Design and Implementation

of an Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost
Robotic Solar Tracker

K. Damayanti, T. Sunil Reddy, B. M. Reddy,

Avireni Srinivasulu and SM-IEEE

Abstract In the recent past, solar panel (Konar and Mandal in IEE Proc A Sci
Meas Technol 138:237–241, 1991, [1]) has been under use to convert solar energy
into electrical energy. The solar systems can be connected to electrical grids and
also be used as a stationary system. The maximum solar power received by the
earth is around 84 TW, of this, 12 TW of power is consumed every day by the
world. A concept has been proposed (Gruber in Proceedings of IEEE power
electronics specialists conference, pp 128–138, 1970, [2], Snyman and Enslin in
Proceedings of 20th annual IEEE power electronics specialists conference, vol 1,
pp 67–74, 1989, [3], Yang et al. in IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap 59:1546–
1556, 2012, [4]) that by using Arduino extract maximum energy from the solar
panel (Ram and Rajasekar in IEEE Trans Power Electron 32:8486–8499, 2017,
[5]). If the solar panels are placed perpendicular to the Sun maximum amount of
solar energy can be extracted (Kim et al. in Proceedings of the 31st intersociety
energy conversion engineering conference, vol 3, pp 1673–1678, 1996, [6],
Luque-Heredia et al. in Proceedings of 3rd world conference on photovoltaic
energy conversion, vol 1, pp 857–860, 2003, [7]). So, it is important to track the
Sun’s location and position of the solar panel. In the case of fixed solar panels,
energy conversion at morning and evening is less, but it is more at noon (Liu et al.
in Proceedings of IEEE 3rd international future energy electronics conference and
ECCE Asia (IFEEC 2017—ECCE Asia), pp 932–935, 2017, [8]). As at noon, the
solar panel is placed perpendicular to the sun. The proposed work is to design a
system to track the sun’s position (Kobayashi et al. in IEEE Trans Industr Electron

K. Damayanti · T. Sunil Reddy · B. M. Reddy

Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering,
V.F.S.T.R University (Vignan’s University), Vadlamudi 522213, Andhra Pradesh, India
e-mail: damayanthi5088@gmail.com
T. Sunil Reddy
e-mail: tetala.sunilreddy96@gmail.com
A. Srinivasulu (&)
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering,
JECRC University, Jaipur 303905, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: avireni_s@yahoo.com

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 127

V. Nath and J. K. Mandal (eds.), Nanoelectronics, Circuits and Communication
Systems, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 511,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0776-8_12
128 K. Damayanti et al.

53:495–499, 2006, [9]). Photoresistors will be used as sensors in this system. The
system consists of light-dependent resistors, Arduino Uno, RC servomotors, and a
solar panel. The proposed method will give an output up to 20% more energy than
solar panels without entering tracking systems.

Keywords Maximum energy · Solar pannel · LDR · Solar tracker

1 Introduction

For varied applications throughout the world, conversion of sunlight into electrical
energy is the most resourceful method through photovoltaic technology. It is used
for electrification, water pumping, satellite communication, etc. This energy effi-
ciency depends on climatic conditions such as temperature and solar radiation [8].
The majority of the solar systems are fixed solar modules. Solar photovoltaic
system is used to convert solar energy into DC electricity which is one among the
simple and clean energy conversions. In Malaysia, primary sources of electrical
energy are coal and oil for a long period of time and they are now extinct. So that an
alternative renewable energy [4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24] system is created to
produce electricity through solar energy panels.

