Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays

Ahmet Sß enpinar a,⇑, Mehmet Cebeci b
a
College of Technical Sciences, Department of Electronics Technology, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey
b
Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study compares the performance of two PVmodules, one fixed and the other fitted with a two-axis
Received 21 January 2011 tracking system which enables the PVcollector to move and be controlled to follow the Sun’s radiation. A
Received in revised form 7 July 2011 computer unit was employed to monitor the solar radiation exposure of both systems and to control the
Accepted 24 July 2011
movement of the solar tracking PVmodule. Throughout the day, the results obtained from the fixed and
Available online xxxx
tracked systems were collected on a DAQ card installed on an online computer. The two motors of the
tracking system were connected to output from the computer that was used to follow the sun. The move-
Keywords:
ment of the two-axis tracking PVmodule was compared to mathematical calculations of the sun’s posi-
Two-axis PVsystem
Sun-tracking system
tion from sunrise to sunset. The amount of solar radiation received on the surface of the module and
Computer hence its output power varied according to the time and the place where the experimental system
was mounted. Overall, it was found that the daily output power of the tracking module was 13–15%
higher than the fixed module.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction characteristics that require the maximum power point tracking

Recent technological developments offer us the opportunity to
generate clean, continuous and inexpensive electricity from a
renewable source, solar energy. The output energy of a solar energy
system depends on various factors including the amount of the
sun’s radiation entering the system. Tracking systems can help to
orient the solar collector to optimize its alignment with the maxi-
mum incident beam of the sun’s radiation. Different sun-tracking
systems have been developed to track the sun’s movement across
the sky [1–13]. Chang [14] used the Julian dating system to calcu-
late the Sun’s apparent position. This method calculates both the
duration of sunshine on any given day and the optimal installation
angle of a fixed solar collector for different time periods and lati-
tudes in the northern hemisphere.
In a previous study two identical PVarrays were compared, one
fitted with a microprocessor-controlled, two-axis solar tracking
system, while the other was fixed [15]. Solar radiation inputs and
electrical power outputs were measured for each unit over a 1-year
period. The array fitted with the solar tracking system performed
significantly better. It was demonstrated that the performance of
a solar radiation collector is affected by its orientation and tilt an-
gle (b) with the horizontal plane [16]. These parameters determine
the amount of solar energy received at the surface of the collector.
It should be noted that solar cells have non-linear current–voltage
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 424 2370000/4384; fax: +90 424 2188947.
E-mail addresses: asenpinar@gmail.com (A. Sßenpinar), mcebeci@firat.edu.tr
(M. Cebeci).
(MPPT) of the system to be calculated both in terms of the amount
of insolation at the surface of the array and the optimal voltage
loading of it’s solar cells. A converter is used to regulate the voltage
of the solar array in accordance with a reference voltage that cor-
responds to the maximum point and array voltage. A neural net-
work with a training algorithm has been utilized to keep the
reference voltage under the control of the maximum power point
[17,18]. Various other studies have also looked at the dynamics
of maximum power point tracking systems [19–25].
In this study, electricity generation efficiencies were compared
in a fixed and a two-axis solar tracking array. The fixed array was
positioned with a specific fixed angle of tilt that would utilize most
of the available sunlight at the geographical location for the study.
The second array would track the sun’s movement by day. Two
computer-controlled motors were used to enable the array to be
moved in east–west and north–south planes so that available sun-
light would be utilized to the maximum each day. The two PVarray
systems were simultaneously operated and their current and volt-
age values were recorded on an online computer. The power output
of both systems was calculated according to the data obtained,
graphics drawn and the results were then compared [26]. The solar
tracking array output power gain showed a considerable increase
during the early hours of the morning and the late hours of the
evening. The amount of increase was about 1–2% during mid-day
hours. The most advantage of the two-axis solar tracking array
was its ability to maintain its position values without being affected
by clouds or and other environmental conditions (wind, storm, rain,
dust, pollution, etc.). While the solar tracking system is more

