Automatic Solar Tracking System: Working Mechanism and Components

This report explains the working mechanism and components of an automatic solar tracking system. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this technology and how it can reduce distortion and losses in the power system. The report uses a mixed research methodology and provides both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Keywords: Solar tracking system, LDR, stepper motor, microcontroller, and electronic devices.

Abstract
A solar tracking system is defined as a
process to produce power or electricity
from sunlight which is growing very
fast. The generation of energy by using
solar based system is very simple and
easy and it provides maximum power
from the light of the sun. The main
purpose of this report is to understand
the fundamental concept of the
automatic solar tracking system and
their working mechanism. The main
advantage of this equipment is that it
automatically changes the direction of
the solar plant to catch maximum
intensity of sunlight. There are many
other energy systems but solar tracking
process is more efferent and many
organizations use this technology to
reduce their cost. It is observed that in
the year 2016 the rate of the solar
tracking system is increased by 33%
and many power plants generate
electricity by using solar based
technology. There are various kinds of
equipment’s and devices are used to
design any solar tracing system, for
example, microcontroller, LDR, solar
plants, stepper motors, and decade
counters. The main problem occurs with
this innovation is that it is more
expensive rather than other energy
systems. Therefore, in future energy
providers can enhance the performance
of this system and they can adopt
advanced electronic devices and
microcontrollers. If any consumer
develops this type of project then they
ensure that all connections are made
according to the circuit diagram.
Keywords: Solar tracking system, LDR,
stepper motor, microcontroller, and
electronic devices.

Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................................................................ 1
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 3
2. Literature review........................................................................................................................................ 4
3. Methodology.................................................................................................................................................. 7
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 The study design................................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Data collection instruments and protocol for obtaining data............................................7
3.4 Ethical issues.......................................................................................................................................... 8
3.5 Data management and analysis methods................................................................................... 8
3.6 Statistical analysis and tests............................................................................................................ 8
4. Results............................................................................................................................................................. 8
5. Discussion.................................................................................................................................................... 10
6. Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 10
7. Recommendation...................................................................................................................................... 10
8. References................................................................................................................................................... 12
9. Appendix- Reflection............................................................................................................................... 14

1. Introduction
The solar panel is a kind of power
system which is used to generate a large
amount of energy by using various kinds
of components like sensors and motors.
In this type of system solar cells are
arranges and designed in a form of the
grid pattern of the edge of the solar
panel. Solar panel or plates are
established with the help of crystalline
silicon and gallium arsenide that can
enhance the performance of
photovoltaic cells (Akbar, Siddiq, & Aziz,
2017). It is researched that most the
countries obtain energy by using fossil
fuels and it is very limited for which
solar tracking system is developed and
it reduced the problem of energy and
improved efficiency of power systems.
In the field of electricity to reduce
energy losses and optimize the use of
power automatic solar process can be
used because it has the ability to track
the intensity of sunlight by
automatically using controllers and
stepper motors (Al, & Akayleh, 2017).
This report is explaining how solar
tracking system work and the role of
this technology to reduce distortion and
losses.
Figure: Key parameter of the Solar
tracking system
(Source: Al, & Akayleh, 2017)
There are main four components used
to design any solar tracking system such
as Arduino microcontroller, solar
panels, LDR sensor, and stepper motor.
In the last five years, the use of solar
powers are increased by 40% and many
users adopted this technology in their
home and office (Bentaher, et al., 2014).
This paper is categorized into four parts,
for example, literature review, methods,