1.1 Solar Tracker [18, 1]

There are many solar tracking systems available in the world. They can be
classified as
(a) Single-axis tracking system [13]
(b) Dual-axis tracking system [16, 20]
In single-axis tracking system, only one servomotor is used which gives an
output of 0–180° as the Sun moves from east to west. But in dual-axis tracking
system, two servomotors are used in x, y-axis position in a 2 D plane. In this
tracking system, each servomotor has an output of 0–180° and with the combina-
tion of these two servomotors gives an output of 0–360°.
The most advantage of our project is tracking the sun’s position using light-
dependent resistors (LDRs) which can be seen in Fig. 1. Here we have used solar
panel, LDRs, resistors, Arduino Uno board, and RC servomotors for a perfect solar
tracking system [11, 21]. Using this solar tracking system, we can extract more
power when compared to the fixed solar tracking system. We can extract 100%
more energy from the Sun, when the solar panel is placed perpendicular to the
Sun. Maximum amount of solar energy can be extracted [7, 10].
Design and Implementation of an Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost … 129

Fig. 1 Block diagram

1.2 Methodology

This project is summed up in two parts, i.e., hardware and software. Hardware
consists of LDRs, solar panel, and RC servomotors. Software consists of Arduino
Uno board which includes programming. A novel algorithm has been proposed for
comparing the four LDR’s and for rotation of the RC servomotors.

2 Hardware Implementation

2.1 Hardware [16]

First, LDRs have high resistance. When a high-intensity light falls on the LDR’s
then its resistance drops and allows current to flow through it. LDR’s are light
sensitive devices. In this solar tracking system, LDR sensors measure sunlight
intensity and are taken as input signal.
When the solar rays fall on the four LDRs then the output of the LDRs is
compared and based on this comparison, we get output as rotation of RC
servomotors.

2.2 Solar Panel

Solar panel consists of photovoltaic cells [17, 22, 23] which convert solar energy
into electricity as shown in Fig. 2. It consists of a junction which divides protons
and electrons into equal halves. When the solar rays hit the solar panel, the protons
and electrons move away from this junction and generate current flow between two
oppositely charges of layers. The position of the Sun changes time to time so it is
required to position the solar panel perpendicular to Sun for an increase in the
efficiency of photovoltaic cell [5, 13, 1, 24, 25].
130 K. Damayanti et al.

Fig. 2 Solar panel

‘n’ type Si
Junction
‘p’ type Si

Photons from Sun light

2.3 RC (Radio Control) Servomotors

Servomotor contains a DC motor [26] and servo arm (output shaft) which is con-
nected to a motor with gear system and a circuit which controls the shaft’s position
and the main objective of this is to control the angular position of the RC servo.
PWM signal is given as input to voltage converter (IC LM 358) and output to
amplifier [18].
In Fig. 3, output shaft is given as input to potentiometer. Output of the poten-
tiometer is given as input to amplifier which compares the current position of the
shaft with the desired position of the shaft, i.e., PWM signal and if any difference is
traced out, it is known as error signal and it is amplified and is used to drive the dc
motor in the required direction by eliminating the error. The output shaft then gets
the desired position when the error is zero.

Fig. 3 RC servomotor
Design and Implementation of an Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost … 131

2.4 Arduino Uno Board and Code

Arduino (IDE) is the open source software which makes it easy to write the code
and upload this to the board. This runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. The
code can be written in Java, which is based on processing and other softwares. Any
version of the Arduino can be used in this software which can be seen in the control
flowchart of Fig. 4.
Here, Arduino board is used to interface LDRs with servomotors.
Code

#include <Servo.h>
Servo
bottomservoxaxis;
Servo topservoyaxis;
int bottomservox = 0;
int topservoy = 0;
int topservoymaxLimit =
160; int topservoyminLimit
= 0;

Fig. 4 Control logic

flowchart [11]
132 K. Damayanti et al.

int ldrattopleft = A0;