0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
2 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

expensive and complex than a fixed mounted one, it can be made tilt angle, such as Ø ± 20° [32], Ø ± 8° [33], Ø ± 5° [34], where Ø is
more economical if additional PVmodules are connected in series the latitude angle of the region, ‘‘+’’ for winter, and ‘‘’’ for summer.
or parallel. For optimal performance on any given day, a fixed array should be
mounted on the ground to have a horizontal angle of (Ø  d)°. Here,
2. Mathematical model of the system d is the declination angle known as the angle between the direction
of the sun and equator plane. Here, the best average tilt for summer,
2.1. PV Cells winter and optimum yearly performance should be mounted at
(Ø  15)°, (Ø + 15)° and with a (0.9.Ø)° tilt angle of the array,
A PV cell is a specialized semiconductor material with a p–n respectively [27].
junction. It converts sunlight into electricity through a basic pro- The declination angle can be calculated from the equation used
cess called photovoltaic effect. The energy generated by the cell by Copper [35,36];
is in direct proportion with the visible light it has been exposed  
ð360  ð284 þ nÞÞ
to. Additionally, conversion efficiency also depends on extending d ¼ 23; 45  sin ð4Þ
365
the plane. Fig. 1 shows the I–V characteristics of a typical cell
[27]. The amount of the current and the voltage changes depending where n is the day of the year. For horizontal surfaces, the angle (h)
on the amount of sunlight shining on the cell. Then, the I–V equa- of incidence is the zenith angle of the sun, hz. For this situation,
tion is: cos hz ¼ cos d  cos Ø  cos x þ sin d  sin Ø ð5Þ
ðqVÞ=ðkTÞ


I ¼ Il  Io e 1 ð1Þ where x is the solar hour angle. For 24 h time, the solar hour is
determined by (Senpinar) formula as follows:
where Il is the component of the PV cell current due to photons,
electrical load (q = 1,6  1019 C), k = 1.38  1023 j/K (Boltzman x ¼ ððhour  60 þ minuteÞ  720Þ=4 ð6Þ
constant) and T is the cell temperature in Kelvin.
The solar noon is calculated, for a south facing slope in the northern
Fig. 1 shows that a PV cell has a voltage and current limitation.
hemisphere [35],
This indicates that the cell will not be damaged by open or short
circuits. To identify a PV cell’s short circuit current, V = 0 is written. hnoon ¼ jØ  d  bj ð7Þ
Then, Isc = Il. Thus, if the cell current is known under Standard Test
where b = 0, the angle of incidence is the zenith angle, which for the
Conditions (STC); that is for Go = 1 kw/m2 and AM1.5, then the cell
northern hemisphere
current in any other G radiation is calculated by:
hnoon ¼ jØ  dj ð8Þ
IlðGÞ ¼ ðG=Go Þ  IlðGoÞ ð2Þ
Solar altitude angle (as) is the angle between the horizontal and the
In order to identify the cell’s open circuit voltage, the cell cur-
line to sun and it is the complement of the zenith angle to 90°. That
rent is set to zero and the equation in 1 is solved for Voc and the
is
result is:
        hz þ as ¼ 90 ð9Þ
kT Il þ Io kT Il
V oc ¼  ln   ln ðbecause Il  Io Þ ð3Þ and due to trigonometric function,
q Io q Io
While the short circuit current of the cell varies in direct proportion cos hz ¼ sin as and sin hz ¼ cos as ð10Þ
with the amount of illumination, open circuit voltage is only loga- The solar azimuth angle cs changes values in the range of 180°
rithmically dependent on illumination. to 180°. It is know as the angular displacement from south of the
projection of beam radiation on the horizontal plane. For north or
2.2. Fixed system south latitudes between 23.45° and 66.45°, cs will be between 90°
and 90°. To calculate cs, we need know the sun position. A general
These are systems where the array of solar cells is placed with a formula for cs, from Braun and Mitchell [37], is conveniently writ-
specific fixed tilt. Tilt angle changes according to the season and re- ten in terms of cs, a pseudo surface azimuth angle in the first or
gion. Generally, PVsystems in the northern hemisphere are fourth quadrant:
mounted facing due south with a certain angle. A variety of differ-

ent values for the tilt angle have been suggested. Some studies have cs ¼ a1  a2  c0s þ a3  ðð1  ða1  a2 ÞÞ=2Þ  180 ð11Þ
used angles such as, Ø + 20° [28], Ø + (10 ? 30)° [29], Ø + 10° [30], where
Ø  10° [31], whereas other researchers suggest two values for the
sin c0s ¼ ððsin x  cos dÞ= sin hz Þ ð12Þ

