International Conference on Renewable Energies and Power Quality

European Association for the Development of Renewable Energies, (ICREPQ’10)

Environment and Power Quality (EA4EPQ) Granada (Spain), 23rd to 25th March, 2010

Two axis solar tracker based on solar maps, controlled by a low-power

microcontroller

Francisco Duarte1, Pedro Dinis Gaspar1 and Luís Carrilho Gonçalves1

1
Electromechanical Engineering Department – Engineering Faculty
University of Beira Interior
Edifício 1 das Engenharias, Calçada do Lameiro, 6201-001 Covilhã (Portugal)
Phone/Fax number: +351912761181, +351275329759/930, e-mail: xikoduarte@hotmail.com, dinis@ubi.pt, carrilho@ubi.pt

Abstract. There are actually several solutions for two axis This defines the position and orientation of the
solar tracking systems using electromechanical devices, in photovoltaic panels supporting structure.
which a controller detects the Sun apparent position, and A two axes solar tracking system, according to several
controls the position of the structure supporting the panels studies [1-10], increases the energy production of
toward the sun by enabling the engines movement. This work approximately 40%. The systems available on market are
studies the solution of two axis solar tracking system based on based on sensors that detect the Sun position. A
solar maps, which can predict the exact apparent position of the controller adjusts the structure position (inclination and
Sun, by the latitude's location, thereby avoiding the need to use
sensors or guidance systems. To accomplish this, it is used a
direction) according to information gathered by sensors,
low-power microcontroller, suitably programmed, to control and thus controlling two electric motors. By using this
two electric motors to ensure that the panels supporting technique, these systems have good accuracy, but are
structure is always oriented towards the sun. expensive.
The aim of this work consists on the development of a
Key words two-axis electromechanical system for sun tracking
(detect Sun apparent position), based on solar maps data,
Two axis solar tracker, photovoltaic energy, with a low energy consumption and lower final cost than
electromechanical system, solar maps, low-power the systems available on market.
microcontroller From literature available related to studies on two axis
solar tracking systems [1-10], it is possible to know that
recently have been studied the solar tracking technique
by knowing the Sun apparent position, however the
1. Introduction control systems operates on a hour basis, without
recognizing the month and the consequent effect in the
The increasing interests in using renewable energies for Sun apparent position. The study developed by [1] shows
detached houses are coming from solar thermal energy an increase of 40% of the energy produced, only
systems for domestic hot water and solar photovoltaic changing the panels’ position four times a day, and
systems to the micro production of electricity. Most of without knowing the month (only by hour).
these applications don’t have any solar tracker system, A more deep knowledge was developed through solar
mainly because of its high cost. A two axis solar tracker maps study in order to evaluate the Sun apparent position
system can increase the energy conversion by 40%, being variation according to month and hour, to achieve a more
a suitable solution to increase the electrical energy precise control. The analysis of the work developed by
output. It seems that a major obstacle to its use is the references [11-12], allows verifying that solar maps let us
cost, basically due to the price of the sensors applied to know the sun's apparent position on each day of the year
detect the Sun apparent position, and to the control and each hour, according to location (latitude). Thus, a
system (mainly with PLCs). Studies concerning the Sun table can be created to gather all information concerning
apparent movement concluded that it is possible to with the Sun apparent position every hour, for each
predict with accuracy the relative position of the Earth month (as the position does not vary much throughout the
and the place, every day and every hour. This position is month).
described in solar maps, for each location (defined by the After identifying the Sun apparent position and relying
location's latitude). Microcontrollers can be used in order on two axis solar tracking systems available on the
to control the electric motors. Using the microcontrollers market [13], using two motors that move the mechanical
with programmed solar maps for each location (latitude), structure, further control is achieved controlling them
and defining the date and hour, it is possible to control using a low power microcontroller, MSP430 device from
the angular position of the electric motors drive shafts. Texas Instruments, instead of a traditional PLC.
Using this low-power microcontroller, together with two
electrical motors, properly designed, it is possible to
project a solar tracking system without sensors to detect
the Sun apparent position, with a very low cost control
system, ensuring the maximization of solar power
generation.

