SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKING DEVICE BASED ON ARDUINO by sonam
SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKING DEVICE BASED ON ARDUINO 
The single axis solar tracker is a technology, which has been introduced to speed up the power generation rate, or we can say to increase the productivity of solar panel systems.
This technology is surely going to help us to reach the goal of “maximum energy production from renewable energy sources”.
Now India has a very large population and so is its demand for power supply. Currently more than 60% of the nation’s power requirement is being fulfilled by the coal reserves and the day is not very far when we will not have any coal available for this purpose. It is estimated that by 2050, we would have exploited all of our fossil fuels. This is an issue of concern for all of us and hence every country is searching for alternative reliable sources. Solar power has emerged as one of the best possible substitutes of thermal power stations in India. The Indian government has not only identified it but has already started to take actions in this direction.
Recently Prime Minister Modi declared at Glasgow COP 26 summit that
- India aims to realize 50% of its energy requirement by means of renewable energy by 2030.
- We aim to reduce our carbon emission in the upcoming 10 years by 1 billion tones in comparison to the projected estimates.
- Government is taking measures to reduce the carbon intensity by 45%.
A mission called “ONE SUN, ONE WORLD, ONE GRID” was launched jointly by India and the UK with the sole objective to strengthen the solar energy plant projects.
India being a tropical region has the geographical conditions that are very much capable of supplying solar energy, which will not only cater the demand of its own population, but it will also be able to offer other countries. Several plants are already functioning across the country and more such plants are in construction. Number of people, who have installed solar panels for their individual needs at their home, is increasing rapidly.
It has been observed that the solar panels give better output when it gets more or direct sunlight, and the power generation is greater when the panel is oriented directly towards the sun. Using solar trackers allow more productivity for same area and through this article we will guide you on how you can make a solar tracker to increase the output of your solar panel using Arduino on your own ☺
What is a single axis solar tracker?
As the name suggests the tracker is capable of tracking the movement of the sun by rotating on a single axis (you can choose which axis {horizontal/ vertical} you want your plate to rotate around while constructing the model depending on your requirements). The plate mounts on the shaft, which is free to rotate on its axis. As the sun moves from east to west during daytime, the solar tracker follows the path of the sun so that it can collect the higher intensity of light falling directly on the panel board. By doing this the solar panel will be able to utilize the available sunlight to its maximum extent and it could generate more power in the same provided area.
How does it work?
We connect two photoresistors (LDR) on extreme ends of the solar palate. LDR are electronic devices that react to the change in intensity of light, as the intensity of light falling upon it increases the resistance in LDR decreases and when intensity decreases the resistance of LDR suddenly increases. This change is communicated to the IR sensors in the form of a signal. (Here in this project, we have removed the diode of IR and have connected the LDR with IR). The IR sends the signal to input of Arduino UNO, which is a microcontroller device, its functioning is similar to a mini computer as it works on algorithms or through the code we fed into it. Now as we can see here we are having two photoresistors, with one IR sensor connected to each, so out of both the LDR, the one, which is receiving higher energy, will signal the Arduino to rotate the solar panel in its direction. Arduino UNO will interpret the signals to the motor driver input point.
Motor driver is an integrated circuit, which controls the motion of motors based on the inputs it receives from the microcontroller. Motor driver acts as mediator between the Arduino and the motor.
Hence, after receiving orders from Arduino, the driver guides the direction of rotation of the motor shaft, on which the panel is mounted, thus enabling the solar plate to face the sunlight directly and accumulate more energy.
Step 1: Collecting the Components required for this project. 
- Solar Plate
- Arduino Uno
- 10 Rpm Gear Motor
- 2 × LDR (Photoresistor)
- Rod (To Work as a Shaft)
- Motor Driver
- 2 × IR Sensors
- 9v Battery
- 2 × Motor Clip
- 2 × Battery Cap
- Wires
Step 2: Assembling the Components – Circuit Design
Connect all the components with the required wires as shown in the above diagram
Step 3: Uploading the Code in the microcontroller
Copy and paste the code given below in the Arduino IDE and hit Upload
void setup() {
// initialize digital pin 13 as an output.
pinMode(2, INPUT);
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
pinMode(3, INPUT);
pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
}
// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
if(digitalRead(3)&&digitalRead(2)==HIGH)
{
digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
digitalWrite(5, HIGH);
}
else if( digitalRead(2)==HIGH)
{
digitalWrite(5, HIGH);
}
else if( digitalRead(3)==HIGH)
{
digitalWrite(4, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(4, LOW);
digitalWrite(5, LOW);
}
}
FINAL PROJECT
If you want buy this handmade project, with complete project synopsis for yourself click here
YOU CAN ALSO CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE VIDEO ON SINGLE AXIS SOLAR TRACKING DEVICE TO LEARN MORE
FOR THE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
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