Design and Simulation of a Sun Tracking Solar Power System

Abstract

Abstract Design and Simulation of a Sun Tracking Solar Power System Global energy consumption is dramatically increasing due to higher standard of living andthe increasing world population. The world has limited fossil and oil resources. As aconsequence, the need for renewable energy sources becomes more urgent. Renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power have experienced rapid growth inthe past decade. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that the U.S. solarenergy industry’s total market value grew 67% from $3.6 billion in 2009 to $6.0 billion in 2010. With the fast development of renewable energy technology, it proposes increasing demandfor the higher education. Existing curriculum in engineering technology lacks components inrenewable energy. Courses in renewable energy are not tightly coupled with laboratories. Thisproject is funded by the National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education inSTEM (TUES) program from May 2012 to April 2015. As part of the objectives of the project, asun tracking solar power system will be designed and developed as a teaching tool for thelaboratory. A majority of solar panels in use today are stationary and therefore do not output themaximum amount of power that they can actually produce. This paper describes theMatlab/Simulink simulation of a sun tracking solar power system. The simulation will be usedfor demonstration and experiments to help the students study theory of the system. The solartracker follows the sun from east to west during the day. More energy is collected by controllingthe solar panel to follow the sun like a sunflower. After simulation is complete, a physical systemwill be implemented. The simulation is realized on Matlab/Simulink platform. The simulation consists of fourmodules: PV sensors, signal conditioning circuit, controller, and motor. PV sensors detect lightintensity and convert it into current. Two PV sensors work as angle detectors. They are mountedon two 45 degree wedges to detect the exact angle in which the main solar panel must face togain maximum power output. The current is amplified using the signal conditioning circuit, andsent to the microcontroller. The microcontroller uses different control algorithms to generate asignal to control the motor to rotate the main solar panel perpendicular to the sun. An embeddedMatlab function simulate the control algorithm and mathematically generate PWM signal todrive the motor. Finally, the motor module consists of a stepper motor and motor drive. Themotor module generates mechanical movement of rotation in terms of angle. The simulationprovides an excellent platform for undergraduate engineering technology students to study a suntracking solar power system.Abstract submitted to the 2013 Annual Conference of American Society of Engineering Education