The development of a low-cost solar tracking system for renewable energy applications

Abstract

The solar tracking system developed by the Department of Science Service was a part of its small solar energy-to-electric production system being researched and developed under a research funding in 2011 to 2013 fiscal year. The power production system was designed for household use or for small community service. The system was a solar thermal power production system employed a parabolic dish as its solar collector which required a solar tracking system to make it to work. The developed solar tracking system utilized the calculation of solar position equations to primarily control the movement and the position pointing towards the Sun. An array of light concentration sensors were also used for signal feedback control function for fine motion error correction. This resulted in a precise solar tracking system with a precision within 1 degree. Furthermore, beside precision, being low cost was also a main objective for developing such system. A low cost microcontroller board, local electronic components, and simplified design and construction contributed to the solar tracking system that was simple and efficient, but inexpensive compared with relatively highly priced imported systems.