2013 International Conference on Technology,Informatics,Management,Engineering & Environment (TIME-E 2013)

Bandung,Indonesia,June 23-26,2013

High-Efficiency Dual-Axis Solar Tracking

Developement using Arduino
Zolkapli, M. 1; AI-Junid S. A. M.; Othman Z.; Manut, A.; Mohd Zulkifli M. A.
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract- The renewable-energy sector is fast gaining ground

resources of electrical energy for relatively long periods of

as a new growth area for numerous countries with the vast

time.

potential it presents environmentally and economically. Solar

government had started to decrease the usage of oil and coal as

energy plays an important role as a primary source of energy,

the main energy resources of electrical energy and started an

Knowing

that

oil

and

coal

will

be

reduced,

the

especially for rural area. This paper presents the design and

initiative of using another renewable-energy such as solar and

development of high-efficiency dual-axis solar tracking system

hydro. In Malaysia, the residential energy use accounts for

using Arduino platform. Furthermore, the ultimate objective of

more than 14,365 GWh or 19% of total electricity consumed

this project is to trace the maximum sunlight source to power the

in Peninsular Malaysia in year 2006 [2]. Demand of electricity

solar panel. The project is divided into two stages, which are

keeps increasing by years, solar energy is the alternative for

hardware and software development. In hardware development,

those electricity problems.

five light dependent resistor (LDR) has been used for capturing
maximum light source. Two servo motors have been used to

Solar energy is the energy derived from the sun through the

move the solar panel at maximum light source location sensing by

LDR. Moreover, the code is constructed using C programming

form of solar radiation. The sun is the most inexhaustible,

language and targeted to Arduino UNO controller. The efficiency

renewable source of energy known to man.

of the system has been tested and compared with static solar

provides light, heat and energy to all living things. There is no

panel on several time intervals, and it shows the system react the

price and also no air pollution created by solar energy,

best at the to-minutes intervals with consistent voltage generated.

environmentally

Therefore, the system has been proven working for capturing the

friendly

and

the

solar

Solar energy

energies

are

interminable supplies. The developments of the solar tracker

maximum sunlight source for high efficiency solar harvesting

are applied in this particular project because Malaysia's climate

applications.

is categorized as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout

the year. As for solar energy, it is pertinent that it has a lot of

Keywords-Dual-axis; solar tracking; Arduino

advantages and disadvantages when it comes to compare other

energy sources. The fundamental issue of utilizing solar energy

I.

is not a matter of lack of other sources of energy but it is a

INTRODUCTION

matter of environmental concern as some conventional energy

sources contribute high emissions to the environments [3].

Nowadays, climate change on globe is at a critical level.

Climate change can be divided into two categories, human and

II.

natural causes. Natural causes of climate changes are ocean

Solar tracking is a widely-applied proven technology that

current, solar variations, and earth orbital changes. The main

increases energy production by directing or concentrated the

parts of climate changes caused by human are man-made

photovoltaic to track the sun on its path from dawn until dusk.

greenhouse gases. Global warming or climate changes can be

Instantaneous solar radiation collected by the photovoltaic

seen through some of them natural phenomenon like the effect

modules, assembled in a tracking system, is higher than the

on crops and extreme weather conditions around the world.

Renewable-energy

is

an

energy

which

comes

critical irradiance level for a longer number of hours than in

fixed systems [4]. There are numerous types of solar trackers,

from

of varying costs, performance and sophistication. There are

natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and

static solar panels, single-axis and dual-axis solar tracker as

geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished)

shown in Fig. 1. It has been estimated that the yield from solar

[ I]. Renewable-energy is the best growing energy source on

panels can be increased by 30 - 60 % by utilizing a tracking

the globe. Renewable energy is a source of energy that doesn't

system instead of a stationary array [5]. Up to 40% extra

consume the finite resources of the earth and can be easily and

power can be produced per annum using a variable elevation

quickly replenished. Renewable-energy plays a key role in a

solar tracker

country's energy needs; enabling businesses to gather energy

[6].

This paper proposes the use of high

efficiency dual-axis solar tracker. It begins with presenting the

cost investments and also revenue thus control the outcome of

project system design of the project. The paper continues with

climate changes. In Malaysia, oil and coal are the primary

978-1-4673-5732-6/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

SOLAR TRACKER

specific design methodologies pertaining to Light Dependent

43

Resistor
selection

(LDR),
and

servo

motors,

solar

software/system

panel,

programmer

operation.

The

intensity or exhibits photoconductivity. LDR output voltages

paper

for light intensity are shown in Table 1. The light intensity is

concludes with a discussion of results and future work. The

measured in lab experimental. The resistance of an LDR is

dual-axis tracker is a very compatible system to be developed

extremely high, sometimes as high as 1 Mohms. The light

with the usage of Arduino as a programming platform. From

resistances will drop dramatically when illuminated.

the overall system, the main controller received an analog

it into digital signal by Analog-to-Digital converter.

