O. A. Babalola & A. B.

Alabi
19
Centrepoint Journal (Science Edition) 2141-3819/2012 $5.00 + 0.00
Volume 18, No. 1, pages 19 36 2012 University of Ilorin
http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/centrepoint


CPJ 2012037/18103


Low Cost Dual Axis Automated Sunlight Tracker
Design for Optimized PV Cell Power Yield

O. A. Babalola* and A. B. Alabi

Department of Physics, University of Ilorin. Ilorin, Nigeria

(Received March 12, 2012; Accepted May 27, 2012)


ABSTRACT: This paper presents a cost efficient heliostat that is able to follow the
sun with high accuracy. The main purpose of this work is to design and fabricate a
dualaxis solar tracker with a view to assess the improvement in solar conversion
efficiency. A comparative analysis was performed using three systems, i.e.,
DualAxis Tracking, SingleAxis Tracking, and Stationary Modules. An intelligent
positioning design was achieved without the use of microcontrollers, which
simplifies the tracking algorithm that consists of a closed loop dynamic feedback
system acting on four pairs of LDR sensors. The results showed that the use of the
DualAxis Tracking System produced 19% gain on power output, compared with a
SingleAxis Tracking System. The gain of output power with the DualAxis
Tracking System was much higher (56%) when compared with a stationary system
inclined at 30 to the horizontal.

Keywords: Heliostat, PV Cell, Sunlight Tracking System, Power Optimization, Solar
Energy.

Introduction

A major energy source which has remained relatively untapped is solar
energy. In spite of the wide spread nature and abundance of solar energy, and
a well-established technology for converting it to electricity, the bulk of
Mankinds energy needs is still sourced from fossil fuels with attendant
deleterious effects on the environment- Hanieh(2009).

*Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: babalolaoa@gmail.com
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
20
Sustainable electrical sources like solar photovoltaic arrays are now
becoming increasingly important as environmentally friendly alternatives to
fossil fuels. But, while theyre nice for the environment, sustainable sources
arent always easy to apply. These sources are characterized by both
stringent peak-power limitations and use it or lose it availability.
Successful application of sustainable energy sources therefore depends on
strict attention to efficiency in both power conversion and energy storage-
Davies (1993).
A heliostat is a two axis solar tracking mirror that reflects sunlight onto a
fixed receiver. Furthermore, in a heliostat, the geometry between the Sun,
Mirror, and Receiver are constantly changing throughout the day. In general
the mirror is aimed normal to the bisector between the sun and receiver.
"Direct Solar Trackers", such as Dishes, Troughs, and Lenses are not
heliostats because they are generally aimed directly at the Sun.
There are many applications for the heliostat, such as in Solar Water
Heating, Lighting, Desalination (Evaporating salt water to make fresh water),
Producing Steam to generate electricity and Direct Photovoltaic electricity
generation- Kreider and Kreith(1981).
A solar panel receives the most sunlight when it is perpendicular to the
suns rays, but the sunlight direction changes regularly with changing
seasons and weather. Currently, most solar panels are fixed, i.e., the solar
array has a fixed orientation to the sky and does not turn to follow the sun-
Harakawa and Tujimoto (2001). To increase the unit area illumination of
sunlight on solar panels, we designed a solar tracking electricity generation
system. The design mechanism holds the plane mirror and allows the mirror
to perform an approximate 3-dimensional (3-D) hemispheroidal rotation to
track the suns movement during the day and improve the overall electricity
generation by reflecting the suns radiation to a fixed solar panel. This system
can achieve the maximum illumination and energy concentration and cut the
cost of electricity by without the use of microcontrollers or computer control.
The purpose of this work is to design a simple, cost-effective sun
reflecting system that re-directs solar energy to areas that would not naturally
receive direct sunlight at 90
o
to its surface. However, unlike current sun-
tracking technologies, this work is innovative in that it combines a brainless
control system with solar mirrors to reflect sunlight unto photovoltaic cells.
From analyzing the current solar technologies, it was determined that there is
a lack of available brainless technology- Davies (1993); current industry
standards all include memory or programming for precise solar tracking. This
reliance on brains has inflated the cost and accuracy needed for harnessing
solar energy.


