Control of Solar Tracking System

Abstract

The world population increases rapidly ,as a result power is needed. Power nowadays depends on traditional resources such as oil and coal, but these cause air pollution . So scientists begin to think of other resources of power, they produced electricity from renewable energy that is obtained from the sun and wind. The solar power is the most important clean renewable power which is mainly found in hot countries. Besides technology that helps to produce electricity from solar power, is badly needed. The obstacle that faces producing the maximum amount of electricity, is the apparent movement of the sun that makes it change its position. The objective of this research is to design a solar tracking system to harness the maximum solar irradiance . A microcontroller is used to control the movement of the tracking system . The microcontroller is programmed to detect the sun light during the day by using Light Dependent Resisters(LDR) . Then a signal is sent to the stepper motor to control the movement of the solar panel to get the maximum solar irradiance. The result of the simulation obtained by protous program approved the efficiency of the system.