Design and Implementation of an Intelligent Horizontal Single Axis Solar Tracking (HSAT) Using Fuzzy Logic Approach for Maximum Solar Radiation Absorption

Abstract

Parallel to the technological development and the increasing population size, the energy requirement is increasing day by day. Solar energy is a clean energy source, which has a minimal impact on the environment than other forms of energy. The capability of photovoltaic (PV) module to generate electricity follows the intensity of the sun light on the solar cell. While many photovoltaic modules are statically mounted on roofs or in yards ,many also employ some kind of solar tracking. Both single axis and dual axis solar tracking systems have been implemented and tested with multiple kinds of tracking methods .Two of the most accurate tracking strategies are utilizing LDR’s(light dependent resistrors) or using some kind of solar position calculation. The operating principle is to keep the PV module constantly orthogonal to the sun rays, which maximizes the absorption of solar radiation. As a result ,more output power can be produced by solar module. In this thesis work an Intelligent Horizontal Single Axis Solar Tracking (HSAT) is designed and implemented, which combines both strategies. Based on GPS receiver’s output(longitude, latitude, date ,and time),the position of the sun is calculated using solar position calculation software. The original software was written by ”Wayne H Wilson,JR, Visibility Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego ,La Jolla,California,92093 PH,(714)-294-5534,25 Feb,1980 “. Since the original software was written using Fortran IV programming language, it had to be converted to C for Arduino use.To improve the solar tracking accuracy a correction mechanism is designed using two LDR’s ,and Fuzzy logic was used to calculate the correction angle . The fuzzy logic is designed and simulated using MATLAB. The Fuzzy logic was converted from MATLAB to C. And other software modules were written using Arduino IDE. The whole system was simulated using Proteus 8 Professional, and the result was in accordance with the design. A prototype was built using the components: Arduino Mega 2560 Microcontroller, Light Dependent Resistors (LDR), GPS receiver, Servo motor and Solar panel. The solar tracking system was field tested in Adigrat(in my home compound) with location coordinates Latitude=14.2803810 North, Longitude=39.4587510 East .Measurements of current and voltage outputs of the solar panel with tracking mechanism and static solar panel were taken on April 2,2025 and May 17,2025. The data was collected from 6:30 to 18:00(UTC+3) with 30 minutes of interval time. The total Electric energy harvested by the solar panel with tracking mechanism (an Intelligent Horizontal Single Axis Solar Tracking (HSAT) Using Fuzzy Logic Approach )on April2,2025 was found to be 45.59% higher than the static solar panel, and 38.86% higher on May 17,2025 .This is a significant result(achievement) for a single _axis solar tracking system.