O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
21

Methodology and Design

The key components of the heliostat system are the reflecting mirror, two
motors, a control system, and a photo sensor system. The photo sensor
system will provide feedback through the control loop and consequently
orient the mirrors to maximize solar energy intake. The testing and validation
of the initial design included a proof-of-concept, physical testing, a thorough
lighting simulation, and several thought experiments. These tests and
validations yielded a final design that includes the use of apertures to
minimize external noise impact.
One of the more recent advents of solar technology has been the
development of solar photovoltaic cells which provide a clean and reliable
source of energy through semi-conductors generating electricity from
sunlight. The photons from the sunlight collide with electrons on the solar
cell causing the electrons to jump into a higher energy state and creating
electricity. The photovoltaic (PV) industry is consistently high-growth,
averaging a growth rate of 30% in the past decade Schramek and Mills
(2000).
Though PVs have a relatively low payback time (between one and three
years), the initial investment is larger than current residential electricity costs
and can be prohibitively costly for residential or small-scale use Schramek
and Mills (2004). Solar energy has been used to not only heat and ventilate,
but also to air-condition homes. For example, commercial products has been
made that harnesses energy with PV cells for a complete climate control
system for residential use Saxena and Dutta.(1990).

Control Theory

There are two basic forms of control, open and closed loop. Open loop
control does not include feedback mechanisms, while closed loop does.
Current solar tracking technologies all use heliostats, which are a form of
open loop control that predict the suns position based upon a formula for the
position of the sun throughout the year. Because this system predicts where
the sun will be and bases controls on this, it is referred to as a brained
system. This type of system requires a microprocessor which is capable of
calculating the sun's position for all times of all days throughout the year.
Another option is to avoid feedback altogether, and to have a stationary
mirror. This presents a very cheap solution, but with its low cost comes
extremely low efficiency. This type of system cannot track the sun
throughout the day. A third type of feedback which is not yet employed in
solar technology is closed loop feedback. This type of feedback detects the
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
22
positioning of the sun through sensors, and guides motion based upon the
location of redirected energy relative to the desired direction Konar and
Mandal(1991). Because this system is not capable of predicting the suns
position, but rather reacts to where it is measured to be, this will be referred
to as a brainless system.
A typical solar tracking PV system must be equipped with two essential
features:

a) Azimuth tracking for adjusting the tilt angle of the surface of the PV array
during changing seasons; and
b) Daily solar tracking for maximum solar radiation incidence to the PV
array.


Fig. 1 Variation of the Suns Declination with Day of the Year. According to
GCREEDER (2009)

The declination, in degrees for any day of the year (N) can be
calculated approximately by the Coopers equation

1

Function Description

The key components of the heliostat system are the reflecting mirror, two
motors, a control system, and a photo sensor system. The photo sensor
system will provide feedback through the control loop and consequently
orient the mirrors to maximize solar energy intake. The testing and validation
O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
23
of the initial design included a proof-of-concept, physical testing, a thorough
lighting simulation, and several thought experiments. These tests and
validations yielded a final design that includes the use of apertures to
minimize external noise impact.

Control Theory

There are two basic forms of control, open and closed loop. Open loop
control does not include feedback mechanisms, while closed loop does.
Current solar tracking technologies all use heliostats, which are a form of
open loop control that predict the suns position based upon a formula for the
position of the sun throughout the year. Because this system predicts where
the sun will be and bases controls on this, it is referred to as a brained
system. This type of system requires a microprocessor which is capable of
calculating the sun's position for all times of all days throughout the year-
Koyuncu and Balasubramanian (1991).
Another option is to avoid feedback altogether, and to have a stationary
mirror. This presents a very cheap solution, but with its low cost comes
extremely low efficiency. This type of system cannot track the sun
throughout the day. A third type of feedback which is not yet employed
extensively in heliostat technology is the use of the closed loop feedback.
This type of feedback detects the positioning of the sun through sensors, and
guides motion based upon the location of redirected energy relative to the
desired direction because this system is not capable of predicting the suns
position, but rather reacts to where it is perceived to be, this will be referred
to as a brainless system.
A typical solar tracking PV system must be equipped with two essential
features:

a) Azimuth tracking for adjusting the tilt angle of the surface of the PV array
during changing seasons; and
b) Daily solar tracking for maximum solar radiation incidence to the PV
array.

