High-efficiency solar tracker development and effectiveness estimation

Abstract

The photovoltaic (PV) systems are of great interest nowadays due to the depletion of fossil sources and environmental problems (greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutions and effects of accidents at nuclear power plants). The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) systems and solar trackers allow significantly efficiency increase of PV systems. This article presents the efficiency calculations for 2-axial active solar tracker taking into account losses on panel orientation for the three most specific months – December, June and September. An algorithm for tracker control is proposed and tested on the developed experimental prototype. It was established, that the optimal PV panel orientation change time interval (based on the ratio of efficiency increasing and orientation losses) is 15 minutes.