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CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.

1 Background Information There is an increased demand for energy all over the world and it is bound to ge t higher, hence the need to find and develop alternative sources. The focus is m ainly on renewable and green energy sources such as wind, waves, biomass, and so lar energy. One area of focus is solar since it is free, non-polluting and inexh austible. The sun emits more energy in one second than is available in all of the fossil f uels present on earth.(3.9 X 1023), and therefore has the potential to provide a ll of our current and future economic development by using renewable energy sour ces.( Kamen, 2005). Kenya at geographical position 50N and 50Sin extreme coordinates, receives a lot of sun throughout the year. Also, Kenya is the world leader in the number of so lar power systems installed per capita (but not the number of watts added). More than 30,000 small solar panels each producing 12 to 30 watts, are sold in Kenya annually.( Flavin & Hull, 2007). Solar panels are the fundamental solar-energy conversion component. Conventional systems have solar panels fixed at a certain angle limiting their area of expos ure from the sun during the day. Therefore, the average solar energy is not alwa ys Optimized. Energy conversion is most efficient when the rays fall perpendicul arly on to the solar panel. ( Rizk &Chaiko, 2008).

Fig. 1 Experimental Results of Power Increase for Tracked Panel. (Rizk &Chaiko, 2008). A solar tracking system is aimed at orienting a solar panel towards the sun by e nsuring that the sun rays are always perpendicular to panel surface throughout t he day. There are three methods of tracking active, passive and chronological tr acking. Solar conversion systems have extremely low efficiency of less than 20%. Since e nergy output is proportional to the incident sunlight, sun- tracking ensures opt imal energy is harnessed.

Fig 2.Effect of angle of incidence on radiation panel. (Lee , et al. 2009). Through this project it is expected that effectiveness of solar energy collectio n will highly be improved by increasing the amount of collected energy. Solar en ergy will therefore form a reliable and affordable alternative source of energy to our nation and the world at large. 1.2 Problem Statement Currently the country is facing energy shortage. With the increasing population the need for energy is increasing. This is coupled by changing climatic patterns owing to the global warming and destruction of the forest cover in Kenya. Efforts have been taken to utilize renewable sources of energy such as solar to supplement hydroelectric power. In Kenya, attention has already been drawn towards solar energy generation. Howe ver, this has not been fully utilized. The use of fixed panels results in low pe rformance of solar energy generating systems, since for most of the hours of the

suns rays are not normal to panel surface. There is therefore need to develop a system that ensures the solar panel orienta tion tracks the sun to increase the efficiency. 1.3 OBJECTIVES 1.3.1 Main Objective The main objective of the project is. To optimize solar energy production by design and fabrication of an intelligent sun-tracking system model. 1.3.2 Specific objectives of the project To design a Mechanical structure allowing for adjustment of the solar panel To design control and interface To test the effectiveness of the sun tracking system 1.4 Justification Solar conversion systems have low efficiency usually less than 20%. Conventional solar panels are oriented in a fixed direction. The overall effect becomes very low performance in solar energy conversion. The amount of energy captured by a tilted collector could be increased by more than 40% by adjusting the tilt angle on a seasonal basis. (Bairi,1990). One of the methods to increase effectiveness of solar energy generation involves focusing incident rays onto a fixed panel; this allows incident rays to reach t he panel normal to the surface. The increase in total incident sun results in a larger solar panel output. Another approach uses a controller device to determine the position of the sun w ith reference to the current day, month and year. The other is by dynamic tracki ng of the sun which applies sensors to determine the current position of the rad iation source. The dynamic tracking system was chosen because it provides a more accurate metho d of ensuring optimum power collection possible. It also eliminates the use of e nergy unnecessarily such as when there is cloud cover and at night. The design achieves this by maintaining a perpendicular orientation of the sun r ays with the solar panel, at any time of day and throughout the year.

CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 SOLAR PANELS 2.1.1 INTRODUCTION A solar cell is a device that converts the energy of sunlight directly into elec tricity by the photovoltaic effects, and solar panel is an array of solar cells. Photovoltaic is the field of technology and research related to the application of solar cells in producing electricity for practical use. Solar panels are the fundamental solar energy conversion element. Conversion sys tems have solar panels fixed at a certain angle limiting their area of exposure from the sun during the day. Therefore, the average solar energy is not always o

ptimized. Earlier studies show that photovoltaic energy has a low efficiency ratio concern ing its production, for instances an input of 1000w of solar incident energy can generate only 190w in electricity, which is equivalent to an efficiency of 10%. This conversion efficiency is very low. (Mukund, 2006). 2.1.2 CHOICEOF SOLAR PANELS. The choice of solar panels depends on factors such as cost, durability, physical size and rating. Durability refers to the expected lifespan of the panel and al so whether it has a warranty. A good quality solar panel can last and even have a warranty of up to 20years. The rating of the solar panel in Watts directly aff ects the price, as solar panels are usually price per Watt. Watts are related to the output of each panel in that a 100watt panel under ideal conditions would g enerate 100 Watts of electricity. This is usually the maximum power one can get using the panel. The output of a panel also affects the physical size of the panel, meaning a 200 watts panel of would be larger in size to the 100watt panel of the same type. The type of solar cells used in its production also determines the size of the s olar panel. The system should have enough watts to power the intended appliances . 2.1.3 TYPES OF SOLAR PANELS. There are 3 types of solar panels. Monocrystalline solar panel: are made from a large crystal of silicon. These typ es of solar panels are the most efficient in absorbing sunlight and converting i t into electricity. However they are the most expensive. They work better in low er light conditions than the other types of solar panels Polycrystalline solar panel: they are the most common type of panels on the mark et today. They look a lot like shattered glass. They are slightly less efficient than the monocrystalline panels and less expensive. Instead of one large crysta l, this type of solar panel consists of multiple amounts of smaller silicon crys tals. Amorphous solar panels: consist of a thin like film made from molten silicon that is spread directly across large plates of stainless steel or similar materials. This type of solar panel has lower efficiency than the other two types of solar panels and it is also the cheapest. Its only advantage over the other two is th at the solar panel continues to charge while parts of the solar panel cells are in a shadow. These works great on boats and other types of transportation. (Muku nd,2006) 2.1.4 SOLAR PANEL EFFICIENCY Solar panel efficiency is the percentage of solar energy captured that is actual ly connected into electricity. On average the percentage of efficiency of the di fferent type of panels are: Monocrystalline- 18% Polycrystalline-15% Amorphous(thin film)-10% Thin film solar panels will generally degrade approximately 1% each year whereas crystalline panels degrade at approximately 5 %.( Enslin, 1992). 2.2 TRACKING SYSTEMS 2.1.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT SYSTEMS. There are different approaches that have already been applied in carrying out su n tracking of varying costs, Sophistication and performance, these are: The heliostat, which is a mirror that reflects the suns ray to a fixed target and is adjusted to the sun so that the target is always illuminated. The adjusting mechanism can be human, spring-wounded clockwork or computer- controlled motors. A design that is purely dependent on the time of the day, month and year. The ro tation of the panel is predetermined. This applies the use of sun position calcu lators. Such a system would have to be very complex to be able to track the sun