3 a1 ¼ 1 if jxj  xew else a1 ¼ 1 if jxj > xew ; ð13Þ

Re
1 kw/m 2 al
ce
ll a2 ¼ 1 if ðØ  dÞ 0 else a2 ¼ 1 if ðØ  dÞ < 0;
Cell current (A)

ð14Þ
2 750 w/m 2
a3 ¼ 1 if x 0 else a3 ¼ 1 if < 0: ð15Þ
2
1 500 w/m
tan d
cos xew ¼ ð16Þ
250 w/m 2 tan /
0  
sin /  sin d
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 and cos xs ¼  ¼ ð tan Ø  tan dÞ ð17Þ
cos /  cos d
Cell voltage (V)
where xew is the sunrise hour angle and xs is the sunset hour an-
Fig. 1. I–V characteristics of the real and ideal PV cells under different illumination gle.The fixed system used in the experimental study was illustrated
levels. in Fig. 2. It comprised a solar array, measurement group, charge reg-

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx 3

Load
Charge
Array Inverter
Regulator

Measurement/
Amplifier Battery

Computer

Fig. 2. The block scheme of fixed array.

ulator, battery, inverter and load converter. The numerical results culations of solar angles related to the region were automatically
obtained from the system were stored online on a computer. Some generated by a program on the computer. The computer also con-
components in the systems (42 W array, battery, charge regulator trolled the motors so that the array would be slaved to replicate
and inverter) were identical. The systems were designed to enable the calculated values, allowing for it to track the movement of
energy received from the sun to be stored in batteries so that it the sun throughout the day.
could be retained for use during cloudy weather or at night. DC For a plane rotated about a horizontal east–west axis with a sin-
loads could be directly supplied from the batteries. If the load was gle daily adjustment so that the beam radiation is normal to sur-
AC, an inverter enabled the conversion to DC voltage of appropriate face at noon each day;
amplitude and frequency for battery storage. In experimental study, 2
500 W inverters were used. cos h ¼ sin d þ cos2 d  cos x ð18Þ
The tilt of this surface will be fixed for each day;
2.3. Tracking system
b ¼ jØ  d j ð19Þ
Most tracking arrays follow the sun in prescribed ways to min- The surface azimuth angle (c) for a day will be 0° or 180°
imize the angle of incidence out of beam radiation on their surfaces depending on the latitude and declination;
and so maximize the incident beam radiation. Tracking systems are
classified by their motions. Rotation can be about a single axis or it If ðØ  dÞ > 0; c ¼ 0 ; ð20Þ
can be about two axis [35]. The system used in this study consists
of solar array which moves in two-axis (Fig. 3a). It is controlled by If ðØ  dÞ < 0; c ¼ 180 ð21Þ
two different motors, one tracking in a north–south axis and the where c is the deviation of the projection on a horizontal plane of
other in an east–west axis. If the array is moved to track the sun the normal to the surface from local meridian. For a plane rotated
accurately, the angle of the light incident to the array will be nor- about horizontal east–west axis with continuous adjustment to
mal. Thus, voltage and current obtained from the array will be minimize the angle of incidence [35];
maximized and solar energy will be utilized more efficiently. The  1=2
control of the motors in the system was provided by the computer. 2
cos h ¼ 1  cos2 d  sin x ð22Þ
Latitude that determines the region of the PVsystem, date, time
values were loaded onto the computer as data. Mathematical cal- The tilt of this surface is given by

Load
Charge
Array Inverter
Regulator

Measurement/
Amplifier Battery

Mechanical
Encoder Computer
System

Motors

Fig. 3a. The block scheme of tracking array.

