Optimizing Solar Energy Harvesting : Advanced Automated Tracking Systems for Improved Irradiance Capture

The continuous depletion of naturally occurring resources to meet the daily global energy demand will likely exhaust the fossil fuels in near future. Consequently, to preserve natural deposits and alleviate the energy crisis, solar energy has emerged as a prominent alternative source of energy. However, the efficiency of solar panels remains a center of challenge for researchers as it declines over the course of the day due to the variation in solar irradiance. Furthermore, the immobile nature of most solar panels used in different regions-fixed to a pole or a building's roof-sets impediment in maximizing solar irradiation. This paper introduces a dual-axis solar tracking system designed to optimize solar energy production through continuous monitoring of solar irradiance using a 20 W rated polycrystalline solar panel. The system incorporates four light-dependent resistors (LDR) to detect the maximum illumination from the sun, which is integrated with two servo motors to orient the panel towards the optimal source of light. A microcontroller-based monitoring system has also been integrated to record voltage, current, power and temperature of the system. Both hardware and software systems have been considered for better optimization. The field-test results verify that the proposed system is 11.5% more efficient than a 30° tilted static solar panel facing south in terms of power generation. This study holds prospects for small and medium scale photovoltaic applications.