panel. After the mechanical
control system of the system was started, the performance measurements
of the solar panel were carried out. For this, the necessary measurements
were implemented when the solar panel was in a fixed position.
Afterwards, the panel was moved on a single axis according to the
azimuth angle and the necessary measurements were performed. The
values obtained from the measurements were compared and the
necessary evaluations were conducted [Cemil Sungur, 2007].
Omar Aliman et al. proposed different technique of sun tracking
method which was explored to make the construction of the sun tracking
with many element mirrors cost effective while maintained a precise sun
tracking in 2007. In this new technique, they introduced a new rotational
axis to the sun tracking frame, the slave mirrors of the same column or
the same row could be arranged to share the same driving device. As it
applied a single stage collector replaced conventional double stages
structure, the new technique had significantly benefits use in high
temperature and high concentration solar energy applications.
Meanwhile, the stationary or fixed target (receiver) offered more
convenient working environment for various applications. Large and
heavy solar powered Stirling Engine could be placed at the stationary
location. On the other hand, advantage offered by the new technique, the
optical alignment was reasonably easier and less time consuming [Omar
Aliman et al., 2007].
1.5 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT:
By using this project we can improve the efficiency of solar
tracking system. In this system the solar panel will turn according to the
sun rotation. The system focuses on the controller design where the
system is able to track the maximum intensity of Sunlight. When the
intensity of Sunlight is decreasing, this system automatically changes its
direction to get maximum intensity of Sunlight. LDR light detector acts
as a sensor is used to trace the coordinate of the Sunlight by detecting
brightness level of Sunlight. While to rotate the appropriate position of
the panel, a DC motor is used. The system is controlled by a
microcontroller as a main processor. So by using DC motor we rotate the
solar panel. Whenever the radiation of the sun falls on the solar panel it
grasps the radiation and stores in it and it will send the message to the
controller about its power. Microcontroller will receive this information
and display on LCD. From the hardware testing, the system is able to
track and follow the Sunlight intensity in order to get maximum solar
power at the output. This project is designed with solar panels, LDR,
Microcontrollers, Stepper motors and its driving circuit.
1.5.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM :
Fig 1.3 Block diagram
The main objective of this project is to control the position of solar
panel in accordance with the sun using dual axis tracking system. The
power supply is given to the system with 12V Battery. This project is
designed with AT89S52 MCU. Depending upon the light falls on LDRs
the data will be read by the Microcontroller and the direction of the
motor will be changed. Four LDRs are used to design four LDR sensors.
Two sensors for the movement of solar panel in north-south direction
and two sensors for the movement of solar panel in east-west direction.
Two DC motors are used for the movement of solar panel which are
driven by the L293D motor driver circuit. One motor for the movement
of solar pane in vertical direction and one motor for the movement of
solar panel in horizontal direction. With this direction the Solar panel
which is fixed to the stand will also rotates to gain the maximum sun
rays.
1.5.2 INTERFACES AND COMPONENTS USED:
S.N
o
1.
Components
Quantity
Micro controller
motor driver
board
with
2.
AT 89S52 ICs
3.
L293D ICs
4.
10 RPM DC Motors
5.
12 V Solar Panel
6.
12 V Battery
7.
LDRs ( BIG )
8.
BC 547
9.
10K Resistors
10.
555 Timers
Software Used
: Keil Software
Operating System
: Windows
1.5.4 EXPLANATION OF EACH BLOCK
LDR SENSORS USING 555 TIMER
To track the sunlight, it is necessary to sense the position of the Sun and
for that an electro-optical sensor is needed. The proposed Sun tracker
uses the electro-optical sensor for self-calibration. A LDR or photo
resistor is a variable resistor whose electrical resistance depends on the
intensity of the light falling on it. The LDR resistance decreases with
incident light intensity increasing. In this project the circuit used is LDR
light sensor circuit which detects the amount of light intensity decreases
per unit time.
Fig 1.4: Light Dependent Resistor
4 LDR light sensor circuits are implemented in this project to sense the
direction of solar panel. 555 timer is used in designing the dark sensor
circuit. It is more effective than normal analog circuit. The circuit is
shown below.
Fig 1.5: LDR Light sensor circuit using 555 timer
L293D Motor Driver :
The L293D works on the concept of typical H-bridge, a circuit
which allows the high voltage to be flown in either direction. In a
single L293D IC there are two H-bridge circuits which can rotate
two DC motors independently. Due to its size and voltage
requirement, it is frequently used in robotics applications for
controlling DC motors, including in Arduino projects. The L293D
is also a key component in larger 'motor driver' boards available
premade for hobbyists.
PIN DIAGRAM:
Fig 1.6: Pin diagram of L293D
Features:
Easily compatible with any of the system
External Power supply pin for Motors supported
Onboard PW0M (Pulse Width Modulation) selection switch
2pin Terminal Block (Phoenix Connectors) for easy Motors
Connection
Onboard H-Bridge base Motor Driver IC (L293D)
AT 89S52 IC :
The Atmel AT89 series is an Intel 8051-compatible family of 8
bit microcontrollers (Cs)
manufactured
by
the Atmel
Corporation.
Based on the Intel 8051 core, the AT89 series remains very popular
as general purpose microcontrollers, due to their industry standard
instruction set, and low unit cost. This allows a great amount of
legacy code to be reused without modification in new applications.
While considerably less powerful than the newer AT90 series
of AVR RISC microcontrollers, new product development has
continued with the AT89 series for the aforementioned advantages.
FEATURES:
8K Bytes of In-System Programmable
4.0V to 5.5V Operating Range
Fully Static Operation: 0 Hz to 33 MHz
Three-level Program Memory Lock
256 x 8-bit Internal RAM
32 Programmable I/O Lines
Three 16-bit Timer/Counters
Eight Interrupt Sources
Full Duplex UART Serial Channel
Low-power Idle and Power-down Modes
Watchdog Timer
Dual Data Pointer
Power-off Flag
Fig 1.7 : AT89S52 MICRO CONTROLLER
DC MOTORS :
In this chapter two 12V DC motors are used to control the movement
of the solar panel.
The main principle of DC Motor is when a current carrying
conductor is placed in a magnetic field, it experiences a torque and
has a tendency to move
.
Fig 1.8: DC Motor
Direction of rotation of this motor is given by Flemings Left hand
rule.
12 V DC supply
10 rotations per minute
SOLAR PANEL :
Solar Panel works on the principle of photo voltaic effect
It consists of PV cells or solar cells.
The PV cell converts the sunlight directly into direct current (DC)
electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
It is combination of small cells called solar cells. Group of cells is
called module and set of modules combine to form a solar panel. It
is shown in below figure.
Fig 1.9: Solar
Panel
