Development of an automatic solar heat tracking parabolic

heliostat panel system

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Nahin Bahar Chowdhury, 2Bikash Kumar Bhawmick, 3Mohammed Liaket Ali,
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Prof. Dr. Md. MahbubulAlam

Abstract: Solar power is the flow of energy from the sun. It is one of the
effective forms of renewable energy. The primary form of solar energy are
heatand heat. Solar cells, referred to as photovoltaic cells, are devices or
banks of devices that use the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors to
produce electricity from sunlight. The solar tracking system is generally
used in drastically changing environments in the tropical countries like
Bangladesh. Due to this types of environment, solar panel doesn’t always
get the absorbable maximum sunlight without any kind of automations
system. It also reduces the power generation capacity of the solar panel.
The purpose of this project is to automation of a parabolic solar tracker
system which changes the angle of 36° in multi dimension and different
time depending on sunlight by using sensors(LDR) to produce sufficient
electricity and reduce the power crisis of our country.

Field of Interest: Mechatronics, Renewable Energy, Fluid mechanics.

1. Introduction

A solar tracker is a kind of device that directs a payload towards the sun. Here payloads can be
lenses or other optical devices, reflectors, photovoltaic panels. In case of flat panel
photovoltaic, the main objective of the trackers is the minimization of the angle of incidence
between thephotovoltaic paneland the incoming sunlight.
For a flat-panel solar collector the effective area of collection changes with the cosine of the
misaligned panel with the sunlight. Sunlight has two main components, one is the "direct beam"
which carries approximately 90% of the solar energy, and the other is the "diffuse sunlight"
thatcarries the remainder.As the direct beam contains majority of the solar energy that’s whyfor
the maximization of collection,the panels are required to be exposed to the sun as long as
possible.The collectors that cannot move are not suitable because of the complicated motion of
the sun across the sky, and the degree of accuracy required to be correctly aimed at the sun's
rays onto the target. A heliostat mirror is usually mechanized with a dual axis tracking system,
where at least one axis is mechanized. Mirrors may be flat or concave according to the
applications.Trackers can be classified with respect to the number and orientation of the
tracker's axes. In comparison with a fixed solar panel, a single axis tracker enhances total
annual output by approximately 30%, and a dual axis tracker enhances an additional 6%.
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Nahin Bahar Chowdhury, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Email-nahin.me@gmail.com
Bikash Kumar Bhawmick,Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Email-anjan.13@outlook.com
Mohammed Liaket Ali. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Email-mohammedliaketcuet10@gmail.com
Prof. Dr. Md. MahbubulAlam, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Email-malam@cuet.ac.bd
1,2,3,4
Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.
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Photovoltaic trackers can be grouped into two types:concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) trackers
and standard photovoltaic (PV) trackers.
As a developing country Bangladesh has many problems, Power crisis is one of them.The
development of a country depends on electricity. There are two types of power plants. One
type is thermal power plant and another is hydroelectric power plant at Kaptai in Chittagong.
This power plant cannot provide sufficient amount of electricity. In thermal power plants we use
coal to produce electricity but the cost is very high. Our primary fuel is gas. But the stocks of
them are limited. Installation cost of a nuclear power plant is also very high that we can’t afford.
So we should think about an alternate fuel such as renewable energy. The form of renewable
energy is water, wind, geothermal and biomass. Using the renewable energy to produce heat
or electricity is not a new idea. Solar tracking is necessary for most of the solar systems to
collect maximum amount solar radiation. Concentrators need a higher degree of accuracy to
ensure that the reflected sunlight is directed towards the absorber, which is at the focal point of
the reflector. Sun tracker can help to increase overall efficiency of a solar installation by over
40%. Usually the automated solar tracker systems increases power generation to a limit when
this automation is applied to a concentrated system it leads the system to a great efficiency
which made us to do this. We tried to utilize the local stuffs to automate a solar panel
systemwith an increase in power generation in minimal cost so that local people can
have it as per requirment in a low margin price rate.

Comments:

• Motivation or reasons behind the study provided (Mention that there was no study like this and
no body or no author has carried out research on this issue)
• Provide a statement explaining that the research findings are different from previous studies .Sate
the significance or contribution of your findings
• Describe how the paper was organized ( state which section deals with what aspect. For example
section 1 focus on ‘Introduction’ section 2 ..)

