Author(s)

Y. Garcia, O. Diaz, C. Agudelo

Abstract

Climate change is currently a large concern for human society, particularly our high dependence on fossil fuels. A considerable amount of research effort is focused on renewable energies, especially solar photovoltaic (PV) generation systems. For solar PV systems, energy conversion efficiency is an active research topic, with many approaches being developed to solve this problem. One of these approaches is solar tracking systems, where the solar PV moves with the sun in order to capture the maximum direct solar radiation. This paper proposes a solar PV single-axis tracking system and compares the energy conversion efficiency with respect to a fixed solar PV installation. The proposed mechanical system is based on a servomotor moving a PV on a shaft, covering 180 degrees. A seven-element sensor is used to measure and estimate the angle of maximum solar radiation. Also, a control system was used to obtain the optimal power output from the solar PV. The system was tested in Fusagasugá, Colombia, which is located in the tropics region.

Keywords

solar PV, renewable energy, solar tracker, single-axis tracker, tropic region