DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.2022.43572

Solar Tracking System with Photovoltaic Cells: Experimental Analysis at High Altitudes

1Doctorado en Ciencia Tecnología y Medio Ambiente, Escuela de posgrado, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano de Puno, Peru

2Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Programa de Ecología de la Universidad Nacional del Altiplano de Puno, Peru

Received: 26 Dec 2021; Revised: 25 Apr 2022; Accepted: 6 Apr 2022; Available online: 17 Apr 2022; Published: 4 Aug 2022.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Citation Format:
Abstract
There is currently an urgent need to study the application of solar energy to photovoltaic systems due to the need to produce electricity; indeed, maximizing the performance of solar energy promotes efficient and sustainable energy systems. The objective of this study was to determine the photovoltaic performance of a dual-axis solar tracker based on photovoltaic cells with different inclination angles at high altitudes above 3800 m.a.s.l. A solar tracking system activated by two linear actuators was implemented to automatically follow the trajectory of the sun during the day, and the results were compared with those from a fixed photovoltaic system. In addition, due to the climatic variation in the area, photovoltaic cells installed at different inclination angles were used to maximize electricity production and processed by a programmable logic controller (PLC). Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the factors that influenced the performance of the photovoltaic system during the experimental period. The results showed that the maximum monthly performance of the solar tracker was 37.63% greater than that of the fixed system, reaching 10.66 kWh/m2/d on sunny days in peak sun hours (PSH). On days with frequent rain and clouds, the partial yield was less than 14.38%, with energy production during PSH of 6.54 kWh/m2/d. Therefore, in this high-altitude area, the performance of the solar tracker was greater from July to October; from November to February, the performance was reduced due to the occurrence of rain.
Fulltext View|Download
Keywords: Photovoltaic cell; solar irradiation; solar tracker; performance
Funding: (Concytec-Banco Mundial) Project "Improvement and Expansion of the Services of the National Science Technology and Technological Innovation System" 8682-PE, through its executing unit ProCiencia. Funding award contract No. 01-2018-FONDECYT/BM-PROGRAMAS

