Characterization of the Increment of the Solar Irradiation due to a Two-Axis Sun Tracker
Abstract
Dynamic solar tracking (1 or 2 axes) increases the performance of photovoltaic projects. Although there are studies for the tropical zone, their amount is modest and unfortunately, most of them carry on analysis between 1 and 5 days and with a sampling time of 30 minutes or more. This research aimed to characterize the increasing incident solar irradiance (every minute), and irradiation (hourly) reached by a dual-axes sun tracker located on a university building (Bucaramanga, Colombia) for a window of 42 days between December 2023 and February 2024. The methodology consisted of adjustment of the angles of inclination and orientation with steps of 30°, minute monitoring of the horizontal solar irradiance and the incident solar irradiance on a photovoltaic panel, and quantification of the net gains of irradiance and irradiation. The results showed a daily average benefit of 916.1 Wh/m2∙day (17.3 %). This characterization was done by month and range of horizontal solar irradiation ( ). The benefit increased to 25.7 % in December, 9.5 % in January, and only 13.2 % in February. Finally, it concludes that the highest average benefits occur for ≥6 kWh/m2 day (20.3 %) and the lowest for <4 kWh/m2 day (7.4 %), with losses up to 6.75 % for = 1.3-1.5 kWh/m2 day. The hourly gain exposes a convex behavior because the greater benefits occur from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., meanwhile, they are reduced substantially near 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Additionally, a correlation analysis was conducted using the coefficient of determination (R2) to establish the best way to estimate incident solar irradiance and irradiation on the work surface of the sun tracker.
References
H. Shang, and W. Shen, “Design and Implementation of a Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System,” Energies, vol. 16, no. 17, p. 6330, Aug. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16176330
C. Jamroen, C. Fongkerd, W. Krongpha, P. Komkum, A. Pirayawaraporn, and N. Chindakham, “A novel UV sensor-based dual-axis solar tracking system: Implementation and performance analysis,” Applied Energy, vol. 299, p. 117295, Oct. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117295
REN21, “Renewables Global Status Report,” Renewables in Energy Supply,” Red de Política de Energía Renovable para el Siglo XXI, París, Francia, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.ren21.net/reports/global-status-report/
W. Nsengiyumva, S. G. Chen, L. Hu, and X. Chen, “Recent advancements and challenges in Solar Tracking Systems (STS): A review,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 81, pp. 250–279, Jan. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.06.085
A. Pirayawaraporn, S. Sappaniran, S. Nooraksa, C. Prommai, N. Chindakham, and C. Jamroen, “Innovative sensorless dual-axis solar tracking system using particle filter,” Applied Energy, vol. 338, p. 120946, May. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.120946
B. Huang et al., “Development of a Solar-Tracking System for Horizontal Single-Axis PV Arrays Using Spatial Projection Analysis,” Energies, vol. 16, no. 10, p. 4008, May. 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16104008
C. Jamroen, P. Komkum, S. Kohsri, W. Himananto, S. Panupintu, and S. Unkat, “A low-cost dual-axis solar tracking system based on digital logic design: Design and implementation,” Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, vol. 37, p. 100618, Feb. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2019.100618
N. Z. Al-Rawahi, and N. Z. Al-Azri, “Effect of latitude and sky clearance factor on the effectiveness of solar tracking strategies,” Cogent Eng., vol. 6, no. 1, May. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311916.2019.1609387
R. Ramful, and N. Sowaruth, “Low-cost solar tracker to maximize the capture of solar energy in tropical countries,” Energy Reports, vol. 8, no. 15, pp. 295–302, Nov. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.10.145
M. M. Aji, B. G. Gamiya, A. T. Olomowewe, F. A. Ohikere, S. S. Umar, and S. Thomas, “Design and Simulation of Dual-Axis Solar Tracking Systems,” in 2021 1st International Conference on Multidisciplinary Engineering and Applied Science (ICMEAS), Abuja, Nigeria, 2021, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMEAS52683.2021.9692361
I. H. Rosma, I. M. Putra, D. Y. Sukma, E. Safrianti, A. A. Zakri, and A. Abdulkarim, “Analysis of Single Axis Sun Tracker System to Increase Solar Photovoltaic Energy Production in the Tropics,” in 2018 2nd International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Informatics (ICon EEI), Batam, Indonesia, 2018, pp. 183-186. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICon-EEI.2018.8784311
H. González-Acevedo, Y. Muñoz-Maldonado, A. Ospino-Castro, J. Serrano, A. Atencio, and C. J. Saavedra, “Design and performance evaluation of a solar tracking panel of single axis in Colombia,” International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 2889–2898, Aug. 2021. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v11i4.pp2889-2898
C. A. Mercado Montes, S. A. Sánchez Hernández, and A. D. Morales Acosta, “Diseño de un prototipo a escala de seguimiento solar para mejorar la eficiencia de módulos fotovoltaicos en el municipio de Sincelejo,” in Ciudades sostenibles. Un enfoque diferenciado del desarrollo de las ciudades, Sincelejo, Colombia: Corporación Universitaria del Caribe – CECAR, 2020, pp. 98-114. https://repositorio.cecar.edu.co/handle/cecar/2490
C. M. Agudelo Restrepo, O. D. Díaz Castillo, and Y. E. García Vera, “Evaluación de un prototipo de seguimiento solar fotovoltaico en regiones tropicales,” Redes de Ingeniería, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 105–111, Jan-Jun. 2016. https://doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.redes.2016.1.a10
A. S. C. Roong and S. H. Chong, “Laboratory-scale single axis solar tracking system: Design and implementation,” International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 254–264, Mar. 2016. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijpeds.v7.i1.pp254-264
M. H. M. Sidek et al., “GPS based portable dual-axis solar tracking system using astronomical equation,” in 2014 IEEE International Conference on Power and Energy (PECon), Kuching, Malaysia, 2014, pp. 245-249. https://doi.org/10.1109/PECON.2014.7062450
N. Krishna Kumar, V. Subramaniam, and E. Murugan, “Power Analysis of non-tracking PV system with low power RTC based sensor independent solar tracking (SIST) PV system,” Mater. Today., vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1076–1081, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2017.11.185
S. Das, S. Chakraborty, P. K. Sadhu, and O. S. Sastry, “Design and experimental execution of a microcontroller (μC)-based smart dual-axis automatic solar tracking system,” Energy Science and Engineering, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 558–564, Nov. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.102
D. Bawa, and C. Y. Patil, “Fuzzy control based solar tracker using Arduino uno,” International Journal of Engineering and Innovative Technology, vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 179–187, Jun. 2013. https://www.ijeit.com/vol 2/Issue 12/IJEIT1412201306_34.pdf
P. Bhattacharya, S. Mukhopadhyay, B. B. Ghsoh, and P. K. Bose, “Optimized Use of Solar Tracking System and Wind Energy,” Procedia Technology, vol. 4, pp. 834–839, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protcy.2012.05.137
J. Miranda, J. Tamayo, and J. Barrios, “Diseño e implementación de la estrategia de movimiento para una unidad experimental de seguimiento solar con dos grados de libertad aplicado a la generación fotovoltaica,” (Trabajo de pregrado), Escuela de Ingenierías Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Telecomunicaciones, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, 2016. https://noesis.uis.edu.co/handle/20.500.14071/35097
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2024 TecnoLógicas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
| Article metrics | |
|---|---|
| Abstract views | |
| Galley vies | |
| PDF Views | |
| HTML views | |
| Other views | |
Funding data
-
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Grant numbers 4252