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
4 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

tan b ¼ ðtan hz  jcos cs jÞ
For a plane rotated about a horizontal north–south axis with
continuous adjustment to minimize the angle of incidence;
 1=2
2 etc.) would need to be loaded for that region.
cos h ¼ cos2 hz þ cos2 d  sin x
The tilt is given by
tan b ¼ ðtan hz  jcosðc  cs ÞjÞ
Using a continuous tracking system, sunlight is utilized to the
maximum level from sunrise to sunset according to data specific
to that region (Fig. 3b). The system enables the sunlight to run
ð23Þ perpendicularly to the array by tracking the array in different an-
gles and different directions according to the position of the sun
throughout the day. Accordingly, if this tracking system were to
be located in a different region, appropriate data (latitude, date,
ð24Þ
The array, measurement group components, charge regulator,
battery and inverter used in this system are the same as those used
in fixed system. Two-axis movement of the system is provided by
ð25Þ two motors. A three-phase AC motor was used for the east–west axis
with the movement controlled by output from the computer. A DC
motor was used for the north–south axis with the movement con-
trolled according to data processed by the computer software. Thus
two-axis movement of the array was provided by controlling two
different motors simultaneously, with computer output. The addi-
tional components used to provide the movement and control of
the solar tracking system are motors enabling the movement, driv-
ers, and an encoder which provides feedback to an Input/Output (I/
O) data card used to record measurements for storage on the
computer.

2.3.1. Motors and drivers

Fig. 3b. The mechanical scheme of tracking array.
The movement of the solar tracking system in the direction of
north–south, that is, the tilt angle’s control of the array was pro-
vided by the DC motor and its driver. Once the calculations were
made on the computer, the output value was sent via an amplified
electronic circuit to operate the DC motor. At noon hours, the
tracking array’s tilt is nearly equal to the fixed array tilt due to
the control of DC motor. The reason for using an AC motor is to pro-
vide the required power to accommodate additional arrays. The
control of the motor was provided by a frequency-controlled driver
connected to the computer output. Accordingly, the driver is able
to operate at low frequencies (nearly 1 Hz), and the speed of the
motor can be decelerated if required. Due to the sensitivity of the
circuit (0.0033° for 1 Hz), a gearbox with the ratio of 1/100 is con-
nected to the motor output.

Rm Computer
(150 ) input 1/ (AI0)

+ 15 V -15 V M
Current sensor
(LA 25-NP)

Input (1-5) Out (6-10)

R1 (1.2kΩ/50W)
(+ end) +15 V
+HT
Fuse -15 V
(6 A) R
Array (load) Voltage sensor
(LV 25-P)

-HT M
(- end)

Computer
Rm input 2/ (AI1)
(220 Ω)

Charge regulator

D.C. A.C.
Battery Inverter
loads loads

Fig. 4. Detailed scheme of experimental connection for fixed system.

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx 5

computer and recorded by a counter in the data card. The number

of pulses was converted by software calculation on the computer
to provide angular data. Thus, as a result of the calculations on
the computer, the movement angle of the array and its position
was determined. In the experimental study, a 3600-pulse encoder
was used.

2.3.3. Data Acquisition Card (DAQ-1711)

Data Acquisition Card (DAQ) was used to transfer data to the
computer about the voltage and current outputs of the arrays
[38]. The voltage and current output of the arrays were measured
by transducers. LEM modules were used for current and voltage
sensors [39]. The DAQ also contains an analogous/digital input
and output unit. In addition, a counter unit on the DAQ provides
for the counting of encoder pulses used for feedback. While data
was recorded to the input unit, the operation of motors was con-
trolled by the output unit.

Fig. 5. Fixed system.