The block diagram of the solar tracking system and the logic flow of the
Tracking Control are presented in figures 2 and 3. Presented in figures 8, 9
and 10 are the Analogue and the digital hardware implementation of the
system and the logic.
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
24



Fig. 2: The block diagram of the solar tracking system



O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
25



Fig. 3 Tracking Control Flow Chart

Tracking Sensor Design

One of our key modules is the sensor. Because the sensor tracks the solar
light source orientation, selecting the right tracking sensor is very important.
CdS sensors are cheap, reliable, and photo-sensitive. In our design, the CdS
sensor provides the major advantage that its photo sensitivity (i.e., spectral
characteristics) is between 0.4 mm and 0.8 mm, which is close to the
wavelength scope of visible solar light (0.38 to 0.76 mm), as shown in Figure
4.




Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
26



Fig 4. CdS Stereogram and Sensitivity Scope compared with CdSe
and Cd(S,Se) Sensor According to Hanieh(2009).

One of our key modules is the sensor module. Because the sensor tracks
the solar light sources orientation, selecting the right tracking sensor is very
important. CdS sensors (see Figure 4) are cheap, reliable, and photo-
sensitive. In our design, the CdS sensor provides the following advantages:

Without polarity (ohmic structure), the CdS sensor is easy to use.
CdS sensors have a photo-variable resistor in which the internal
impedance changes with the intensity of light energy.
When the ambient light brightens, the CdS sensors internal impedance
reduces.
The CdS sensors photo sensitivity (i.e., spectral characteristics) is 0.4 to
0.8 mm, which is close to the wavelength scope of visible solar light
(0.38 to 0.76 mm).

O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
27
The Light Sensor Unit

The tracking sensor is composed of eight units of similar CdS sensors,
which are located at the east, west, south, and north to detect the light source
intensity in the four orientations. The eight sensors are divided into two
groups, east/west and north/south. In the east/west group, the east and west
CdS sensors compare the intensity of received light in the east and west
coordinates while the north/south group of CdS sensors compare the intensity
of received light in the north and south coordinate as shown in Figure 5. Each
of these has two LDRs for coarse/wide angle tracking and two LDRs for
locking the heliostats position when the sun rays pass through them.
At the CdS sensor positions, brackets isolate the light from other orientations
to achieve a wide-angle search and quickly determine the suns position as
shown in Figure 6.

Fig. 5 Transverse Cross-Section of the Light Sensor Unit emphasizing the
east-west group of LDRs

Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
28
The brackets are designed to have an aperture of approximately =15
o

each for the wide angle-tracking mode and less that =0.1
o
for the locking
mode. The design is such that the brackets have a depth of x such that
2
and a width of y which was designed to be about 40 mm. The locking
aperture was designed to have a depth L such that
3
where d the diameter of the tube was designed to be approximately 12 mm.

Fig. 6. Longitudinal Cross-Section of the Light Sensor Unit

Overall, the tracking error was designed to be given by the equation

4

where X is the distance between the light sensor unit and the heliostat and Y
is the distance between the Sun(light source) and the vertically placed solar
panel. The arrangement is shown in figure 7 for tacking in the east-west
direction.

O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
29


Fig. 7 East to West Solar Track with respect to Heliostat-Solar Panel
Position




Fig. 8 Light intensity Comparator Circuit

Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
30


Fig. 9 Digital logical Circuit



Fig. 10 H-Bridge Driver Circuit
O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
31

Results and Discussion

We compared the Relative Performance of the fixed Solar Panel tilted at
30o to the Horizontal (Stationary Module ) with the SingleAxis Tracking
System and also with the DualAxis Tracking System at Ilorin (0830'N,
0435'E), Nigeria in the month of October, 2010. A seven-day average of the
power obtained from a fixed solar cell of 60 W rating was obtained for three
sets of identical solar cells. A 10 , 100 W resistor each was used as the load
to each resistor for the 16 V solar panels. The single axis tracking was done
with the Heliostats mirror tilted at 30o to the Horizontal so that its
performance can be accurately compared with the directly irradiated fixed
solar panel. The result of the power obtained for the load resistor between
8:00 am and 7:00 pm is presented in Table 1.
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
32
Table 1. Seven-day Average Result for the Fixed, Single Axis and Dual Axis Operated Solar Cells

