SOLAR TRACKING SYSTEM USING

A
3 DIMENSIONAL CONTROL UNIT

PROJECT MEMBERS:

Ashutosh Mohanty(120101022)
Subham Hazra(120101077)
Sourav Kumar Dey(120101074)
Joydeep Sarkar(120101034)
Suprakash Ghosh(130201108)
Anasua Das(120101009)
Puja Roy(120101050)
Neha Das(120101044)

Project Mentor:
Prof. Suparna
Pal

BRIEF HISTORY OF PV CELLS:

In 1839 Alexandre Becquerel observed the photovoltaic effect
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz discovers the photovoltaic effect
In 1888 Edward Weston receives patent Solar Cell
In 1918 Robert Milikan conducts and proves photoelectric effect
In 1950 Bell Labs produce solar cells for space activities
In 1960 Hoffman Electronics creates a 14% efficient solar cell
In 1978 first solar powered calculators came into the market
In 1985-20% efficient silicon cells are created by the centre of
photovoltaic engineering at University of New South Wales
In 1999 total worldwide power generation reaches 1000 MW

CONSTRUCTION OF PV PANELS:
1. A solar panel is constituted of a number of solar cells
2. Each cell in a panel consists of two wafers of two wafers of
doped silicon (p type and n type) to form a p-n junction
3. Several of these solar cells will be wired together as a
module and protected from weather to create a panel
4. A 24 Volt panel may have 12 Solar cells within it wired in
series.
5. The solar cells sit on tough backing plate, while nonreflective layer to increase light absorption. Silicon in
naturally reflective.
6. Shown below is a constructional detail of PV cell.

PROJECT

OVERVIEW

The entire project can be brodly subdivided into :

1) Generation portion
2) Transmission portion be broadly classified into two
parts:
1. Generation Part
2. Transmission Part

Dual Axis Tracker:

Dual axis trackers have two degrees of
freedom that act as axes of rotation. These
axes are typically normal to one another.
Dual axis trackers allow for optimum solar
energy levels due to their ability to follow
the sun vertically and horizontally.
Here we have divide sun position into five
areas and those are EAST, WEST, NORTH,
SOUTH, CENTER.

STEPPER MOTOR:
It

is a brushless synchronous motor.

It can drive one rotation in many steps.
It has multiple toothed electromagnets.

Arduino Board
Arduino is a development
platform for the purpose of
programing AVR
microcontrollers.
Arduino board is used to
program 28 pin DIP
ATMEGA168 IC.
Here we are using 16MHz
crystal for operating frequency.

3 Dimensional Sensor

What is 3-D sensor !!

It is a geometrically arranged sensors
which covers the entire spectrum of
surroundings.
It consists of 15 sensors, thus a
Machines Eye.
Designed Sensor can be universally
applied to any Solar panel systems
around the world.
Simplistic design makes it robust.
This is our Innovation and never

Schematic side-view of sensor

The 3-D Sensor contains LDR sensors .
Sensors are arranged in logical way to capture
the position of Sun.
False triggering of Sensors are minimized.

How it Works

Sun at East Horizon

Sun at its maximum Zenith

Sun at west Horizon

 Now this simple logic can be equally

applied to 15 sensors.
Then this value can be used to map the
entire azimuth of Sun over the
hemisphere.

The 3 D Sensor will react as..

Sun at East Horizon

Sun at its maximum zenith

Sun at west Horizon

LIGHT DEPENDENT
RESISTORS(LDR)

DEFINITION:

Light Dependent Resistors (LDR) are also called photoresistors.

They are made of high resistance semiconductor material. When
light hits the device, the photons give electrons energy. This
makes them jump into the conductive band and thereby conduct
electricity.

WORKING PRINCIPLE: A light dependent resistor works on the principle of photo

conductivity. Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which
the materials conductivity (Hence resistivity) reduces when light is
absorbed by the material
When light falls i.e. when the photons fall on the device, the
electrons in the valence band of the semiconductor material are
excited to the conduction band. These photons in the incident light
should have energy greater than the band gap of the
semiconductor material to make the electrons jump from the
valence band to the conduction band. Hence when light having
enough energy is incident on the device more & more electrons are
excited to the conduction band which results in large number of
charge carriers. The result of this process is more and more current
starts flowing and hence it is said that the resistance of the device
has decreased.This is the most common working principle of
LDR.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:-

