Abstract

• Solar tracker is an automated solar panel that can effectively improve energy efficiency of a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel. The solar panel are intended to follow and track the direction of the highest light intensity from the sun. Development of dual axis solar tracker involves design implementation and software description for the control program. Arduino UNO, DC gear motors and light dependent resistors (LDRs) have been mainly used in the system. The L298N driver has been used to drive DC motors for making the direction and speed decisions of motors. The tracker’s control algorithm has been implemented via A Tmega 328p microcontroller on a simple and cheap mechanical structure. The hardware design has been implemented in order to provide high efficiency from the solar PV panel in this work. The movement of dual axis solar panel has been controlled by using the difference of light intensity values from four sensors. The test result has confirmed that the solar panel is controlled by the program to be normal to the sun all the day time in order to provide the maximum energy efficiency. The system can be applicable to receive the maximum energy efficiency from the solar panel all the year around.