The study was carried out on installation that supports 10

photovoltaic panels of 200 W each, distributed in two
rows of five panels, having a total power of 2 kW. The
data used in this work are related to Portuguese solar
irradiation. Fig. 2 – Sun Path.

2. Solar Maps Study and Their Application It’s verified that the Sun apparent position relatively to
Earth, varies in both height and azimuth at each time.
for Solar Tracking When someone wants to install a solar system, must take
special care in selecting the inclination and orientation of
Based on astronomical data it is known that the solar the panels, which are the two factors that will have major
energy available on the Earth is very variable. This influence on system’s performance, since these depend
variation depends on geographic latitude, day and month on the incoming radiation level.
for a predetermined location. Summer days are longer
than winter days and the solar altitudes for the sun are
higher in summer months than in winter due to the
inclination of Earth's axis.
For different incidence angles of the sun throughout the
year, at certain latitude, there is a maximum amount of
radiation received, which can be obtained if the receptor
surface is inclined at an appropriate angle. The optimum
angle for winter months (less radiation) is higher than in
summer because of lower solar altitude.
Table I shows the common angles used in solar
technology.

Table I – Angles used in solar technology.

Solar Height γS Horizontal = Zenith =

0º 90º
Solar Azimuth αS South = East = West = Fig. 3 – Sun apparent position, according to the month, day and
0º -90º +90º time for latitude 40º North.
Superficial β Horizontal = Vertical
Slope 0º = 90º
Superficial α South = East = West = It is possible to determine the Sun coordinates throughout
Azimuth 0º -90º +90º the year using a stereographic projection, or using the
curves in Figure 3. The curves of the sun's position to a
latitude of 40º North (average latitude of Portugal), the
The representation of these angles can be found in slope and solar azimuth for each month, day (on
Figure 1. reference is 21), and hour are shown in Figure 4.

Fig. 1 – Description of angles for solar technology.

The solar path varies the Sun coordinates throughout the Fig. 4 – Division by zones of the Sun position, according to the
day. This can be seen in Figure 2, where h is the solar month, day and time (latitude 40º North).
altitude and αs is the solar azimuth angle.
Thus, data from Figure 3 give the Sun position, avoiding
the need of sensors to detect it. This can be done by
programming a microcontroller with coordinates, and
changing hour, day and month, in order to control the
electrical motors regarding the inclination and orientation
of the panels’ base structure.
To facilitate the control program, the map of Figure 3
was divided in several areas, which are marked with one
letter and one number, as are shown in Figure 4.

3. Solar Tracker Electromechanical Project

The electromechanical project is divided into four parts:

mechanical design, electrical design, electronic design, Fig. 5 – Solar tracker (base, control mechanism, support
and development of the control program. structure of the panels).

For the mechanical design it was designed the panels’ To each motor shaft is attached a gear wheel with Z1
support structure, with two degrees of freedom in order to sprocket, being this connected to a second gear, with Z2
vary the inclination and orientation. Also, the conception sprocket, which is fixed to the part that runs on the worm
of the panels support as well as the system that allows screw. This second gear has a magnet fixed to it, which
this support to revolve around the two axes was will be used as a reference point for a magnetic sensor
developed. placed at a fixed point to count the wheel turns (hence
the worm screw turns).
The tracker consists on a fixed base directly to the
ground, having a mechanism that connects the base to the Each turn of the part on the worm screw, corresponds to a
supporting structure of the panels. This mechanism 1º rotation angle of the panel. The motor will be going
consists of two parts, which have a degree of freedom into operation in the way that causes a movement in the
from each other (linked by a shaft on X axis), changing desired direction. The number of turns, counted by the
the inclination of the structure (between 10 and sensor, corresponds to the desired difference of degrees.
75º).Additional links are mounted for motors and other
To perform the control of the solar tracker, the MSP430
components of the solar tracker control system. The
F449 STK2 development kit which uses a Texas
physical connection between this mechanism and the
Instruments microcontroller was used. Four sensors are
panels’ support structure has a degree of freedom, being
connected to indicate the panels limit positions of the
these parts connected by a shaft on Y axis.
minimum (10) and maximum (75) inclination, and the
The control of the panels’ support structure orientation is minimum (75E) and maximum (75O) direction.
done by an electrical motor driving a worm screw
The microcontroller will control two selected AC motors,
system. This system is linked to the structure through a
sending the digital signal "1" for an adapter that converts
motor shaft, a worm screw and a belt reduction system
into 220 [V] to supply the electrical motors in order to
with gearbox. The mechanical system allows that Z1
rotate in the desired direction and the necessary number
rotations of the electrical motor correspond to Z2 turns of
of turns. The wiring diagram is shown in Figure 6.
the worm screw, that corresponds to Xº variation. This
system is used between the binding mechanism of the
panels’ base support structure and the structure. A
damper is also applied to ensure the structure safety in
case of adverse weather conditions.