Characteristics of LDR

APPLICATION
LDR Based light Intensity Control for Street Lights
In the proposed system, generally the lighting up of highways is done through
HID lamps. Because, the energy consumption of these lamps is high. This
project uses an LEDs to overcome the drawbacks of HID lamps. This project
demonstrates the usage of light emitting diodes as a light source. These lights
consumes low power and its life is more as compared to HID lamps.A light
depending resistor is used to detect the light. The resistance of the LDR
drastically reduces according to the daylight.
Security System Controlled by An Electronic Eye
This security system controlled by an electronic eye project is based on photo
sensing arrangement. The proposed system uses a 14-stage ripple carry binary
counter to sense the intensity of light using LDR. The o/p makes a relay and
buzzer for the required action. This project is very useful to deter burglars from
shopping malls, banks and jewelry shops, etc.
This project uses a light dependent resistor. When light falls on the LDR sensor,
then the resistance of the sensor decreases, which lead to activate an alarm to
give an alert to the user. This project is suitable in the application of providing
security system for lockers, cash boxes which can be found in the banks,
shopping malls, jewel shops.

WHY BATTERY
CHARGING FROM
SOLAR PANELS IS
REQUIRED ?
The strength of sunlight is not constant throughout the day.
The availability of electrical power is must even if the sun is not there.

CHARGE STORAGE METHOD IN BATTERIES IN

SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM BECOMES A MUST

CHANNELIZE AND STORE SOLAR

POWER INTO BATTERIES FOR ALL
TIME AVAILABILITY OF ELECTRIC
POWER

The process is shown by a BLOCK DIAGRAM

MAIN COMPONENTS REQUIRED TO STORE

PHOTOVOLTAIC DC OUTPUT INTO BATTERIES
SOLAR PANEL (PV CELL)
CHARGE CONTROLLER
INVERTER
BATTERY

STEPS TO CHARGE BATTERY FROM PV CELL :

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

LOAD CALCULATION IN WATT HOURS

BATTERY SELECTION DEPENDING ON EFFICIENCY AND RATING
SELECTION OF SOLAR PANEL
VOLTAGE CHARGE CONTROLLER SELECTION
INVERTER SELECTION AND RATING
MOUNTING OF SOLAR PANEL
SERIES AND PARALLEL CONNECTION
WIRING

VOLTAGE CHARGE CONTROLLER

A solar charge controller is a device which is placed
between a solar panel and a battery.
It regulates the voltage and current coming from your
solar panels. It is used to maintain the proper charging
voltage on the batteries. As the input voltage from the
solar panel rises, the charge controller regulates the
charge to the batteries preventing any over charging.
Usually, the solar power systems uses 12 volt batteries
This allows the solar power system to operate optimally at
all times.

Types of Charge Controllers:

ON OFF
PWM
MPPT
Try to avoid the ON/OFF charge controller as it is the least
efficient.
MPPT has the highest efficiency but it is also costly.

BATTERY SELECTION
Rating of Battery:
Batteries capacity are rated in term of Ampere Hour.
Power = Voltage X Current
Watt Hour = Voltage (Volts) x Current (Amperes) x Time
(Hours)
Battery Voltage = 12V ( as our system is 12V)
Battery capacity = Load / Voltage = 365/12 = 30.42 Ah
But batteries are not 100% efficient, assuming 80% efficiency
Capacity = 30.42/0.8 = 38.02 Ah
By taking some margin you can select a 40Ah deep cycle lead
acid battery.
TWO TYPES OF BATTERY MAINLY USED FOR THIS PURPOSE:
.
LITHIUM-ION
BATTERY
NiCd BATTERY (NICKEL-CADMIUM)

NICKEL CADMIUM BATTERY

Advantages
Less expensive
Higher cycle durability (the
number of times It can be
charged and discharged before
it dies completely)
Disadvantages
Can suffer from "memory
effect"
Cannot be recharged as often
as Li-Ion
Can deteriorate over time
Heavy & bulky

LITHIUM - ION BATTERY

Advantages
Longer battery life
Can be charged at any time
Does not suffer from "memory effect"
(an issue that causes NiCad batteries to
hold less of a charge over time)
Requires little if any maintenance
Can operate without damage at a wider
temperature range
Are often smaller and more compact
Shorter charging times
Disadvantages
May become damaged if stored without
charge
Up to 40% more expensive than NiCad
Lithium ion has an ergonomic advantage
over the other battery chemistries. But
what about performance and durability?

