Design and Implementation of a Microcontroller – Based Solar Panel Tracking System

Abstract

Solar energy is viewed as clean and renewable source of energy. It is the energy of the future; so the use of Photo Voltaic (PV) systems has increased in many applications. That need to improve the materials and methods used to harness this power source. This thesis includes the design and implementation of a microcontroller-based solar panel tracking system with single degree of freedom. The control circuit for the solar tracker is specifically based on an ATMega16 microcontroller and stepper motor. This is programmed to detect the sunlight through the Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) and then actuate the stepper motor to position the solar panel where it can receive maximum sunlight. The main aim of this thesis is to get maximum power from the sun by solving the problem of system work during bad weather or when the clouds, using a scan technique to detect the position of the sun.