3. Experimental study and results

2.3.2. Incremental encoder 3.1. The operation of the fixed system

The solar tracking unit uses an encoder to create a closed loop
data system for determining the position of the array according In order to utilize sunlight to the maximum, the tilt angle of the
to the movement of the AC motor. The encoder generates different experimental fixed array was determined by day-specific calcula-
output pulses for every cycle (360)°. Pulse data is transferred to the tions. The array was then adjusted to the calculated angle of tilt

Rm Computer
(150 Ω) input 3 / (AI2)

+15 V -15 V M
Current sensor
(LA 25-NP)

Input(1-5) Out (6-10)

R1 (1.2kΩ/50W)
+15 V
(+ end) +HT
Fuse -15 V
(6 A) R
(load) Voltage sensor
Array
(LV 25-P)

-HT M
(- end)

Computer
Rm input 4/ (AI3)
(220 Ω)
Mechanical
d.c. motor
system
Charge regulator

d.c. motor
driver
Gearbox
A.C.
Battery Inverter
loads
(a.c)
Micromaster420 /
Motor Amplifier
a.c. motor driver

Output 1 Output 2
D.C. loads
Encoder /
Input 1
Thalheim 3600 Input 5
(counter) Input 2
COMPUTER
Input 3
Input 4

Fig. 6. Detailed scheme of experimental connection for tracking system.

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
6 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx

3.2. The operation of the solar tracking system

In Fig. 6, a detailed scheme for the experimental connection of

Fig. 7. Tracking system.
so that, at noon, it was provided with sunlight that is normal to the
array plane. A detailed scheme of the fixed system was given in
Fig. 4. Voltage and current outputs vary according to the amount
of sunlight striking the surface of the array and the movement of
the sun during the day. At noon, the fixed system achieves maxi-
mum radiation and voltage and current reach the highest values.
Data obtained from the experimental fixed system were trans-
ferred to the computer by means of electronic circuits and compo-
nents and evaluated using the Matlab software program. The fixed
system was shown in Fig. 5.
the tracking array was illustrated. The purpose of the experiment
was to enable the array to accurately track the sun throughout
the day with the aid of a computer controlled system. Matlab soft-
ware was used to calculate the position and angle value of the sun
at specific times each day. The tracking system was therefore capa-
ble of moving the array in both east–west and a north–south axis
(Fig. 7).
An AC motor moves the array to meet the sun azimuth angle be-
tween sunrise and sunset. To achieve this east–west exchange, the
array was required to face a specific number of degrees each day.
This angle also determines the number of steps of the motor within
the day. A counter value, corresponding to each step, was then cal-
culated. After the motor begins to work, a pulse number received
from the encoder in the direction of movement was compared with
the value calculated on the computer. When the counter has
reached the required value, the operation of the motor was
stopped. In this way the driver of the AC motor and the movement
of the array was controlled by the computer.
A second DC motor provides for the north–south movement of
the array. Once angular calculations were made on the computer,
the total tilt angle of the array for the day was found out. As the tilt
angle varies according to the time of day, the DC motor was oper-
ated by the computer to adjust the array so that the sunlight re-
mains normal to its surface. Consequently, two-axis movement
of the array was achieved and sunlight was utilized efficiently
within the day.
4. Results and discussion
The effect of sunlight changes according to time and geograph-
ical location. Due to its geographical position (26–45°E/36–42°N),
Turkey has a high solar energy potential. In this study, two PVsys-

Table 1
Voltage, current and power values of related to tracking and fixed arrays obtained by the data recorded on the computer for a sunny day and the time of each step number
(example data points).

Steps Time (h:m) I1 (A) U1 (V) I2 (A) U2 (V) P1 (W) P2 (W)