Inverters and solar inverters

An inverter is an electrical circuit capable of turning DC power
into AC power, while at the same time regulating the voltage,
current, and frequency of the signal.
A solar inverter or PV inverter converts the variable DC output
of PV solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current that
can be fed to the electrical grid or used by local off grid electric
network.
Why the inverters are needed
in solar tracking system?
1. Most solar panels provide
12V DC power.
2. Household devices use 120V AC
power.
3. Necessary for a grid tie in system.

Types of inverters
Power inverters can be classified into several groups.
Among them most commonly used are follows:
1.According to phases:
a.Single phase inverter
b.Three phase inverter
2. According to sources:
a. Voltage source inverter(VSI)
b. Current source inverter(CSI)
3.According to the output waveform:
a. Half wave inverter
b. Full wave inverter(Bridge inverter , push-pull inverter)

There are series inverter , parallel inverters , pulsewidth modulated inverter and so on.

Some circuit diagram of inverters

1. Full-bridge Inverters:

+400V D C Bus

A C L in e _ 1
Q3

Q5
L2
C3
A C L in e _ 2

PWM4

DRIVER

Q4

PWM3

DRIVER

Q6

0V D C Bus

2. Push-pull Inverter:

T1

D1

+400V D C Bus
L1

PWM1
Q1

C 1
+

C 2

PWM2

Q2
0V D C Bus

0 V D C In
+ 3 6 V D C In

D2

Types of solar inverters

Solar inverters may be classified into about three categories:
1. STAND ALONE INVERTERS:
.Used in isolated system.
.Draws the DC energy from batteries charged by PV arrays.
.Do not interface with any grid.
2. BATTERY BACKUP INVERTERS:
.Draw energy from battery and export excess energy to
utility grid.
.Capable for supplying energy to load
3. GRID-TIE INVERTERS:
.designed to shut down automatically upon loss of utility
supply.
.Match the phase with utility supplied sine wave.
.Do not provide back-up power during utility outage.

A DC-AC/DC power inverter is a circuit which

modifies an input varying or non-varying direct
current (DC) to an alternating current (AC) of a
specified voltage and frequency, and a
regulated
DC voltage. In the case of this project, the input
DC voltage source will be a battery, which is
being
supplied by photovoltaic (PV) panels. As such,
the DC voltage will likely be
inconsistent, and considerations will need to be
made in order to produce the desired output.
This
desired AC output is a 120Vrms, 50Hz pure sine
wave, or what would be seen out of a standard
13
US wall socket. The desired DC output is a 12V
regulated. This will allow the system to output
power which is usable by any load.

Solar Panel Regulation Data

During the research portion of the project we
recorded measurements of the solar panels
voltage
and current output with the solar panels loaded
with different resistances. These measurements
provided data to graph the panels power curve
showing that the panels output a relatively linear
current drop from 4.25-3.25A from 1-16V voltage
range, then the current drops from 3.25-0.5A
from 16-23V. This gave us a power curve
relationship that was graphed to show where the
knee
point that can determine the maximum power we
can harvest from the solar panel array

Solar Panel Regulation Data

During the research portion of the project we
recorded measurements of the solar panels
voltage
and current output with the solar panels loaded
with different resistances. These measurements
provided data to graph the panels power curve
showing that the panels output a relatively linear
current drop from 4.25-3.25A from 1-16V voltage
range, then the current drops from 3.25-0.5A
from 16-23V. This gave us a power curve
relationship that was graphed to show where the
knee
point that can determine the maximum power we
can harvest from the solar panel array

The only input to the inverter

subsystem is from the battery.
The battery
is being charged from the PV
panels through the charging
subsystem.
The inverter will receive DC
power from the battery, and
convert it to usable DC and
AC outputs.

National Grid
The Power generated
from Solar Panels is
ultimately fed to the
Grid.
Voltage and
frequency is
maintained constant
using PWM Inverter.
Thus providing a
Renewable source of
Energy.

PROS AND CONS:

PROS:1) A single sensor unit enables circuit
simplification
2) New Design never been implemented
before.
3) Efficient tracking of Solar Panel enables
maximum solar reception.
4) Universal Sensor can be plugged in to
any Solar Panel system.
CONS:
1. Entire system involves Control, Power,
Mechanical , Electrical and Electronics
components. Thus requires greater
Technical knowhow.

THANK
YOU