Solar angle optimizer

Abstract

The demand for renewable energy sources has increased significantly in recent years due to the growing concerns about climate change and environmental sustainability. Solar energy has emerged as one of the most promising and widely used renewable energy sources. However, the efficiency and output of solar energy systems depend on various factors, including the position of the sun, the angle of the solar panel, and weather conditions. A detailed design, method, and tested outcomes of a solar angle optimizer are presented in this master's thesis being the main focus. The primary accomplishment is the testing, simplification, and preparation of extensive documentation that can be used in future study on Photovoltaic system optimization. For this specificity, calculating the sun’s position using an RTC module and positioning the PV panel perpendicular to the sun is not accomplished in this study. As this thesis is the improvement of a previous master’s thesis, some tests are done on prebuilt H Bridge-motor drive, Power measuring board and Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) codes. Moreover, all the flaws of previous designs and works are mitigated by designing and building new boards or some other alternative ways. All the sensors and equipment are connected to PLC and few PLC programs are developed for various tasks and tests. Mainly, the code is developed for a motor control system that positions the Photovoltaic (PV) panel to an optimal position where the power output is maximum. And after optimization, in a certain interval, it positions itself accordingly, if the position of maximum output changes. While building the whole system some safety issues are taken into consideration like storm and uncontrolled rotation of the rig. Codes are developed to prevent uncontrolled rotation and during storm the panels will be positioned horizontally to reduce air drag. Several tests have been performed: The H bridge motor drive from previous work is tested but unfortunately it was not working so a new one is designed and built. Power measuring board from previous work is tested and there were major design flaws. As there is limitation of time so some prebuilt devices are used to measure voltage and current of the PV panel, instead of making a new one. Induction sensors has been tested if they can prevent the rig from hitting any obstacles. The ‘Positional initialization of the PV panels using Induction sensors’ is also tested. Using a strong light source at UiT Electrical Machine lab, the performance of the whole system is observed at different conditions and the results are logged into PLC using a data logger program. The lab tests were performed using only one PV panel for simplification, whereas in the final phase, it is effective for total 8 panels. With an open circuit voltage of 21.20 V and a peak power current of 2.94 A, each panel is capable of delivering 50 Watts of peak output