accurately throughout the day and the year. They are also expensive to construct . From the above information we realize that there is loop hole in as far as maxim um utilization of solar energy is concerned since only a small portion of the po tential solar energy is realize. This shows that we need an autonomous system th at improves the efficiency of the solar energy produced. Autonomous in this cont ext refers to the system ability to track the sun without external influence or a pre-determined motion. This ensures high accuracy in tracking the sun. 2.2.2 CLASSIFICATION OF TRACKERS According to (Hamilton 1999), Tracking systems are classified into three categor ies: - Active, passive and chronological trackers. ACTIVE TRACKERS They use motors, gear trains and/ or controller to direct the tracker in respons e to the solar direction. Light sensing trackers typically have two photo sensors, such as photodiodes, co nfigured differentially so that they output at zero when receiving the same ligh t intensity. Mechanically, they should be flat and are aimed 900 apart. Since the motors cons ume energy, they should be used only when necessary thus motion is in discrete s teps. If the light is below some threshold there would not be enough power gener ated to warrant orientation. This is also true when there is not enough differen ce in light level from one direction to another such as when clouds are passing overhead. PASSIVE TRACKERS. They use a low boiling point compressed gas fluid that is driven to one side or the other (by solar heat created gas pressure) to cause the other trackers to mo ve in response to an imbalance. As this is a non-precision orientation it is uns uitable for certain type of concentrating photovoltaic collection but works fine for common PV panel motion in response to wind gust. Photovoltaic cells are als o passive trackers. That way, sunlight passes through the transparent part of th e module and reflects on the hologram. CHRONOLOGICAL TRACKER This method does not actually find the sun in the sky, but instead works out the position of the sun from specific given data. This data is usually the current time, day, month and year. It counteracts the earths rotation by turning panel at an equal rate as the earth, but in the opposite direction. A chronological trac ker is specifically for use with a polar mount. 2.3 PANEL MOUNTING Solar tracker may be: Single axis trackers usually use a polar mount for the first axis. They have a m anual elevation (axis tilt) adjustment on a second axis which is adjusted on reg ular internals throughout the year compared to a fixed mount a single axis trac ker increases annual output by approximately 30% Dual axis tracker increase annual output by approximately 36 %.( Agarwal, 1992). 2.4. SENSITIVITY OF TRACKING To investigate how much the panel has to be away from the optimum tracking point to be losing power, experiments showing the effect of angle of incidence on vol tage portray the results shown in the table. Angel of incidence (degree) Voltage Received (mV) 0 686 1 686 2 686 3 686 3.5 685 4 684 5 684 Table 1 Effects of angle of incidence on voltage. From the above table loses in voltage occur when the cell is at an angle of inci

dence of 3.5. This shows that the array can be 3degrees out of phase and still r eceive maximum power. This is put into consideration when selecting motors for t he positioning system. To maintain accuracy in receiving maximum energy from the sun, the array will need to move more than 3 degrees for every alignment. (Hami lton, 1999). 2.5 SENSORS The sensors required in sun tracking system are photo sensors or light detectors . 2.5.1 TYPES OF LIGHT DETECTORS (i). PHOTO RESISTORS (LDR) A photo resistor or light dependent resistor is a resistor whose resistance decr eases with incident light intensity. It can also be referred to as a photoconduc tor. LDRs are very useful especially in light/ dark sensors circuits. Normally t he resistance of any LDR is very high, sometimes as high as 1000000 ohms, but wh en they are illuminated with light, resistance drops dramatically. A photo resis tor is made of high resistance semiconductors. If light falling on the device is of high enough frequency, photos absorbed by the semiconductor give bound elect rons enough energy to jump into the conduction band. The resulting free electron s conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance. Photo resistors come in many different types such as Cadmium based cells i.e. Cdse, Cds and Cdte. Lead based i.e. Pbs, Pbse and Pbte. While in operation the LDR must be part of a voltage divider circuit in order to give an output voltage, volt, which changes with illumination. (Stephen, 2007) (ii). PHOTODIODES This is a PN junction or PIN structure when a photon of sufficient energy strike s the diode it excites an electron, thereby creating a mobile electron and posit ively charged electron hole. If the absorption occurs in the junctions depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus holes move towards the anode, and electrons towards the cathode and a photocurrent is produced. It can operate in two modes namely: Photovoltaic mode: - when used in zero bias or photovoltaic mode, the flow of ph otocurrent out of the device is restricted and a voltage builds up. The diode be comes forward biased and a current begins to flow across the junction in the dir ection opposite to the photocurrent. This mode is responsible for the photovolta ic effect, which is the basis of solar cells. Photoconductive mode: - In this mode the diode is often reverse based, dramatic ally reducing the response time at the expense of increased noise. This increase s the width of the depletion layer, which decreases the junctions capacitance res ulting in first response time. (Stephen, 2007) 2.6 DRIVE SYSTEMS According to ( Khurmi, 2006) there are various forms of drive systems namely: 2.6.1 DC MOTORS These are geared so as to rotate at a very slow average rate of one revolution per day (15 degrees per hour). In theory the tracker may rotate completely, assu ming there is enough clearance for a complete rotation. Alternatively an electr onic controller may be used. Tracking adjustments can be made periodically or co ntinuously. 2.6.2 STEPPER MOTOR A stepper motor is an electro mechanized device which connects electrical pulse into discrete mechanical movements. The shaft or spindle of a stepper motor rota tes in discrete step increment when electrical command pulses are applied to it in the proper sequence. The sequence of the applied pulse is directly rotated to the direction of motor