2. Literature Review

The Swiss scientist Horace de Saussure is credited with inventing the world’s first solar
collector or “solar hot box” (1767). The photovoltaic effect was first discovered by French
physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel (1839). The French scientist Augustin Mouchot made
his solar engine (1861). At that time, the primary uses of solar technologies ranged from
cooking food and distilled water to pumping water for irrigation.
William Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day discovered that electricity is produced when
selenium is exposed to light (1876). In the United States, Clarence Kemp was considered as
the father of solar energy. He patented the world’s first solar water heater (1891). His invention
was marketed then in the California, where in 1897 it became so popularthat about 30 percent
of the houses in Pasade used that water heater. However in Charles Fritts built world’s first
solar cell and coated the semiconductor selenium (1883). An extremely thin layer of gold is
used for coating to create the junctions. Albert Einstein wins the Nobelprize for his theories

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explaining the photoelectric effect. Modern solar cell was patented by Russell Ohlin the year
1946 (U.S. patent 2,402,662, “Light sensitive device”).
The sensitivity of an accurately prepared silicon wafer to sunlight, and the “solar cell” was
developed. In the late 1950s, U.S. space satellites used PV cells as power source, and they
continue to be the prime power source for both manned and unmanned space projects today.

Comments: Provide year of publication , instead of writing ‘in the year. For example, William
Grylls Adams and Richard Evans Day (1876). If the year of publication is different, then write
the year. Provide more references from Google Scholar.

3. Research Methodology

The sun is a prime source of renewable energy that emits energy as electromagnetic radiation
from the center of the solar system at an extremely large and relatively constant rate, 24 hours
per day of the year. This emitted radiation is captured by the solar panel and converted into
energy.For utilizing maximum sunlight it is necessary to determine the power loss. Most of the
power loss is due to misalignment of the solar panel.The energy that comes by the direct beam
decreases with the cosine of the angle between the panel and the incoming light. But the angle
of incidence that is up to around 50°, the reflectance is said to be constant, below it reflectance
decreases rapidly.

Table 01: Power loss(%) due to misalignment (angle i)

i Lost = 1 - cos(i) i Hours Lost

00 0% 150 1 3.4%

10 0.015% 300 2 13.4%

30 0.14% 450 3 30%

80 1% 600 4 >50%

23.40 8.3% 750 5 >75%

A tracker with an accuracy of ± 5° can deliver more than 99.6% of the energy produced by the
direct beam and add 100% of the diffused light. The sun travels through 360 degreeseast to
west per day, but we can see 180 degrees during a half day from a fixed reference location.
Local horizon makes the effective motion about 150 degrees. A fixed solar panel thus
according to the table above, will lose 75% of the energy in the morning and evening. Some
losses can be recovered by the rotating panels to the east and west. The sun also moves
through around 46 degrees south and north with a year. If the panels set at the midpoint
between the two poles it will see the sun moving 23 degrees on either side and it will cause
losses of 8.3%. A tracker that accounts for both the daily and seasonal motions is known as a
dual axis tracker.On one day every year the sun is comes above our planet's equator. On this
day, the angle between a line that points to the sun and a line that points straight up exactly
matches the latitude of the place. At this position in the middle of the day the sun will be at 0º
from the vertical. At 40º of the equinox the sun will be 40º to the south from the vertical. The
sun's position on the equinox is the average location of the sun throughout the year. In the

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summer, the sun appears higher in the sky and increases the duration of sunlight seen in a
day. But in the winter it appears lower and decreases the length of sunlight. The sun is 23.45º
higher than on the equinox, or at 40 - 23.45 = 16.55º to the south of vertical at summer. In
winter the sun is 23.45º lower than on the equinox, or at 40 + 23.45 = 63.45º to the south of
vertical. In northern hemisphere at latitude higher than 23.45º the sun will never shine from the
north at solar noon

Figure 01: Solar angles used in power calculations for PV panels

4. System Design and Fabrication

Five light-dependent-resistors (LDR) are placed on each side of a parabolic designed paper to
track the sun. In a way that when the panel is directly facing the sun, they will be getting equal
amounts of light. I put each LDR at 30 degrees from the solar panel. In theory, when identical
LDRs get the same amount of light, the temperature of the water is increased which measured
by a temperature measuring sensor and is shown in the display. On the other hand, another
temperature measuring sensor measures the normal temperature of water which is also shown
in the display. The differences between the two temperatures are the resulting output of solar
tracker automation. In the very beginning of the day, the sun light detects by the first light-
depending-resistor. After the rotation of 30 degree angles of the sun the light is detects by the 2
no LDR of the model and the servo motor rotates the parabolic tracker at that fixed angle .