LiGHT INTENSITY MEASUREMENT

TABLE!.

input from the Light Dependent Resistor (LOR) and converts

The

Light Intensity
Dark
Average
Bright

output given to the servo motor will determine the movement

of the solar panel.

C.

LDR Ontpnt (V)

0.6
4.0
4.6

Servo Motor
Servo motor, or servos for short, is a three-wire DC

motors. A servo motor consists of several main parts, the

motor and gearbox, a position sensor, an error amplifier and
motor driver and a circuit to decode the requested position.
There are two types of servo motor required,

either 4.SV or

6V supply to operate. Servo motor only rotates up to the

maximum of ISO degrees. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is
used to control the motor. PWM analog signal will go through
an electronic circuit and convert the analog signal to a digital
signal. The flow of the signal changes is shown in Fig 3.

Figure 1. Various type of solar tracker.

PWM in servos is used to control the direction and position of

the motor. The center position is usually attained with [.3- 1.5
ms wide pulses, while pulse width varying from 0.7- 1 ms will

III.

METHODOLOGY

command positions all the way to the right, and pulse widths
of 1.7-2.0 ms all the way to the left. The servo motors PWM

The main intention of this project is to design a high

Timing Diagram (Voltage vs. Period) is shown in Fig. 4.

quality solar tracker. The project is divided into two parts;

hardware and software. [t consists of three main constituent

--

which are the inputs, main controller and the output as shown
in Fig. 2. The inputs are from analog value of LOR, Arduino

...... "'cw

,
,

as the controller and the servo motor will be the output.

PWM Signal

ELECTRONIC
CIRCUIT

ccw\

o.::

--<w

INPUT
(LDR)

--+

.....l
.....l

00

:zo.::
-E::J:z

----.

Position
Feedback

OUTPUT
(SERVO)

0
o.:: u
--<

Figure 3. PWM analog signal is converted to digital signal to control the

servos .

Figure 2. Block diagram of the system design.

",

A.

o5---[j-

-n-

Ptriod::xI "'"

Hardware

v..

The main components of hardware in this project are solar

Arduino-Based Controller.

5VDII

Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)

Photoresistor or light dependent resistor (LDR) is a resistor

ccw

tt.

panel, Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), Servo Motor and

B.

'.

-n- 0-

n
n
0

cWfd

I
I
CENTER

Figure 4. Servo motor PWM timing diagram.

which resistance decreases with increasing incident light

44

D. Solar Panel

degrees. The positions of LOR are divided into five positions,

which are centered, right, left, up and down. The 5 positions

Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity.

allow the highest intensity of sunlight can be detected.

They are called "solar" panels because the most powerful

source of light available is the sun. A solar panel is a
packaged, connected assembly of photovoltaic cells. The solar

r---
--r----jr--;,

panel can be used as a component of a larger photovoltaic

LDR5

system to generate and supply electricity in commercial and

residential

applications.

Fig.

shows

the

model

SERmMOTOR I

oc---fil
L =uJ
c'(!)

HtmlH

of

monocrystalline solar panel used in the project. Several types

of solar cells available in the market are:

Monocrystalline silicon (mono-silicon or single

Polycrystalline silicon (multicrystalline, multi

G\il

silicon)

.IRDU]'(OU:iO

silicon, ribbon)

G:iil

Figure 6. Circuit schematic.

F.

Software
The software part consists of a programming language that

is constructed using C programming. The codes are targeted to

Arduino UNO to be compiled and uploaded. The flow of the
software procedure is shown in Fig 7.
Figure 5. Model of solar panel.

E.

Microcontroller
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform

based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino

can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of
sensors and can affect its surroundings. Arduino projects can
be stand-alone, or they can communicate with

If LOR 1 LOR

software

2,3,4,5

running on a computer. In this development, Arduino UNO is

used

as

the

main

controller

because

it

satisfies

NO

these

conditions:

If LOR2 LOR
1,3,4,5

Microcontroller board based on the A Tmega32S.

14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used

NO

If LOR3 LOR

as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz crystal

1,2,4,5

oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP

NO

header, and a reset button.

If LOR4

The principle of the solar tracking system is done by Light

Dependant Resistor

(LOR).

Five LOR are connected

LDR

1,2,3,5

to

NO

Arduino analog pin AO to A4 that acts as the input for the

system as shown in Fig. 6. The built-in Analog-to-Digital

If LDR5

LOR

1,2,3,4

Converter will convert the analog value of LOR and convert it

into digital (Pulse Width Modulation). The values of PWM

THE SERVO MOTOR WilL GO

DOWN

NO

pulse are applied to move the servos. The maximum light

YES
DARK?

intensity captured by the one of the LORs input will be

selected and the servo motor will move the solar panel to the
position of the LOR that was set-up in the programming.
There are three points of motor rotation; 0, 90 and ISO

Figure 7. Flowchart for the overall process.

45

IV.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

As a result, it is observed that the location for the solar

Voltage IV) vs Time (t)

Comparative

S.8

panel is one of the important things in collecting the output

6.6

voltage. Solar panel will perform best when facing south as

this will help to get the most exposure from the sun as it
moves

from

East

to

West.