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
Recent articles
Solar Tracking System with Photovoltaic Cells: Experimental Analysis at High Altitudes Effect of Adding Combustion Air on Emission in a Diesel Dual-Fuel Engine with Crude Palm Oil Biodiesel Compressed Natural Gas Fuels Numerical Investigation of Convective Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Past a Three Square Cylinders Controlled by a Partition in Channel More recent articles
Most cited articles
The Social Aspects and Public Acceptance of Biomass Giving the Example of a Hungarian Region Premixed combustion of coconut oil in a hele-shaw cell Tax Incentive Policy for Geothermal Development: A Comparative Analysis in ASEAN The Effectiveness of New Solar Photovoltaic System with Supercapacitor for Rural Areas Premixed Combustion of Coconut Oil on Perforated Burner More cited articles
  1. Bahrami, A., Okoye, C. O., & Atikol, U. (2016, 2016/09/01/). The effect of latitude on the performance of different solar trackers in Europe and Africa. Applied Energy, 177, 896-906. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.103
  2. Bakdi, A., & Kouadri, A. (2018). An improved plant‐wide fault detection scheme based on PCA and adaptive threshold for reliable process monitoring: Application on the new revised model of Tennessee Eastman process. Journal of Chemometrics, 32(5), e2978
  3. Bharati, M., Divyakumari, R., & Swamy, B. (2017). Solar power tracking system and power saving in highway street light. Int J Innov Res Comput Commun Eng, 5(4), 276-285
  4. Commission, I. E. (2009). Programmable Logic Controllers—Part 3: Programming Languages. IEC Standard, 61131-61133
  5. Del Pero, C., Aste, N., & Leonforte, F. (2021, 2021/12/01/). The effect of rain on photovoltaic systems. Renewable Energy, 179, 1803-1814. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.130
  6. Du, X., Li, Y., Wang, P., Ma, Z., Li, D., & Wu, C. (2021, 2021/01/01/). Design and optimization of solar tracker with U-PRU-PUS parallel mechanism. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 155, 104107. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2020.104107
  7. El Shenawy, E. T., & El El Ghetany, H. (2021). Effect of Dust Accumulation on the Performance of PV Modules under Cairo Climate Conditions. International Journal of Renewable Energy Research (IJRER), 11(3), 1313-1321
  8. Fuentes-Morales, R. F., Diaz-Ponce, A., Peña-Cruz, M. I., Rodrigo, P. M., Valentín-Coronado, L. M., Martell-Chavez, F., & Pineda-Arellano, C. A. (2020, 2020/12/01/). Control algorithms applied to active solar tracking systems: A review. Solar Energy, 212, 203-219. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.10.071
  9. Hoffmann, F. M., Molz, R. F., Kothe, J. V., Nara, E. O. B., & Tedesco, L. P. C. (2018, 2018/01/01/). Monthly profile analysis based on a two-axis solar tracker proposal for photovoltaic panels. Renewable Energy, 115, 750-759. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.08.079
  10. Hua, Z., Ma, C., Lian, J., Pang, X., & Yang, W. (2019). Optimal capacity allocation of multiple solar trackers and storage capacity for utility-scale photovoltaic plants considering output characteristics and complementary demand. Applied Energy, 238, 721-733
  11. Imhade, O., Aderibigbe, A., & Elizabeth, A. (2018). Efficient and Low Cost Implementation of a Single Axis Solar Tracking System. Journal of Electrical Engineering, 18(2), 6-6
  12. Jamroen, C., Fongkerd, C., Krongpha, W., Komkum, P., Pirayawaraporn, A., & Chindakham, N. (2021, 2021/10/01/). A novel UV sensor-based dual-axis solar tracking system: Implementation and performance analysis. Applied Energy, 299, 117295. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117295
  13. Jamroen, C., Komkum, P., Kohsri, S., Himananto, W., Panupintu, S., & Unkat, S. (2020, 2020/02/01/). A low-cost dual-axis solar tracking system based on digital logic design: Design and implementation. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 37, 100618. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2019.100618
  14. Joshi, S., Karamta, M., & Pandya, B. (2022, 2022/02/12/). Small scale wind & solar photovoltaic energy conversion system for DC microgrid applications. Materials Today: Proceedings. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.01.461
  15. Kang, H., Hong, T., Jung, S., & Lee, M. (2019, 2019/06/15/). Techno-economic performance analysis of the smart solar photovoltaic blinds considering the photovoltaic panel type and the solar tracking method. Energy and Buildings, 193, 1-14. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.03.042
  16. Kazem, H. A., Yousif, J. H., Chaichan, M. T., Al-Waeli, A. H. A., & Sopian, K. (2022, 2022/01/01/). Long-term power forecasting using FRNN and PCA models for calculating output parameters in solar photovoltaic generation. Heliyon, 8(1), e08803. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08803
  17. Kivrak, S. (2013). Design of a low cost sun tracking controller system for photovoltaic panels. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 5(3), 033119
  18. Kumar, K., Kiran, S. R., Ramji, T., Saravanan, S., Pandiyan, P., & Prabaharan, N. (2020). Performance evaluation of photo voltaic system with quadratic boost converter employing with MPPT control algorithms [Article]. International Journal of Renewable Energy Research, 10(3), 1083-1091. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85092188659&partnerID=40&md5=414f2168d0d4040d9889362eb98f80bf
  19. Lai, C. S., & McCulloch, M. D. (2017). Levelized cost of electricity for solar photovoltaic and electrical energy storage. Applied Energy, 190, 191-203
  20. Mao, K., Liu, F., & Ji, I. R. (2018). Design of ARM-based solar tracking system. 2018 37th Chinese Control Conference (CCC),
  21. Motahhir, S., El Hammoumi, A., & El Ghzizal, A. (2020). The most used MPPT algorithms: Review and the suitable low-cost embedded board for each algorithm. Journal of Cleaner Production, 246, 118983
  22. Ni, B., & Kurita, K. (2020). The minimum wage, exports, and firm performance: Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Asian Economics, 69, 101218
  23. Nuwayhid, R., Mrad, F., & Abu-Said, R. (2001). The realization of a simple solar tracking concentrator for university research applications. Renewable Energy, 24(2), 207-222
  24. Ocłoń, P., Cisek, P., Kozak-Jagieła, E., Taler, J., Taler, D., Skrzyniowska, D., & Fedorczak-Cisak, M. (2020). Modeling and experimental validation and thermal performance assessment of a sun-tracked and cooled PVT system under low solar irradiation. Energy Conversion and Management, 222, 113289
  25. Pawar, P., Pawale, P., Nagthane, T., Thakre, M., & Jangale, N. (2021, 2021/11/01/). Performance enhancement of dual axis solar tracker system for solar panels using proteus ISIS 7.6 software package. Global Transitions Proceedings, 2(2), 455-460. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gltp.2021.08.049
  26. Seme, S., Srpčič, G., Kavšek, D., Božičnik, S., Letnik, T., Praunseis, Z., Štumberger, B., & Hadžiselimović, M. (2017). Dual-axis photovoltaic tracking system–Design and experimental investigation. Energy, 139, 1267-1274
  27. Sharma, A., Dharwal, M., & Kumari, T. (2021, 2021/10/08/). Renewable energy for sustainable development: A comparative study of india and china. Materials Today: Proceedings. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.09.242
  28. Sidek, M. H. M., Azis, N., Hasan, W. Z. W., Ab Kadir, M. Z. A., Shafie, S., & Radzi, M. A. M. (2017, 2017/04/01/). Automated positioning dual-axis solar tracking system with precision elevation and azimuth angle control. Energy, 124, 160-170. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.001
  29. Singh, R., Kumar, S., Gehlot, A., & Pachauri, R. (2018). An imperative role of sun trackers in photovoltaic technology: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 82, 3263-3278
  30. Soulayman, S., Hamoud, M., Hababa, M. A., & Sabbagh, W. (2021). Feasibility of Solar Tracking System for PV Panel in Sunbelt Region. Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, 9(2), 395-403. https://doi.org/10.35833/MPCE.2018.000658
  31. Su, Y., Zhang, Y., & Shu, L. (2018). Experimental study of using phase change material cooling in a solar tracking concentrated photovoltaic-thermal system. Solar Energy, 159, 777-785
  32. Suki, N. M., Suki, N. M., Sharif, A., Afshan, S., & Jermsittiparsert, K. (2022, 2022/01/01/). The role of technology innovation and renewable energy in reducing environmental degradation in Malaysia: A step towards sustainable environment. Renewable Energy, 182, 245-253. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.10.007
  33. Tan, M.-H., Wang, T.-K., Wong, C.-W., Lim, B.-H., Yew, T.-K., Tan, W.-C., Lai, A.-C., & Chong, K.-K. (2019, 2019/02/01/). Optimization Study of Parasitic Energy Losses in Photovoltaic System with Dual-Axis Solar Tracker Located at Different Latitudes. Energy Procedia, 158, 302-308. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.093
  34. Yang, D., Dong, Z., Lim, L. H. I., & Liu, L. (2017, 2017/09/01/). Analyzing big time series data in solar engineering using features and PCA. Solar Energy, 153, 317-328. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.072
  35. Yilmaz, S., Ozcalik, H. R., Dogmus, O., Dincer, F., Akgol, O., & Karaaslan, M. (2015). Design of two axes sun tracking controller with analytically solar radiation calculations. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 43, 997-1005
  36. Yu, Q., Zhao, H., Zhao, H., Sun, S., Ji, X., Li, M., & Wang, Y. (2019, 2019/01/01/). Preparation of tobacco-stem activated carbon from using response surface methodology and its application for water vapor adsorption in solar drying system. Solar Energy, 177, 324-336. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.11.029

