A single-axis solar tracking system and monitoring software

Abstract

In this paper, the application of a portable solar tracking system is implemented to increase energy generation of the photovoltaic (PV) panels. While this portable system provides the monitoring of the maximum solar radiation values, the creation of more efficient solar tracking system is also another significant contribution. Thus, a system which continuously records and monitors the generated voltage, solar irradiation value and the panel position is proposed. The voltage, actual panel direction and irradiation data is continuously read by the improved control circuit and transmitted via Radio Frequency (RF) communication to the data collection card connected to the computer. The data received by the data acquisition cards is sent to the computer via Universal Serial Bus (USB) communication protocol. These data are monitored through the interface coded in computer and also recorded in the database. Thus, the retrospective irradiation and voltage information obtained by monitoring system performance can be monitored by the proposed system.