1 07:16 0.7826 8.7871 0.158 1.8179 6.8770 0.2879
2 07:46 1.3753 13.4057 0.3431 4.1960 18.4369 1.4397
3 08:14 1.8008 12.9812 0.6202 7.7197 23.3766 4.7882
4 08:40 2.1199 12.9812 0.9172 11.4426 27.5192 10.4949
5 09:05 2.3023 12.9683 1.1877 12.9213 29.8569 15.3468
6 09:28 2.4011 12.9554 1.4319 12.9527 31.1070 18.5463
7 09:50 2.4923 12.9554 1.6958 12.7375 32.2882 21.6002
8 10:10 2.5074 12.9426 1.8673 12.7251 32.4528 23.7622
9 10:29 2.5606 12.9297 2.0521 12.7126 33.1083 26.0876
10 10:48 2.5986 12.9940 2.2633 12.7251 33.7667 28.8001
11 11:06 2.7202 12.9297 2.3688 12.7126 35.1714 30.1140
12 11:23 2.7354 12.9297 2.4612 12.7500 35.3679 31.3803
13 11:40 2.7354 12.9168 2.5470 12.7126 35.3327 32.3789
14 11:57 2.7202 12.9168 2.5932 12.7251 35.1364 32.9983
15 12:14 2.7278 12.9040 2.6592 12.7126 35.1995 33.8049
16 12:31 2.7506 12.9040 2.7515 12.7251 35.4936 35.0135
17 12:48 2.6670 12.8397 2.7119 12.7126 34.2435 34.4759
18 13:06 2.7050 12.8911 2.7119 12.7002 34.8705 34.4422
19 13:24 2.6594 12.8782 2.6460 12.7002 34.2486 33.6042
20 13:43 2.6822 12.8654 2.5998 12.6753 34.5077 32.9528
21 14:03 2.6290 12.8397 2.4810 12.6504 33.7557 31.3856
22 14:24 2.5378 12.8268 2.3292 12.6255 32.5524 29.4077
23 14:47 2.4619 12.8139 2.1247 12.6006 31.5461 26.7723
24 15:11 2.3023 12.7753 1.8673 12.5508 29.4126 23.4367
25 15:37 2.0667 12.7496 1.5440 12.5010 26.3502 19.3018
26 16:05 1.7628 12.6981 1.1679 12.4263 22.3844 14.5128
27 16:35 1.1625 12.5566 0.6598 8.0310 14.5976 5.2992
28 17:06 0.4331 4.4900 0.2243 2.5027 1.9446 0.5615
29 17:30 0.1216 0.7591 0.0858 0.7844 0.0923 0.0673

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx 7

14 40

12 35

30
10
>: tracking array
o: fixed array 25

Power (W)
Voltage (V)

8 >: tracking array

o: fixed array
20
6
15

4
10

2 5

0 0
07:15 09:05 10:48 12:14 13:43 15:37 17:37 07:15 09:05 10:48 12:14 13:43 15:37 17:30
Time (Hours:minutes) Time (Hours:minutes)
Fig. 8. The voltage values of the tracking and fixed array (a sunny day). Fig. 10. The power values of the tracking and fixed array (a sunny day).

3 14

12
2.5

10
2 >: tracking array
Current (A)

o: fixed array
Voltage (V)

>: tracking array

o: fixed array 8
1.5
6

1
4

0.5 2

0 0
07:15 09:05 10:48 12:14 13:43 15:37 17:30 07:20 09:09 10:48 12:12 13:30 15:51 17:57

Time (Hours:minutes) Time (Hours:minutes)

Fig. 9. The current values of the tracking and fixed array (a sunny day). Fig. 11. The voltage values of the tracking and fixed array (a cloudy–sunny day).

3.5
tems including two identical arrays were mounted in the city of
Elazig (39.14°E/38.40°N) [40]; one was fixed and other was solar 3
tracking. The days when the experimental studies were being real-
ized were: 27 October (a sunny day) and 28 October (a cloudy–
2.5
sunny day). According to meteorological data [40], the insolation
value is 3531.02 W h/m2 for a sunny day and 3042.14 W h/m2 for
Current (A)

