Chapter 10
Development of an Advanced Solar
Tracking Energy System
Samuel Davies, Sivagunalan Sivanathan, Ewen Constant,
and Kary Thanapalan
Abstract This paper describes the design of an advanced solar tracking system
development that can be deployed for a range of applications. The work focused on
the design and implementation of an advanced solar tracking system that follow the
trajectory of the sun’s path to maximise the power capacity generated by the solar
panel. The design concept focussed on reliability, cost effectiveness, and scalability.
System performance is of course a key issue and is at the heart of influencing the
hardware, software and mechanical design. The result ensured a better system perfor-
mance achieved. Stability issues were also addressed, in relation to optimisation and
reliability. The paper details the physical tracker device developed as a prototype, as
well as the proposed advanced control system for optimising the tracking.
Keywords Solar tracker · Physical design · Controller design · Stability ·
Optimisation
10.1 Introduction
Increased efforts in decarbonising the air includes the use of renewables, and coal’s
contribution to UK’s energy capacity demands falling from 4% (2018) to just 2.8%
(2019) is further confirmation of its downward trend. This is just one example of the
effects that political decisions and commitments are having on our basket of energy
sources contributing to the grid. The global uptake in renewables has incentivised
research and development in energy capture, storage and application [1, 2]. The Solar
Photovoltaic systems is one such technology that has grown vastly in its research
and application [2]. UK alone has seen a growth of over 13 GW capacity in solar
PV with deployment ranging from 4 KW to over 25 MW [3]. This paper focuses on
optimising the Solar PV performance with respect to its power capacity output, and
this is achieved through designing a tracker controller. The tracking system proposed
here aims to verify and build upon other research efforts made in this field [4].
S. Davies · S. Sivanathan · E. Constant · K. Thanapalan (B)
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, UK
e-mail:
[email protected]© The Author(s) 2021 77
I. Mporas et al. (eds.), Energy and Sustainable Futures, Springer Proceedings in Energy,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63916-7_10
78 S. Davies et al.
Whilst sub 4 KW systems make up over 90% of the number of installations in the
first quarter of 2020 in the UK, it only amounts to 20% of overall capacity installed.
The majority of the capacity is made up of installations greater than 5 MW [3].
Further research at the University of South Wales therefore hopes to apply the find-
ings published in this paper to investigate the feasibility of deploying on a larger
scale. This involves testing suitable methods of accomplishing a reliable way to
monitor the production, and to balance the gains against the fact that we are now
proposing to introduce moving parts into what is otherwise a mechanically advanta-
geous static system. The tracking needs to increase the overall yield to be worthwhile,
thus complementing the greater decarbonising effect of deploying on a larger scale.
10.2 System Configuration
Tracking the sun’s path is one of the efficient measures that may be adopted to improve
the panel performance. Several researchers have investigated many different tracking
mechanisms [4, 5]. The physical solar tracking system construction (Fig. 10.1a,
b) and its system performance depended on the choice of hardware, firmware and
mechanical operation of the system. The system configuration described here is
therefore with reference to its mechanical operation, and its hardware and firmware
design. Initially a small-scale prototype system is investigated to serve as a proof-
of-concept.
Mechanical operation of the system is designed to have the flexibility to rotate
more than 270º azimuth, and ~90º in elevation. The stepper motor and the linear
servo actuator are straight forward in their operation, but the linear actuator position
should be designed carefully in order to achieve the maximum elevation of 90º.
Fig. 10.1 a. Physical prototype-built. b. Mechanical model of the solar tracking system
10 Development of an Advanced Solar Tracking Energy System 79
The design was calculated taking into consideration the arrangement of suitable
components which had been selected with reference to cost and performances. The
design specification in this case was to achieve 90º in elevation. It was preferred to
have a box arrangement under the mechanical system rather than leaving the base as
plane metal. This improves the stability of the structure and secures some hardware
components to sit within the box arrangement.
The hardware design of the system is mainly based on the M16C/62P microcon-
troller which improves system stability. Rotating mechanism is simplified in this
work and the operation is simply interfaced to the Micro Controller Unit (MCU)
using the most widely available and cost effective components in the market. This
helps reduce the cost of the overall system prototype and better prepares this product
for manufacturing. The solar tracker includes a microcontroller, and so firmware
design is also an essential part of this system. Two possible design process was
investigated in this work. They are firmware design for the microcontroller, and PC
interface design [5]. The firmware design is a critical part of this system design
and all the MCU configurations are reference to the datasheet of the M16C/62P. C
language has been used to develop both Firmware for the MCU and Lab windows
CVI 2010. Lab windows CVI has been used to develop the PC user interface devel-
opment which based development environment offered by the National Instrument.
The MCU firmware development structures are based on the state machine design
adopted to superloop architecture. Each state is treated as separate functionality
modules and can perform different functions until the state is changed or navigated
through.