results and discussion, and
recommendation.
2. Literature review
The solar tracking system is a modern
innovation in the field of the power
system and the main goal of this
technology is to increase efficiency and
produce maximum power from solar
plates. This project is very simple and
cheap because the working mechanism
of solar panel is very easy to understand
and it is less complex as compared to
other technologies (Chao, Huazhang, &
Jie, 2015). There are many researched
provided review on this project and
they identified that the main drawback
of solar tracking process is that the
maintenance cost of solar panels are
very high by which many consumers are
not able to purchase this technology.
LDR is defined as light deepened
resistor which is used in the solar
tracking system to emit an electron and
produce energy signals from the light of
the sun. The main key factor in the
sector of the power system is a solar
panel and it consists of flat surface on
that number of p-n junction are placed
(Chowdhury, Ali, & Kumar, 2016).
Figure: components used in the solar
tracking system
(Source: Das, Habib, & Mynuddin, 2015)
The unique feature of this b technology
is that it uses earth as a reference and
takes the sun as a source which provides
light or electricity. In remote zones, the
sun is a shabby wellspring of power in
light of the fact that rather than
pressure driven generators it utilizes
sun oriented cells to deliver power (Das,
Habib, & Mynuddin, 2015). However,
because of the turn of the earth, those
boards can't keep up their position
dependably in front of the sun. This
issue results in a decline of their
effectiveness. Subsequently, to get a
consistent yield, a computerized
framework is required which ought to

be skilled to always turn the sun
oriented board. In cloudy weather, this
system rotates their arms in the
direction of the earth but the speed of
their rotation is equal to the speed of
earth (Fathabadi, 2016).
Figure: Circuit diagram of a solar
tracking system
(Source: Lokhande, 2014)
To get the maximum intensity of sun
people can place solar panel at the angle
of 45 degrees and if any problem occurs
then it provides a feedback process and
display the error message on LCD
screen (Lokhande, 2014). It is very
flexible rather than manual operating
solar system and it is estimated that
many users adopt automatic system
because it has the ability to produce a
large amount of electricity at a time
because it rotates with the movement of
the sun. This proposition expands on the
above difficulties to fabricate a more
productive, powerful and precise GPS
beacon that singles out the solid
highlights of the single, double, dynamic
tracker and the azimuth tracker. The
gadget to be created in this manner
fuses the utilization of sensors, moving
gadgets (engines) and a microcontroller
with an extraordinary arrangement of
guidelines that guarantees that the
issues experienced with the last trackers
are explained. The utilization of sun
oriented trackers can build power
generation by around a third, and some
case by as much as 40% in a few areas,
contrasted and modules at a settled
edge (Maharaja, Xavier, Amla, & Balaji,
2015). In any sunlight based application,
the changing effectiveness is enhanced
when the modules are constantly
changed in accordance with the ideal
edge as the sun navigates the sky. As
enhanced effectiveness implies
enhanced yield, utilization of trackers
can have a significant effect on the wage
from a huge plant (Mistry, & Patel,
2014).

3. Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The research methodology will involve
different kinds of strategies, plans, and
methods that can help to understand the
concept of the solar tracking system.
There are various processes used in the
research method, for example,
approach, data or information collection
process, design, data management, and
analysis techniques (Quesada, et al.,
2015). The mina purpose of selecting
these methods is to improve the overall
efficiency and effectiveness of the
research proposal. The key objective of
this research is to design and implement
an automatic solar tracking system and
generate electricity by using this
technology. Different types of studies
and journal paper will be used in this
research to maintain a balance between
the title of the project and relevant
information.
3.2 The study design
For this research paper, a mixer
research design will be used which
involve both qualitative and
quantitative analysis method. In the
field of qualitative data analysis, the
subjective information’s are collected by
various journals and it provides quality
of research. The quantitative data
method provides real data on solar
tracking system and it involves various
graphs, pictures, and tables to
understand the concept of the solar
system. (Racharla, & Rajan, 2017).
Therefore, the mixed study design is a
very best method to find the significance
of this technology and people can
feather technical knowledge about solar
tracking process.
3.3 Data collection instruments and
protocol for obtaining data
In this research proposal, both primary
and secondary types of data collection
methods are used. The secondary data
can be collected from different locations
such as books, online websites, articles,
and journal papers. The primary data
can be identified from the questionnaire
that will be transferred to the
participants who will participate in this
research report (Sidek, et al., 2017).
With the help of these data collection
methods, the researcher will able to
enhance their knowledge in the sector of
electric energy. Therefore, these two
methods can increase the effectiveness
of the research and researchers can
easily elaborate automatic solar tracking
system.