2
the other day. The number of sun hours for a sunny day is 9.2 h/ >: tracking array
day and the other day is 7 h/day. According to meteorological data o: fixed array
[40], the average temperature of October is 12.8 °C. 1.5
The fixed array faced the south with a 52.46° the best tilt angle
to maximize the level of sunlight received at noon for the region’s 1
position on 27 October. The tilt angle was calculated by taking the
position of the region, latitude, date and time data into account. 0.5
Thus, at noon (12:00) for that day, the sunlight was at a normal an-
gle to the array surface. With the software program prepared, data
0
was provided to the solar tracking system to enable it track the sun 07:20 09:09 10:48 12:12 13:30 15:51 17:57
throughout the day. The data from both systems were recorded to Time (Hours:minutes)
the online computer and evaluated by the software program. The
software registered electrical parameters every 1 min. Fig. 12. The current values of the tracking and fixed array (a cloudy–sunny day).
To compare 2 days during the experiment, we compiled data re-
corded on the computer for those days including voltage, current The first day was cloudless and sunny and the second was partly
and power outputs of both the solar tracking and fixed systems. cloudy. For the sunny day, step numbers and current, voltage and

Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
8 A. Sßenpinar, M. Cebeci / Applied Energy xxx (2011) xxx–xxx
40
35
30
25
Power (W)
>: tracking array
o: fixed array
20
15
10
5
0
07:20 09:09 10:48 12:12 13:30 15:51 17:57
Time (Hours:minutes)
Fig. 13. The power values of the tracking and fixed array (a cloudy–sunny day).
power values of the array corresponding to these numbers are gi-
ven in Table 1. The values obtained for the solar tracking array
were shown with I1, U1, P1, and values of the fixed array are shown
with I2, U2, P2 [26]. Since the tracking array system follows the sun
position continuously, its output current increases and so its out-
put power is higher than fixed system generally. This is because
the output current of array is directly proportional to the solar
irradiation. The tracking system follows the sun position in two-
axis by means of two motors. So, the array is utilizes maximum
possible solar energy. The large number of modules can be con-
nected to the tracking system due to significant power of AC and
DC motors which were used in experiment. Utilization of incre-
mental encoder for AC motor allows comparing real position of
the array with position expected basing on calculation according
to astronomical model. This prevents system from developing an
offset over the time, and allows system to correct itself in case if
strong winds move the tracking array mounting, with very high
precision of 0.0033°.
In Fig. 8, it can be seen that the voltage values of both arrays are
very close. However, in the early hours of the morning and in late
hours of evening, the difference between these values increases,
while at other times they display similarities.
In the graphic in Fig. 9, between 07:30–10:30am and 13:30–
17:30pm, the current values of the solar tracking array are greater
than those of the fixed array. So, the power of tracking array also
increases. This amount decreases from 100% to 150% in the early
hours of the morning to 1–2% at noon hours. Values of the array
current are similar between 11:00am and 13:00pm. In the same
condition between 13:30pm and 17:30pm, current values increase
from 1–2% to 60% step-by-step. If the average of the exchange be-
tween the currents is taken, it becomes obvious that the solar
tracking array generates 13.25% more power than the fixed system
on the day when the experiment was done (Fig. 10). This efficiency
could change according to the region and time. From this data, it
was seen that the solar tracking array was more advantageous than
the fixed array [26].
Lower voltage, current and power values were obtained from
both arrays on the cloudy day as illustrated in Figs. 11–13. The
amount of the solar radiation on both arrays became low because
of clouds and so their output power decreased.
5. Conclusion
The important characteristic of the solar tracking system, which
works more efficiently than the fixed one, is that it tracks the
Please cite this article in press as: Sß enpinar A, Cebeci M. Evaluation of power output for fixed and two-axis tracking PVarrays. Appl Energy (2011),
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.043
movement of the sun online according to geographical position
values. Therefore, when the system was mounted in a different re-
gion, it was only necessary to enter the relevant date and position
data for the system to be able to track the sun. The system can
function independently of cloudy weather as it calculates where
the sun should be at specific times and moves the array accord-
ingly. In comparison to the fixed unit, the observable benefits of
the two-axis tracking array can be summarized as follows:
– a significant increase occurs in the overall output power of the
PVmodule,
– due to motors powers, tracking system moves lots of arrays,
– output power has good performance and gain as it works at
MPPT,
– average output power is 13.25% higher.
While the two-axis tracking PVsystem is more expensive than
the fixed system, it can be made more economical by connecting
a numbers of PVmodules in series or parallel and using the single
computer as controller.
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