int ldrattopright = A1;
int ldratbottomleft =
A2;
int ldratbottomright =
A3; int topleft=0;
int topright=0;
int
bottomleft=0;
int
bottomright=0;
int averageoftop=0;
int
averageofbottom=0;
int averageofleft=0;
int
averageofright=0;
void setup ()
{
topservoyaxis.attach(11);
topservoyaxis.write(0);
bottomservoxaxis.attach(10);
bottomservoxaxis.write(0);
Serial.begin(9600);
delay(2000);
}
void loop()
{
bottomservox =
bottomservoxaxis.read(); topservoy =
topservoyaxis.read(); topleft =
analogRead(ldrattopleft); topright =
analogRead(ldrattopright);
bottomleft = analogRead(ldratbottomleft);
bottomright =
analogRead(ldratbottomright); averageoftop
= (topleft + topright) / 2; averageofbottom =
(bottomleft + bottomright) / 2; averageofleft =
(topleft + bottomleft) / 2; averageofright =
(topright + bottomright) / 2;
Serial.print(“average of top:”);
Serial.println(averageoftop);
Serial.print(“average of bottom:”);
Serial.println(averageofbottom);
Serial.print(“average of left:”);
Serial.println(averageofleft);
Serial.print(“average of right:”);
Serial.println(averageofright);
delay(1000);
if (averageoftop<averageofbottom)
{
Serial.println(“Servo y-axis turn 0 to 180 degrees”);
Design and Implementation of an Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost … 133

topservoyaxis.write(topservoy
+5); if
(topservoy>topservoymaxLimit)
{
topservoy = topservoymaxLimit;
}
delay(10);
}
else if (averageoftop>averageofbottom)
{
Serial.println(“Servo y-axis turn 180 to 0
degrees”); topservoyaxis.write(topservoy -5);
if (topservoy<topservoyminLimit)
{
topservoy = topservoyminLimit;
}
delay(10);
}
else
{
topservoyaxis.write(topservoy);
}
if (averageofleft<averageofright)
{
Serial.println(“Servo x-axis turn 0 to 180
degrees”); bottomservoxaxis.write(bottomservox
+5); delay(10);
}
else if (averageofleft>averageofright)
{
Serial.println(“Servo x-axis turn 180 to 0
degrees”); bottomservoxaxis.write(bottomservox
-5); delay(10);
}
else
{
bottomservoxaxis.write(bottomservox);
}
delay(10);
}
134 K. Damayanti et al.

3 Experimental Results

The Arduino board, solar panel, servomotors, and connecting wires have been
assembled and developed as an energy-efficient solar tracker. This solar tracker
system can track the Sun moving from east to west or from northeast to southwest
changes. As this solar tracker consists of two servomotors in X-axis and Y-axis, it
covers 360° rotation and track in all directions (east, west, north, and south).
When the light intensity is more on B and B‫ ׀‬LDRs, the bottom servomotor
remains constant and top servomotor rotates in clockwise direction. The snapshot of
the same is shown in Fig. 5.
Similarly, when the light intensity is more on A and B-LDRs, the bottom ser-
vomotor rotates in clockwise direction and top servo remains constant. The snap-
shot of the same is shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5 More light intensity

on B and B‫ ׀‬LDRs

Fig. 6 More light intensity

on A and B LDRs
Design and Implementation of an Energy-Efficient, Low-Cost … 135

Fig. 7 More light intensity

on A‫ ׀‬and B‫ ׀‬LDRs

Fig. 8 More light intensity

on A and A‫ ׀‬LDRs

Likewise, when the light intensity is more on A‫ ׀‬and B‫ ׀‬LDRs, the bottom
servo rotates anticlockwise direction and top servo remains constant. The snapshot
of the same is shown in Fig. 7.
Similarly, when the light intensity is more on A and A‫ ׀‬LDRs, the bottom
servomotor remains constant and top servo rotates in anti-clockwise direction. The
snapshot of the same is shown in Fig. 8 (Table 1).
136 K. Damayanti et al.

Table 1 The results of proposed model with other models

S.No. Our project Others project
1 Less expensive More expensive
2 Easily portable Not easily portable
3 360° tracking 180° tracking
4 20% more efficient 10% more efficient
5 Less complex to understand More complex to understand

4 Conclusion

An easy and new code in C language has been generated in Arduino software for
solar tracking system and worked out practically with an excellent result. This
concept and controls can be used for big modules for tracking the Sun location.
Hence, the proposed system shall be effectively used for the renewable energy. This
can also be used with a compact model to generate power for individual houses,
remote areas weather monitoring and tracking system, etc.

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