The control of the slope (inclination) is done in a similar

way: electrical motor connected to the worm screw
system by a belt reduction system with gearbox and
applied between the pieces of the structure’s binding
mechanism. Only the damper is used between this
mechanism and the panels’ support structure.

The projected solar tracker is shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 6 –Electrical scheme of the control system.
To apply the worm screw system, which controls the
movement (direction and inclination) of the panels’ The control is accomplished by connecting the MSP pins
support structure, two AC electrical motors, single phase, (selected as outputs) to the digital inputs of the interface
were selected with a supply voltage of 220 V and a plate. The dry contact relays type (220 V) output pins of
power of 750 W each. this PCB are connected to the electrical drive (along with
ground wire).
Two magnetic sensors are also connected, to count the results of this study are presented in Table II. The months
turns, through the detection of the magnet fixed to the are in numbers, where 1 represents January, to December
wheel that operates the worm screw movement. represented by 12. The inclination angle is I. The
orientation angle is O. The East orientation is e while the
These inductive proximity sensors are based on its West orientation is o.
impedance variation with the proximity of metal objects
(in this case, a magnet). Placing a conductive metal Motor 1 and 2 control respectively orientation and
inside the sensor’s detection area (a few millimeters) inclination. To control the rotation of each motor, the
Eddy currents appear inside the metallic material. This ratio of sprockets was adjusted so that to one turn of the
phenomenon changes the magnetic field generated, sprocket corresponds to the displacement of 1º of the
resulting in an impedance variation of the sensor. So, the panel (either in direction or inclination).
current intensity within the sensor varies, being measured
by a current detector placed inside, which controls the A magnet is applied in the gear wheel to count its turns,
transistor (operating as a switch) and drives the output. and a magnetic sensor detects each passage, sending that
Additionally, a sensor to detect the zero position of the information to the MSP. A routine is set in the program
solar panels is applied (0 º orientation - South). for each sensor, which allows counting the turns. This
routine should increment the variable “turnX” (turn1 for
All sensors operate at 3.3 V, being supplied by the MSP motor 1 and turn2 for motor 2), each time the pin
power (of 3.3 V) are normally open inputs (returning connected to the sensor presents a "high" level. Two
0 V). In the case of detecting the proximity of the magnet encoders are created to calculate the number of turns, that
(for magnetic sensors), or at the final positions, they is, the number of degrees that each motor has displaced
returns the voltage 3.3 V at the other end, which is the panel’s structure.
connected to the correspondent MSP port (high level
input). To start the program should be introduced the actual
hour, minute, day and month values, and the running start
process should be done between 23:01 and 6:55, when
4. Microcontroller Program the panels structure is on the standard position
(Inclination = 10º and direction = South). This is due to
The described control is function of time and month. the standard position, starting from 7 am programmed in
Thus, the first part of the program must be the creation of the motor control code.
a clock and a calendar. The clock counts the seconds,
minutes, hours, days, and even months. Using the solar At 23 o’clock of each day it commands the panel’s
maps previous referred, it is possible to know the sun structure to the standard position, knowing that this is in
position every hour (height and inclination) for each the limit. Starting at 7 o’clock, and depending on the
month. month, the microcontroller sends commands every hour
to the motors, to move them in the desired direction, and
With the clock running, the electrical motors control the number of turns programmed.
drives the panels’ support structure to the desired
position. The electrical motors should run at each hour, in With this control, the structure will be orientated to the
order to orientate the panels' support structure to the sun with a high precision at each hour between 8 and 16
position obtained from the solar map. To do this control, o’clock every year. The precision in summer time, after
we must know that the characteristics of the developed 16 o’clock, will not be the best due to the limitation of
structure allow the movement from 75º East to 75º West the orientation angle (75E-75W). Nevertheless, the
(Orientation), and 10º to 75º (Inclination) only. The orientation allows a better efficiency than a fixed system.

