Design and Manufacturing of a Low-Power Dual-Axis Sun Tracker Based on Novel Mechanical and Electrical Detectors

In this paper the conventional structure of dual-axis sun tracker is modified based on new mechanical and electrical detectors which are proposed to reduce both the angular error and power consumption. Automatic adjustment of the azimuth, latitude and altitude angle for the photovoltaic panels improves the performance of converting solar energy to the electrical energy, throughout all the seasons. In other words, both the north-worth and east-west angular error is continuously minimized until that the panel’s surface is solarized with the maximum energy. Post-Fabrication results show that the proposed control circuit and two actuators consume the average power of less than 10mWatt alongside the 13-hour of a summer day. The external power source is no longer required because the received power is saved in a battery in order to provide the power of the control circuit. The ratio of the required energy to the saved energy is optimized to around 0.13%. Measurement results confirm that the total Watt-hour during a summer day is improved around 60 percent in comparison to the case that a fixed panel is used. Design of the mechanical objects are performed using CATIA software such that endure up to 1200Watt panel array.