A. Sensor Unit

In our project we used 5 light dependent resistors (LDR).The outputs of these LDRs are fed to
the op-amps (operational amplifier). The signals given by the LDRs are very random and this
fluctuating output is not desirable. That’s why op-amps are used to stabilize the signal and to
make the analogue signal into digital.Here LDRs are used for the purpose of following the sun’s
motion. This Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) has a resistance which varies according to the
amount of light falling on its surface.The temperature of the water in the vessel will increase
only when identical sensors get equal amounts of light.

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 Figure 02: Sensor Unit

B. Temperature sensing unit

Two LM35 temperature sensors are used. One is used to measure the temperature of normal
water and the other is temperature of the heated water by the PV panel. Lm35 can measure
temperature more precisely than a thermistor. It is a sealed circuit so no question of oxidation.
It produces a higher output voltage compared with thermocouples and don’t required an
additional voltage amplifier. This temperatures are shown in the LCD screen .

Figure 03: Temperature sensing unit

C. Motor control unit

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Two servo motors are used in our prototype project. This motor is controlled by a PIC16F73.
Input signals are fed by the Op-amps. Initially first LDR detects the sunlight and when the
second LDR detects the sunlight that means sun is moved by an angle 30 degree as all the
LDRs are positioned in a 30 degree spaced pattern. This signal is supplied to the
microcontroller and it will rotate the servo motor by a 30 degree angle. That means solar panel
will be faced towards the sun.

Figure 04: Motor control unit

5. Overall Setup

In these systems circuits with operational amplifier, voltage comparator, light dependent
resistor are used to generate pulses, which are fed to a DC motor for tracking of solar PV
panel. DC motors are coupled with gears (Servo motors) for Tracking PV panel.

Figure 05: Setup of parabolic solar tracker

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6. Data collection

Table 02: Output of photovoltaic panel

Time of Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

the day
Temperature Temperature Temperature Temperature Temperature Temperature
without solar with solar without solar with solar without solar with solar
tracker (°C) tracker (°C) tracker (°C) tracker (°C) tracker (°C) tracker (°C)
10.00 AM 24 26 23 24.5 23 24.5
11.00 AM 25 33 24 31 24 31
12.00 PM 28 39 26 34 26 34
1:00 PM 29.06 46.94 28 36 28 36
2.00 PM 29.29 45.56 29 42.5 29 42.5
3.00 PM 29 46 29.33 44 29.33 44
4.00 PM 28 44 27 43 27 43

The table 7.1 shows that, the temperature of the solar tracker at different times of 3 days. It
refers that, temperature with solar tracker is high than without tracker.

7. Results

The recorder temperatures of the water for 3 days are plotted against time in the graphs. Those
data are taken in two steps. Once with solar tracker and another time without solar tracker.

50

45

40

35
Temperature(°C)

30

25
Temperature
without solar
20 tracker (°C)

15

10 Temperature
with solar
5 tracker (°C)

0
10.00 AM 11.00 AM 12.00 PM 1:00 PM 2.00 PM 3.00 PM 4.00 PM
Time (hours)

Figure 06: Temperature Vs Time curve (with and without tracker) of day-1.

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 50

45

40

35
Temperature(°C)

30 Temperature
without solar
25 tracker (°C)

20
Temperature
15 with solar
tracker (°C)
10

0
10.00 AM 11.00 AM 12.00 PM 1:00 PM 2.00 PM 3.00 PM 4.00 PM
Time (hours)

Figure 07: Temperature Vs Time curve (with and without tracker) of day-2.

50

45

40

35

30
Temperature(°C)

Temperature
without solar
25 tracker (°C)

20
Temperature
with solar
15 tracker (°C)

10

0
10.00 AM 11.00 AM 12.00 PM 1:00 PM 2.00 PM 3.00 PM 4.00 PM
Time (hours)

Figure 08: Temperature Vs Time curve (with and without tracker) of day-3 .

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Efficiency calculation:

Table 03: Voltage and current output the solar panel

Time of the Without Solar tracker With Solar Tracker Power
day Voltage(V) Current(A) Voltage(V) Current(A) Fixed Tracker
10.00 16.50 .57 16.81 .72 9.41 12.11
11.00 16.65 .61 16.95 .77 10.16 13.10
12.00 16.40 .65 17.10 ,81 10.66 13.86
1.00 16.50 .75 16.84 .79 12.55 13.40
2.00 16.70 .76 16.20 .82 12.70 13.30
3.00 16.23 .63 16.75 .93 10.33 15.57
4.00 16.12 .62 16.50 .88 9.86 14.52

Power calculation, P=V × I Total power consumption by the solar cell without tracker is , P f = 75.67
W.