Last update:

  1. Intelligent Solutions for Sustainable Power Grids

    Divya Prabha Varadharajan, Sathiyasekar Kumarasamy, Ramasamy Murugesan, Akila Muthuramalingam, M. Venkatesan, Loganathan Nachimuthu. Advances in Computer and Electrical Engineering, 2024. doi: 10.4018/979-8-3693-3735-6.ch001

  2. Techno-economic analysis of fixed versus sun-tracking solar panels

    Akram Elahi Gol, Milan Ščasný. International Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 12 (3), 2023. doi: 10.14710/ijred.2023.50165

  3. A Review of the Sustainable Development of Solar Photovoltaic Tracking System Technology

    Zihan Yang, Zhiquan Xiao. Energies, 16 (23), 2023. doi: 10.3390/en16237768

  4. Modelling П-Shaped Concentrating Optics for Lcpv Solar Cells Using Fresnel Lens

    A. Kapparova, S. Orynbassar, G. Dosymbetova, D. Almen, E. Yershov, A. Saymbetov, M. Nurgaliyev, N. Algazin, A. Sharipbay, D. Zhastalapova. Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical Sciences, 61 (5), 2024. doi: 10.2478/lpts-2024-0039

  5. Predicting customers’ intentions to adopt the solar net metering system in India

    Amanpreet Kaur, Prabhjot Kaur. International Journal of Energy Sector Management, 17 (6), 2023. doi: 10.1108/IJESM-08-2022-0004

  6. Assessment of solar tracking systems: A comprehensive review

    Nurzhigit Kuttybay, Saad Mekhilef, Nursultan Koshkarbay, Ahmet Saymbetov, Madiyar Nurgaliyev, Gulbakhar Dosymbetova, Sayat Orynbassar, Evan Yershov, Ainur Kapparova, Batyrbek Zholamanov, Askhat Bolatbek. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 68 , 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2024.103879

  7. Estimation of the solar radiation intensity on photovoltaic surfaces using anisotropic Models, investigation of influence of tilt angles and solar trackers: A case study for the southeastern of Türkiye

    Batur Alp Akgul, Mustafa Sadettin Ozyazici, Muhammet Fatih Hasoglu. Computers and Electrical Engineering, 118 , 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.compeleceng.2024.109411

Last update: 2024-11-14 05:56:33

No citation recorded.