Time based solar tracking system using microcontroller

solar tracking system :

Demand of electrical energy is increasing day by day. So different power sources are being used in modern power system. researchers are trying to make power system more and more efficient. Solar tracking system is also a part of that research to make power sources more efficient. Solar tracking is used to extract more power from solar panels by giving solar panels maximum appearance to sun light. Different techniques have been developed for solar tracking system. I have already posted an article on light based solar tracking system. You can check following article:

light based solar tracking using pic microcontroller 

What is time based solar tracking system :

Time based solar tracking automatically adjust the position of solar panel to more optimum position based on time with the help of servo motor connected to solar panel. A algorithm developed with microcontroller using real-time clock time is used to adjust position of solar panel with the help of dc motor. In this method a relationship is developed between time and sun position with experiments in day time. This table is used to write algorithm for time based tracking system.

Block diagram of time based solar tracking system:

basic block diagram is given below:

Solar panel is connect with servo motor. Servo mtor is interface with servo motor controller. 5 volt power supply is used provide power supply to microcontrollers. DC1307 real time clock is used to keep information of real time to microcontroller. Optional, a liquid crystal display can be used to display time.

Circuit diagram :

Circuit diagram of time based solar tracking system is given below. ULN2003 is used to control servo motor. I have posted a separate article on how to interface servo motor with pic16f877a microcontroller. Check following article:

Stepper motor interfacing with pic microcontroller

DS1307 is real time clock IC which is used to keep microcontroller update about real time. For more information about DS1307 and its interfacing with microcontroller check following article:

Real time clock ds1307 interfacing with Arduino

you can easily write code for time based solar tracking after reading above mentioned articles.

List of components :

Category,Reference,Value,Order Code
Resistors,"R1",10K,
Resistors,"R2",10K,
Resistors,"R3",10K,
Resistors,"R7",10k,
Resistors,"R18",10k,
Resistors,"R19",10k,
Resistors,"R4",1k,
Resistors,"R5",1k,
Resistors,"R8",1k,
Resistors,"R17",1k,
Resistors,"R6",4K,
Resistors,"R10",470R,
Resistors,"R15",470R,
Resistors,"R16",470R,
Capacitors,"C1",22pF,Digikey 478-1018-6-ND
Capacitors,"C2",22pF,Digikey 478-1018-6-ND
Integrated Circuits,"U1",PIC16F877A,
Integrated Circuits,"U10",DS1307,
Transistors,"Q2",IRF520,
Transistors,"Q3",BC548,
Diodes,"D1",1N4007,
Diodes,"D6",LED,
Diodes,"D7",LED,
Diodes,"D8",LED,
Diodes,"D9",LED,
Diodes,"D10",LED,
Diodes,"D11",LED,
Miscellaneous,"B2",3V,
Miscellaneous,"LCD2",LM016L,
Miscellaneous,"LDR1",TORCH_LDR,
Miscellaneous,"RV1",10K,Digikey 3005P-101-ND
Miscellaneous,"X1",31.2548KHz,
Miscellaneous,"X2",8MHz,solar panel, servo motor.

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I also provide project serivces, if you want to hire me to write code for this project. Contact me on my email address.