3.4 Ethical issues
The solar panel system is the more
expansive system because it required a
number of solar plates and various
kinds of equipment. The main ethical
issue of this technology is that many
organizations provide solar panel
service to users but they use dump toxic
waste to make solar tracking system
which produces a negative impact on
the environment. This problem can be
addressed by making government
policies and strategies and they
identified companies which are using
this type of toxic waste.
3.5 Data management and analysis
methods
The data analysis process can be
used by research to describe both
primary and secondary data process to
identify the pattern of the topic
(automatic solar tracking system). This
process will assist the writer to
interpret the data or information which
is collected by using both analysis
techniques. However, there are other
various types of process which can be
used, for example, statistical analysis,
content analysis, and disclosure
analysis. In this research proposal,
content analysis process will be utilized
to find the main reason to implement
solar-based technology and it also
provides a platform to reach a valid
result or outcome (Skouri, et al., 2016).
3.6 Statistical analysis and tests
Statistical analysis provides an
explanation of solar tracking system by
using various charts and static data and
researcher will be used this method to
increase their knowledge. There are
many authors provided complete
information about this topic and
researcher can study journals to get
Statistical data on the solar system.
4. Results
There are different types of components
used in the circuit of solar tracking, for
example, LDR, 555 timers, decade
counters, the ULN2003 driver IC and
stepper motor of 12 V.
Figure: Block diagram of solar
tracking system
(Source: Vieira, et al., 2016)

In this circuit consistent current
is given crosswise over LDR and
consistent voltage is given over 555
clocks. 555 clocks are utilized for the
monostable circuit. In monostable
circuit an activating heartbeat is
required; this heartbeat is given by LDR
course of action. LDR is negative
temperature coefficient gadget, so when
the circuit is held under light, opposition
over the LDR diminishes. As present
over the LDR is steady and obstruction
diminishes with light power, voltage
begins to change its express, this voltage
is filling in as activating beat in the
monostable circuit (Vieira, et al., 2016).
Figure: Solar tracker performance
(Source: Vieira, et al., 2016)
From mono stable multivibrator circuit,
we get voltage waveform, which stays in
high state, to begin with, at that point
changes, and its state with differing light
force. Here yield is taken from (00, 01,
02, and 03) pins which are associated
through protection from Darlington
combine.
Figure: graph of characteristics of fixed-
mount solar panel systems installed in
California
(Source: Yang, et al., 2017)
Darlington combine is utilized to
acquire high present gain since current
acquired from decade counter is opened
up by Darlington combine (Yang, et al.,
2017).
5. Discussion
This research proposal is
completely based mixed method
analysis which is a combination of both
quantitative and qualitative data
analysis. The main limitation of this
journal is that the researcher did not use
more quantitative data by which people
cannot compare this innovation with
other (Zhang, et al., 2015).
Figure: Uk Solar Energy Statistics

(Source: Zhang, et al., 2015)
This research proposal used various
kinds of journals and books to explain
the concept of the solar tracking
process. Authors explained only
theoretical information about this topic
and they did not evaluate the
advantages and disadvantages of this
system due to which researcher cannot
define which energy system is best in
this generation.
6. Conclusion
Automatic solar tracking system use
microcontroller to control the functions
of solar panel and people can check the
results of this process on RCO display. It
is a very effective process and provides
a large quantity of energy at a time
because it catches maximum intensity of
sunlight by moving along the sun. This
report evaluated the significance of
solar based energy system and various
methodologies used to understand the
concept of this technique. People should
adopt this system with proper
configuration because it is very complex
to design so if any organization or
consumer purchases this kind of energy
system then he should check the
configuration.
7. Recommendation
There are main two limitations of the
solar tracking system, for example, it is a
more expansive process and
maintenance cost is very high. The use
of solar panel is increasing very quickly
by which service providers increased
their cost and the price of one solar
panel is very high due to that users
cannot able to buy this type of services
(Sumathi, Jayapragash, Bakshi, & Akella,
2017). To reduce the issue of complexity
people can adopt modern electronic
equipment’s and electric devices which
are very efficient and less in price.

