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1. INTRODUCTION
Solar automatic panel can also be called as Intelligent Solar Panel because it converts the solar energy to electrical energy with maximum efficiency by itself. Renewable energy is rapidly gaining importance as an energy resource as fossil prices fluctuate. At the educational level, it is therefore critical for engineering and technology students to have an understanding and appreciation of the technology associated with renewable energy. One of the most popular renewable energy sources is solar energy. Solar tracking enables more energy to be generated because the solar panel is able to maintain a perpendicular profile to the sun’s rays. This system builds upon a prior senior design project where students built a solar-powered battery charger, thus making this system ideally self-contained. Potential improvements to the system are done in the project.
This project consists of a solar panel whose position is controlled by a DC motor. The motor is made to rotate in such a way that it always positions to an area where maximum sunlight falls .This is done by making use of a Light Dependent Resistor. LDRs are placed in the solar panel to detect the sunlight. The detected values from the LDRs are compared and the region having the maximum sunlight is identified. Then turns the motor to that position where maximum sunlight falls. The solar panel is always position into the maximum sun light automatically. It was resolved that real time tracking would be necessary to follow the sun effectively. So that no external data would be required in operation. Solar arrays or panels are being used increasingly as efficiencies reach higher levels, and are especially popular in remote areas where placement of electricity lines is not economically viable. Alternative power source has been continuously achieving greater popularity especially since the realisation of fossil fuel’s shortcomings. The unique feature of this system is that instead of taking the earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guiding source. Its active sensors constantly monitor the sunlight and move the panel towards the direction where the intensity of sunlight is maximum.
Motivation:
A day will come when all the fossil fuels will get exhausted. With rising fuel costs, climate change concerns and a growing demand for electricity, renewable energy resources such as solar power and wind power are becoming an increasingly valuable part of the world’s energy mix. Presently, industries and domestic appliances are harnessing the power of the earth’s most abundant natural resources . In remote areas the sun is a cheap source of electricity because instead of hydraulic generators it uses solar cells to produce electricity. While the output of solar cells depends on the intensity of sunlight and the angle of incidence. The solar panels must remain in front of sun during the whole day. But due to rotation of earth those panels can’t maintain their position always in front of sun. This problem results in decrease of their efficiency. If the solar panel can be made to turn according to the movement of sun from morning to evening, then the efficiency of the solar tracking system can be increased. Using an automated tracked mechanism, the panel is kept perpendicular to the sun throughout the day. Here control system is defined for the panel based on the frame arrangement. The frame has the ability to maneuver itself to position which offer maximum sun light. Industries and domestic appliances are harnessing the power of the earth’s most abundant natural resource, sunlight to provide energy using solar power.
Benefits:
If a flat solar panel is mounted on level ground, it is obvious that over the course of the day the sunlight will have an angle of incidence close to 90°in the morning and the evening. At such an angle, the light gathering ability of the cell is essentially zero, resulting in no output. As the day progresses to midday, the angle of incidence approaches 0°, causing an steady increase in power until at the point where the light incident on the panel is completely perpendicular, and maximum power is achieved .As the day continues toward dusk, the reverse happens, and the increasing angle causes the power to decrease again toward minimum gain .From this background, we see the need to maintain the maximum power output from the panel by maintaining an angle of incidence as close to 0° as possible. By tilting the solar panel to continuously face the sun, this can be achieved .This process of sensing and following the position of the sun is known as Solar Tracking. It was resolved that real-time tracking would be necessary to follow the sun effectively, so that no external data would be required in operation.