Table II – Inclination (I in degree) and Orientation (O in degree: East: e; West: o) of the panel, at each hour of the month.
Hour 7h 8h 9h 10h 11h 12h 13h 14h 15h 16h 17h 18h 19h
Month
12 - I10 I15 I25 I30 I30 I30 I25 I20 I10 I10 - -
- O60e O45e O30e O15e O0 O15o O30o O45o O60o O60o - -
1/11 - I10 I15 I25 I30 I30 I30 I25 I20 I10 I10 - -
- O60e O45e O30e O15e O0 O15o O30o O45o O60o O60o - -
2/10 I10 I15 I25 I30 I40 I40 I35 I30 I25 I15 I10 - -
O75e O60e O45e O30e O15e O0 O15o O30o O45o O60o O75o - -
3/9 I15 I25 I35 I45 I50 I50 I45 I40 I35 I25 I15 I5 -
O75e O75e O60e O45e O15e O0 O15o O30o O45o O60o O75o O75o -
4/8 I20 I30 I40 I50 I60 I60 I60 I50 I40 I30 I20 I10 I5
O75e O75e O60e O45e O30e O0 O30o O45o O60o O75o O75o O75o O75o
5/7 I25 I40 I50 I60 I70 I70 I70 I60 I50 I40 I25 I15 I5
O75e O75e O75e O60e O45e O0 O45o O60o O75o O75o O75o O75o O75o
6 I25 I40 I50 I60 I70 I70 I70 I60 I50 I40 I25 I15 I5
O75e O75e O75e O60e O45e O0 O45o O60o O75o O75o O75o O75o O75o
5. Conclusion [8] F.R. Rubio et al., Application of new control strategy for
sun tracking, Energy Conversion and Management 48
(2007) 2174–2184.
The main contributions of this work are the development [9] H. Mousazadeh et al., A review of principle and sun-
of a two axis solar tracker that does not use any sensor to tracking methods for maximizing solar systems output,
predict the Sun apparent position. It makes use of a solar Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009)
map with the Sun coordinates, depending on the hours 1800–1818.
and months. It uses a simplified and low power [10] N.A. Kelly, T.L. Gibson, Improved photovoltaic energy
microcontroller, and allows a simple user interface for output for cloudy conditions with a solar tracking system, Solar
the solar installation owner. Energy (2009).
[11] J. C. Costa, Instalações Solares Térmicas, INETI (2007).
[12] J. C. Costa, Energia Solar Térmica, INETI (2004).
The map data referred to the position 40º North latitude [13] Deger Traker Catalogue, Deger Energie (2006).
(average latitude of Portugal), and the program attached
is correct for this latitude.

For other latitude locations the maps and program are

easily adapted, making the system applicable.

The next step will be the development of the solar tracker

prototype in order to validate experimentally the
expected results. This will provide a solar tracking
system reliable and accurate throughout the year,
maximizing the efficiency of energy conversion. It will
be a good and competitive solution for the marketplace as
it is expected to compete with more complex and
expensive systems.

The main application of the solar tracker system will be

low power solar applications (micro-production systems)
due to the panels’ limit number in the structure
(maximum of 10 panels).

Other limitation of the tracker system is the orientation

angle range (75E-75W) that reduces the performance
mainly in summer, due to the azimuth after 16 o’clock
(75W-120W).

The future work consists in the development of the solar

tracker prototype and of the microcontroller program to
apply different latitudes. Thus, this equipment will be
adequate not only for the Portuguese market, but also
worldwide.

References

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