Seven-day Average Result (October 2010)
Stationary Module
SingleAxis Tracker DualAxis Tracker
Time

Voltage (V)

Current (A)

Power (W)

Voltage (V)

Current (A)

Power (W)

Voltage (V)

Current (A)

Power (W)
8:00 6.17 0.03 0.16 6.55 0.07 0.46 7.04 0.08 0.57
9:00 8.64 0.8 6.95 10.39 2.15 22.33 15.51 1.87 28.98
10:00 16 1.6 25.63 17.9 1.99 35.6 19 2.41 45.83
11:00 16.4 1.86 30.57 19.85 1.77 35.12 19.83 2.2 43.6
12:00 17.54 1.6 28 18.4 2.42 44.46 20.35 2.58 52.6
13:00 18.13 1.79 32.44 18.45 2.37 43.75 19.93 2.58 51.32
14:00 15.73 1.48 23.26 19.68 1.76 34.54 20.13 2.2 44.22
15:00 17.33 1.58 27.3 18.03 1.77 31.97 18.44 2.25 41.5
16:00 13.56 1.18 15.94 17.3 1.77 30.58 17.87 2.18 38.92
17:00 6.47 0.8 5.17 14.19 2.27 32.16 17.4 2.11 36.74
18:00 6.02 0.51 3.05 6.68 1.8 12.04 9 1.58 14.19
19:00 5.84 0.01 0.05 6.31 0.02 0.12 6.39 0.03 0.16


O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
33
The result show that the peak output voltage of the loaded solar panels
obtained to be approximately 18V occurred at about12:00 to 13:00 for the
fixed solar panel, whereas for the single axis solar cell, it occurred at about
10:00 to 11:00 and for the dual axis solar tracker, this peak occurred at
between 9:00 and 10:00.
A plot of the average Solar Energy power output and the time of the day
(Fig. 11) shows that even though all the cells show a peak power output at
between 12:00 and 13:00, the solar cell tracked by the dual axis heliostat
produced the highest power of about 50 W. The Stationary module was only
able to deliver 30 W within this same peak time. At all times considered, the
Dual axis heliostat outperformed both the Single axis Heliostat and the fixed
solar panel module.

8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
S
o
l
a
r

E
n
e
r
g
y

P
o
w
e
r

O
u
t
p
u
t
(
W
a
t
t
)
Time of the Day (Hour)
Stationary Module
Single Axis Tracker
Dual Axis Tracker

Fig. 11 Average Solar Energy Output versus the Time of the day

We compared the relative performance of the Stationary module with the
Dual axis Heliostat, the Stationary module with the SingleAxis Tracking
System and the SingleAxis Tracking System with the Dual axis Heliostat.
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
34
Table 2 presents the result of the percentage difference/relative performance
of these systems. We observe that a gain of 56.31% is obtained when the
dual axis heliostat is used instead of the fixed module. A gain of 45.46% is
obtained when a single-axis heliostat is used instead of the fixed module. The
relative advantage of the Dual axis heliostat over the single axis heliostat is
however approximately 19.39 %.


Table 2: Percentage difference/relative performance of the three Solar Cell
systems

7 Days Average Power(Watt) Percentage Difference Between
Time
Stationary
Module
SingleAxis
Heliostat
DualAxis
Heliostat
Stationary
Module
& Single
Axis
Heliostat
Single Axis
Heliostat &
Dual Axis
Heliostat
Stationary
Module
& Dual
Axis
Heliostat
8:00 0.16 0.46 0.57 64.23 19.38 71.17
9:00 6.95 22.33 28.98 68.90 22.92 76.03
10:00 25.63 35.60 45.83 27.99 22.32 44.07
11:00 30.57 35.12 43.60 12.97 19.45 29.90
12:00 28.00 44.46 52.60 37.03 15.46 46.76
13:00 32.44 43.75 51.32 25.85 14.75 36.79
14:00 23.26 34.54 44.22 32.65 21.89 47.40
15:00 27.30 31.97 41.50 14.62 22.95 34.21
16:00 15.94 30.58 38.92 47.87 21.43 59.04
17:00 5.17 32.16 36.74 83.92 12.47 85.93
18:00 3.05 12.04 14.19 74.65 15.19 78.50
19:00 0.05 0.12 0.16 54.80 24.51 65.88
45.46 % 19.39 % 56.31 %