Total power consumption by the solar cell with tracker is, P t = 95.86 W.

Now the percentage of power consumption increased by using tracker is,

= (95.86 – 75.67) / 75.67

= 0.2668 or 26.68 %

Comments: Data and results provided in the above tables are not adequately explained.
Discuss the results in a convincing manner.

8. Conclusion

The tracking mechanism is capable of tracking the solar panel according to the position of the
sun to keep the solar panel perpendicular to the Sun’s incident rays with greater accuracy.
Now, without using the tracker the temperature measured is lower than the temperature by
using the tracker. As the temperature is directly proportional to the direct incident of the sun
light, so from the output of the PV panel table and the Temperature Vs Time curve we can see
that the temperature with tracker is always greater than the temperature without tracker. So,
now we can conclude that by using the tracker we can make the maximum use of the day light.
Designed simplicity, low cost and material availability will make the designed tracking system
more effective and acceptable in the market. This tracking system is simple and easier than
any other tracking system with minimum cost because only simple sensor (LDR) and driver
circuit (op-amp) are used which are available with low in cost. With this Sun Tracker, it is
possible to get substantially more power from each PV panel on collector and this increase in
power results in lower cost per watt. In this project, output power without solar tracker is 75.67
W and with solar tracker is 95.86 W. increases amount of power is 26.68%. As the world is
moving to renewable energy more and more where Photovoltaic cells are most used method to
conserve solar power this type of technology can add a great efficiency to the total power
generation.

Comments: The conclusion section is very poor. It must focus on the following points:

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 • Describe how the results differ from other authors/studies
• State how your results are new and contributes to body of knowledge
• Explain the significance or implication of his research
• Provide limitation or recommendation for further research

General Comments:
There must not be any colour . You can use black and while colour with various shades
• At times, sentences are not grammatically correct. Long and complex sentences were used. There
is lack of clarity and ambiguity in language. The must be proof read.
• The references must be organized by following Harvard style
X

9. References

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R. Abu-Malouh, S. Abdallah and L.M. Muslih, 2011 “Design, construction and operation of
spherical solar cooker with automatic sun tracking system” Energy Conversion
and Management, Volume 52, Issue 1, Jan., PP 615-620

B.J. Huang.,W.L. Ding and Y.C. Huang, 2011 “Long-term field test of solar PV power
generation using one-axis 3-position sun tracker” Solar Energy, Volume 85,Issue
9,Sept., pp 1935-1944

M.S. Al-Soud, E.Abdulla, A. Akeylah, S. Adallah and E.S.Hrayshat, 2010 “A parabolic solar
cooker with automatic two axes sun tracking system” Applied Energy, Volume 87,
Issue 2, Feb., PP 463-470

W. Batayneh, A. Owais and M. Nairoukh, 2013 “An intelligent fuzzy based tracking controller
for a dual-axis solar PV system” Automatic in Construction, Volume 29, Jan., PP
100-106

M.J. Cliford and D. Eastwood, 2004 “Design of a novel passive solar tracker” Solar Energy,
Volume 77, Issue 3, Sept., PP 269-280
M. Ghassoul and F. Radwan, " A programmable logic system to control a solar panel to pump
water from a well" 5th IEEE TEM, KFUPM Dhahran, pp 67-70

M. Ghassoul, 2009 “Design of an intelligent solar tracking system using PIC18F452 micro
controller “Conference, International conference on Industrial Electronics,
Technology & Automation 2009 Bridgeport University 4-12 December.

"28/40 pin 8 bit CMOS flash micro controllers", microchip datasheet 30292, 1998.

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J. Charais, 2002 "RC model aircraft motor control", publisher J.,microchip technology Inc.

“Maximum power solar converter” Application AN1211, Microchip Technology, 2008

A. Floricica, 2008 “Low power capacitive sensing with the capacitive sensing module”
Application AN1103, Microchip Technology

T. Ferme,2007 “Software handling for capacitive sensing” Microchip Technology.

P. Yedamale, 2002 "Speed control of three phase induction motor using PIC 18
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S.Benling, 1999 " Brush DC servomotor implementation using PIC 17C756A", Microchip
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T. Bucella, 1997 "Servo control of a DC brush motor", Teknic Inc.

E.A. Par, 1996 "Programmable logic controllers" published by Newnes.

J.B. Peatman, 2003 “Embedded design with the PIC18F452 microcontroller” published by
Pearson Education, Inc.

http://solarnavigator.net/solar_power.htm.visited 9/23/2015, 7:27PM.

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