For

most

areas,

the

6.4

peak

:!l,

performance hours of the day will be between 9 a.m. till 12

.f!
"0
>

p.m. This is when the sun is at its peak illumination.

6.2

6.0

The measurements of the data are taken from a wide area

whereby there is no obstruction that would prevent the tracker

5.8

from maximum sunlight. The measurement of output voltages

900

are taken in 3 straight days between 9 a.m until 6.00 p.m. The

1000

1100

1200

of output voltages is used to draw up the graphs. There are 2

1500

1600

1700

1800

Figure 9. Output voltage comparative of solar panel for

10-minutes interval.

conditions of output voltage being measured. The conditions

are:-

By using IS-minutes as the interval, the graph that the

Static solar panel with 15 degree of angle facing

author obtained in Fig. 10 is slightly different compared to

south

graphs in Fig . 8 and 9. In Fig 10, there are very tangible

Solar panel with tracking system facing south.

1400

Time (t)

largest output voltage for the solar panel is 7 V. The average

1300

changes in output voltages. Interval of IS-minutes caused a

small change in output voltage cannot be seen. Hence, the

By pursuing these 2 conditions, the highest and lowest

system cannot capture the maximum sunlight efficiency within

output voltages at the peak performance of sunlight can be

this time interval.

measured. The highest output voltage that the author measured

for solar tracking condition is 6.67 V at 1.20 p.m. while the
lowest output voltage is 5.94 V at 6.00 p.m. hours while the

Voltage (V) vs Time (t)

6.8

Comparative

highest voltage for static panel is 6.65 V and the lowest is 5.89
V. The sun position is one of the main factors that caused

6.6

instability measurement output voltage. The position of sun is

considered to be unpredictable hence causing the surroundings

6.4

to be dimmed at certain times. The solar panel will not be able

'"

,g'

to achieve a maximum illumination from the sun. Fig. 8 below

6.2

"0
>

shows the graph of 5-minutes interval obtained from the

6.0

experiment.

5.8

Voltage(V) vs Time (t)

Comparative

s.s

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

Time(t)
s.s

?:
<1>
'"

!!!

Figure 10. Output voltage comparative of Solar Panel for

15-minutes interval.

S.4

V.

6 ..2

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, high-efficiency dual-axis tracker has been

s.o

developed. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded

that the system will react at their best on 10-minute intervals

5.8

with a constant voltage is produced. There are significant

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

changes in voltage at 10-minutes intervals graphs within 9.00

1800

a.m. until 6.00 p.m. For that reason, this system has been

Time (t)

proven to work to absorb maximum sunlight source for high

Figure 8. Output voltage comparative of solar panel for

5-minutes interval.

efficiency solar harvesting applications. The economically and

environmentally solar tracking system development will be a

Fig. 9 shows the graph of 10-minutes interval data analysis.

technique to use in renewable-energy more widely and wisely.

Fig. 10 forms a better graph compared to Fig. 8. As referring to

all graphs, the output voltages for each panel are slightly

VI.

fluctuated. The comparison between static and moving panels

RECOMMENDATION

One of the main suggestions is to use a higher intensity of

show that the solar panel with tracker produced higher output

solar panel that produces a higher output voltage and power. It

voltages as it gets optimum absorption.

is recommended to improve the hardware part using the LCD

46

display. Details such as time, voltage and current will be

[2]

H. Fayaza, N.A. Rahimb,R. Saidura,K. H. Solangi,H. Niaz & M.S.

Hossaina, "Solar energy policy: Malaysia vs developed countries,"
2011 IEEE First Conference on Clean Energy and Technology (CET),
pp. 374-378,27-29

[3]

Musse Mohamud Ahmed & Marizan Sulaiman,-Design and Proper

Sizing of Solar Energy Schemes for Electricity Production in Malaysia
Power Engineering Conference,2003. PECon 2003. Proceedings
National ,pp. 268- 271,15-16 Dec. 2003

displayed. Other than that, the solar tracking system could be

monitored from long range by adding Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank Research Management

[4]

Institute (RMI) of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) for

providing the RIF grant and Faculty of Electrical Engineering
(FKE) for providing the supports and facilities to complete
this project.

REFERENCES
[ 1]

Divya,V & Sashanka,P. April 30,2010. -Renewable Energy.

Retrieved June 5,2012,from http://www.yuvaengineers.coml?p=495

47

O.C. Vilela, N.Fraidenraich & C.Tiba, (2003) -Photovoltaic pumping

systems driven by tracking collectors. Experiments and simulation
(2003) Solar Energy, 74 (I), pp. 45-52

[5]

AK. Saxena & V. Dutta,-A versatile microprocessor- based

controller for solar tracking,IEEE Proc., 1990,pp. 1105 - 1109.

[6]

AYazidi,F. Betin,G. Notton & G. A Capolino,July 2006,"Low cost

two-axis solar tracker with high precision positioning",Proceedings of
the International Symposium on Environment,Identities &
Mediterranean Area (ISEIM'2006),July 10-13 2006,Corte-Ajaccio
(France),pp.211-216.