Figure 12 presents the plot of the relative performance of the Stationary
module with the Dual axis Heliostat, the Stationary module with the
SingleAxis Tracking System and the SingleAxis Tracking System with the
Dual axis Heliostat. We observe that the relative performance of the Dual
axis heliostat over the single axis heliostat was relatively constant and
independent of the time of the day.
O. A. Babalola & A. B. Alabi
35
The relative performance of the single-axis heliostat system over the
fixed solar module was equal at between 12:00 and 13:00.i.e. equal
performance. However, at other times, the relative performance diverges.
This shows that tracking the suns ray become advantageous only when the
angle of incidence of the sun is large. The large drop in the relative
performance of both the single axis- and the dual axis- heliostat at 18:00 is
due to the disappearance of the sun below the horizon.

8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
f
o
r
m
a
n
c
e

O
R

P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

D
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
c
e

(
%
)
Time of the Day (Hour)
Stationary Module & Dual Axis Heliostat
Stationary Module & Single Axis Heliostat
Single Axis Heliostat & Dual Axis Heliostat

Figure 12: Percentage difference/relative performance of the three
Solar Cell systems

Conclusion

In order to collect the greatest amount of energy from the sun, solar
panels must be aligned orthogonally to the sun. For this purpose, a new solar
Centrepoint Journal Volume 18, No. 1 (2012)
36
tracking technique based on an intelligent positioning design was achieved
without the use of microcontrollers was implemented and tested in this study.
The tracking system presented has the following advantages: The tracking
system is not constrained by the geographical location of installation of the
solar panel since it is designed for searching the maximum solar irradiance in
the whole azimuth and tilt angle (except hardware limitations ) during day
times; namely, the angle of elevation does not need to be adjusted
periodically. The operator interference is minimal because of not needing to
be adjusted. A drawback of the tracker is being effected by temporal
variations in the atmospheric refractions caused by rain, cloud, fog, etc.
Thus, the system may sometimes on a cloudy day give an erroneous
detection in the direction of the sun, and lead to wrong positioning of the
solar panel.


References

Ahmed Abu Hanieh(2009). Automatic Orientation of Solar Photovoltaic Panels.
GCREEDER, AmmanJordan, March 31st April 2nd 2009
Davies, P.A.(1993). Sun-Tracking Mechanism Using Equatorial and Ecliptic Axes.
Solar Energy, v.50, 6:487-489.
Harakawa, T., Tujimoto, T.(2001). A proposal of efficiency improvement with solar
power generation system. Industrial Electronics Society, 2001. IECON '01.The
27th Annual Conference of the IEEE, 1:523-8.
Konar, A., Mandal,. A. K.(1991). Microprocessor Based Automatic Sun Tracker.
IEE Proc.-A. Vol. 138, 4:237-1.
Koyuncu, B., Balasubramanian, K.(1991). A microprocessor controlled automatic
sun tracker. IEEE Trans. on Consumer Elects., Vol. 37, 4 : 913-7.
Kreider, J. F., Kreith, F.(1981). Solar Energy Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book
Company, pp : 1-9.
Philipp Schramek, David R. Mills,(2004). Heliostats for maximum ground coverage.
Elsevier, Energy 29 701713
Saxena, A. K., Dutta, V.(1990). A Versatile Microprocessor Based Controller for
Solar Tracking. Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Conference Record of the
Twenty First IEEE, 2 : 1105-9.
Schramek P, Mills DR.,(2000). Potential of the heliostat field of a Multi Tower Solar
Array. Proceedings of the 10th SolarPACES International Symposium on Solar
Thermal Concentrating Technologies, Sydney 810 Marz.,p. 15763.