TWO-AXIS ELECTRIC MOTOR DRIVE OF SOLAR PANELS CARRIER FOR TRACKING THE SUN'S TRAJECTORY

The paper presents the implementation of a regulated electric motor drive of the solar panel carrier in order to track the sun’s path along two axes. Four solar panels, each with a power of 375W are mounted on a folding carrying construction. Each of the drives contains IGBT power drivers for driving the electric motor with gear box and corresponding encoders for positioning. The control algorithm provides chronological tracking of the sun’s path, that is, intermittent operation of the electric drive, which ensures significant savings in electricity consumption.The solar system includes, among other things, an MPPT charger, a 48V/720 Ah battery bank and a 48 Vdc/3×230 V, 50 Hz inverter with output power of 5.5 kW. The power supply voltage of the driving electric motors and corresponding power electronics devices is 24 Vdc. At the end, a physical representation of the realized electric motor drive and some key experimental results are given.