8. References
Akbar, H. S., Siddiq, A. I., & Aziz, M. W.
(2017). Microcontroller based dual
axis sun tracking system for
maximum solar energy
generation. American Journal of
Energy Research, 5(1), 23-27.
Al-Soud, M., & Akayleh, A. (2017).
Development of a solar water
distillation system with a mechanical
sun tracker. International Journal of
Ambient Energy, 12(2) 1-6.
Bentaher, H., Kaich, H., Ayadi, N.,
Hmouda, M. B., Maalej, A., & Lemmer,
U. (2014). A simple tracking system
to monitor solar PV panels. Energy
conversion and management, 78, 872-
875.
Chao, C., Huazhang, W., & Jie, C.
(2015). Six quadrants automatic
tracking system of solar photovoltaic
power generation. Renewable Energy
Resources, 33(1), 6-10.
Chowdhury, N. B., Ali, M. L., & Kumar,
B. (2016). Development of an
Automatic Solar Heat Tracking
Parabolic Heliostat Panel
System. Development, 4(1), 18.
Das, P. K., Habib, M. A., & Mynuddin,
M. (2015). Microcontroller Based
Automatic Solar Tracking System
with Mirror Booster. International
Journal of Sustainable and Green
Energy, 4(4), 125-136.
Fathabadi, H. (2016). Novel high
accurate sensorless dual-axis solar
tracking system controlled by
maximum power point tracking unit
of photovoltaic systems. Applied
energy, 173, 448-459.
Lokhande, M. K. (2014). Automatic
solar tracking system. International
Journal of Core Engineering and
Management, 1(7), 122-133.
Maharaja, K., Xavier, R. J., Amla, L. J., &
Balaji, P. P. (2015). Intensity-based
dual axis solar tracking system.
International Journal of Applied
Engineering Research, 10(8), 19457-
19465.
Mistry, A., & Patel, N. (2014). Design
of An Automatic Solar Tracking
System Based On
Microcontroller. International journal
for technological research in
engineering, 1(6), 16-20.

Quesada, G., Guillon, L., Rousse, D. R.,
Mehrtash, M., Dutil, Y., & Paradis, P. L.
(2015). Tracking strategy for
photovoltaic solar systems in high
latitudes. Energy Conversion and
Management, 103, 147-156.
Racharla, S., & Rajan, K. (2017). Solar
tracking system–a
review. International Journal of
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Sidek, M. H. M., Azis, N., Hasan, W. Z.
W., Ab Kadir, M. Z. A., Shafie, S., &
Radzi, M. A. M. (2017). Automated
positioning dual-axis solar tracking
system with precision elevation and
azimuth angle
control. Energy, 124(8), 160-170.
Skouri, S., Ali, A. B. H., Bouadila, S.,
Salah, M. B., & Nasrallah, S. B. (2016).
Design and construction of sun
tracking systems for solar parabolic
concentrator
displacement. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews, 60(2),
1419-1429.
Sumathi, V., Jayapragash, R., Bakshi,
A., & Akella, P. K. (2017). Solar
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system output–A review of the
methods adopted in the recent
decade. Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, 74(8), 130-138.
Vieira, R. G., Guerra, F. K. O. M. V.,
Vale, M. R. B. G., & Araújo, M. M.
(2016). Comparative performance
analysis between static solar panels
and single-axis tracking system on a
hot climate region near to the
equator. Renewable and Sustainable
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Yang, C. K., Cheng, T. C., Cheng, C. H.,
Wang, C. C., & Lee, C. C. (2017). Open-
loop altitude-azimuth concentrated
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thermal applications. Solar
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Zhang, Q. X., Yu, H. Y., Zhang, Q. Y.,
Zhang, Z. Y., Shao, C. H., & Yang, D.
(2015). A solar automatic tracking
system that generates power for
lighting greenhouses. Energies, 8(7),
7367-7380.

9. Appendix- Reflection
According to my opinion, the solar
tracking system can be used to generate
electricity because it is a very effective
process for our home and offices. The
main problem with this process is that it
is very costly but we can adopt this
technology due to their performance.
The main limitation of solar panel is that
it does not work in night or cloudy
weather for which we can increase the
performance of this system by using
advanced controllers and devices and
we can store a large amount of energy if
we catch maximum intensity of light.