Single Axis Solar Tracker using PIC Microcontroller and Light Dependent Resistors

The use of renewable energy for electricity generation has become increasingly demanding in remote locations and off-grid areas around the globe. Harnessing renewable energy such as the solar radiation from the sun to produce electrical energy enables the decrease in the cost of the energy demands and at the same time, contributes to sustainability and mitigates global warming and its effect. Since sunlight is natural and abundant, focussing on the development of managing the harvesting of this energy is quite imperative. In this paper, we shall present a design that integrates the use of a solar photovoltaic system along with a simple single-axis solar tracking system that aims at improving the energy absorption by the solar panel by aligning the panel perpendicular to the sunlight. The simple design consists of multiple stationary LDRs used as sensors for sunlight detection assembled at a fixed position and a single rotational LDR attached to the movable solar panel to match the sun's position with the stationary LDRs. The results show that the proposed single-axis solar tracker presented in this paper is economical and can increase the power output of the solar PV panel. The model can be projected on a bigger scale and targets domestic electricity production in rural locations.