The remainder of this paper will describe the computer-based model developed to
represent the small-scale solar tracking prototype already described (Fig. 10.1a, b).
This model provides the basis for future math-based design, analysis and controller
design of solar tracking energy system, to be applied for various applications
including large scale deployment. The block diagram (Fig. 10.2) represent the solar
tracker model, developed in MATLAB/Simulink™. The system has been developed
from first principles for both the motor torque and the panel positioning. Panel weight
and size, along with motor parameters, were selected to match as closely as possible
Fig. 10.2 Solar tracker system model
80 S. Davies et al.
that of the physical prototype (Fig. 10.1a, b). The tracker system model receives a
series of small step inputs representing the sun’s azimuth and elevation path for the
University’s longitude and latitude, −3.33 and 51.59 respectively, for the complete
year of 2020.
The system has poles that lie at the origin of the complex s-plane, but the feedback
results in the torque output curve resembling an impulse response fed into the panel
positioning, thus ensuring a stable system over all. The controller improves the system
performance and serves to protect the motor’s longevity over time by eliminating the
otherwise overshoot during each step positioning update.
10.3 Controller Design
The target of the tracking control strategy is to develop a simple, but effective control
method to obtain the desired positioning output with reference to sun position.
This will ensure improved power capacity outputs. For simplicity and demonstra-
tion purpose a simple P-I (proportional integral) controller design was implemented
(Fig. 10.2). A P-I controller is widely used in industrial control applications to regu-
late system variables. P-I controllers use a control loop feedback mechanism to
control system variables and are both accurate and stable controllers. Without the
controller at all, the system (Fig. 10.2.) is not responsive enough and has too large a
settling time to cope with the physical dimensions modelled. The tuned controller on
the other hand improves the settling time to under one second and does so without
adding an overshoot or steady state error. The fourth-order system behaves in effect
as a first-order system with the controller in place. Note, a differential term is not
required due to there being no sudden changes on the input representing the sun’s
path, and so a two-term controller is sufficient in this case. The university is currently
developing the system further so to be able to investigate the potential advantage of
tracking stronger irradiance that may not always be on the sun’s path. The controller
in this case will need to be adapted to cope with more sudden changes with larger
step movements.
10.4 Results and Discussion
Extensive research has concluded how tracking can improve the annual yield of a
solar panel, and the proposed system here will look to further build on these results.
The transfer function (1) for tracking the azimuth plane in Fig. 10.2 is shown below,
where kd represent the damping constant, J the motor inertia, kf the back emf, kt the
torque constant, L the motor inductance, and R the motor resistance.
ki
(10.1)
s 4 (R/L + kd/J )s 3 (R ∗ kd/L ∗ J )s 2 + kp · s + ki
10 Development of an Advanced Solar Tracking Energy System 81
A comparison (Fig. 10.3a) of the system with and without the controller in place
highlights the benefit of the controller. The step input represents a single elevation
update of the panel. The controller dramatically improves the response rise time (s)
and settling time (s), and does so without overshoot. This is even more critical if
one wishes to update the panel position more frequently (e.g. each minute rather
than hourly) as the panel elevation position may not have settled in time before
receiving the next step input. The system is able to handle step inputs as frequent
as 10 s intervals with the controller in place; evident in Fig. 10.3a. Of course, it is
unnecessary to track the slow moving sun path so frequently.
A one-day snap-shot (Fig. 10.3b) serves as an example showing how the panel
position successfully tracks the sun’s path with accuracy. Here, the x-axis represent
the time(s) from sunrise to sunset, and the y-axis represent the elevation in radians.
The controller also tracks the sun’s azimuth plane (Fig. 10.3c) as reliably as it does
the sun’s elevation, again over the same sun rise to sunset duration. The sun’s azimuth
is also recorded in radians, whereby 0 degrees radians in represents North. Based on
the initial results collected to date, it is worth considering the impacts of scaling up
this system. Several advantages and incentives will be further investigated, such as
monetary gains from maximising governmental subsidies for on-grid applications,
a b
Time (S) Time (S)
c
Azimuth angle (Radians)
Time (S)
Fig. 10.3 a. Positioning with and without a controller. b. Controller tracking the Sun’s elevation.
c Controller tracking the Sun’s azimuth plane
82 S. Davies et al.
and technical gains in improving battery utilisation and battery sizing for on off-
grid applications. There is also the environmental benefit in improving the carbon
footprint, especially if scaled up to the larger solar farms.
10.5 Conclusion
The paper describes a possible solar tracking system that helps improve the power
capacity generated. Suitable combination of hardware, software and mechanical
design were detailed, and the results indicated the potential improvement in perfor-
mance with a PI designed controller in place. The system design attempts to limit
the costs whilst allowing for scalability. It’s also worth pointing out that the bene-
fits should also apply to off-grid systems, as tracking provides a higher/broader daily
energy output, thus better utilising the battery’s capacity, and so allowing for a greater
battery capacity to be installed.
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