shafts rotation. The speed of the motor shaft rotation is directly related to th e frequency of the input pulses and the length of rotation is directly related t o the number of input pulse applied. Stepper motors may be classified into unipolar and bipolar motors. Figure 3: Stepper Motor i. Unipolar stepper motors The unipolar motor has five or six wire and four coils (divided by center connec tions on each coil). The center connections of the coils are tied together and u sed as the power connection. They are called unipolar steppers because power alw ays comes in on this one pole. ii. Bipolar stepper motors The bipolar stepper motor usually has four wires coming out of it. Unlike unipol ar steppers, bipolar steppers have no common center connection. They have two in dependent steps of coils instead. They can be distinguished from unipolar steppe rs by measuring the resistance between the wires. Like other motors, stepper motors require more power than a microcontroller can give them, they require a separate power supply. Typically voltage is applied to each of the coils in a specific sequence. Stepping in the other direction is si mply a matter of doing the steps in reverse order. 2.6.3 STEPPER MOTOR CONTROL IDENTIFICATION. A stepper motor is identified by the number of wires coming out of it. Bipolar m otor have 4 leads coming out of them. One winding is on each stator pole. Unipolar motors may have 5 leads but gener4ally have 6 or 8 wires. In most of un ipolar motors, the wires for 6 and 8 types come out in two bundles of 3 or 4 wir es. Unipolar steppers have two coils per5 stator pole. In the 8 lead motors the 2 leads from the 2 coils from both stators emerge. From the motor in the 6 lead motors the two coils on each stator pole are joined together before they emerge from the motor in the 5 lead motors, each of the two joined wires are themselves joined before they leave the motor. By means of controlling stepper motor operation we can:(i) Increase or decrease its speed. (ii) Increase or decrease number of revolutions (iii) Change its direction meaning rotate it clockwise or anticlockwise. To vary the RPM of motor we have to vary the PRFC (Pulse Repetition frequency). Number of applied pulse will vary number of rotation and lastly to change direct ion we have to change pulse sequence. 2.6.4 ADVANTAGES OF STEPPER MOTORS. 1) The rotation angle of the motor is proportional to the input pulse. 2) Pease positioning and repeatability of movement since good stepper motor s have a high accuracy and any error is non-cumulative from one step to the next . 3) Excellent response to starting, stopping and reversing. 4) Very reliable since there are no contact bushes in the motor. Therefore the life of the bearing. 5) The motors response to digital input pulse provides open-loop control, m aking the motor simpler and less costly to control. 6) Its possible to achieved very low speed synchronous rotation with a load that is directly coupled to the shaft. 7) A wide range of rotational speeds can be realized as the speed is propor tioned to the frequency of the input pulse. 2.6.5 DISADVANTAGES OF STEPPER MOTORS. 1) 2) Resonances can occur if not properly controlled Not easy to operate at extremely high speeds.

Characteristics that are considered in stepper motor selection include:Step angle. Compatibility between the motor and driver Inductance: a high inductance motor will provide a greater amount of torque at l ow speeds and lower torque at higher speeds. Motor heat: stepper motors are designed to run hot (500-900 c). However too much current may cause excessive heating and damage to the motor installation and wi nding. 2.7 MICROCONTROLLERS 2.7.1 INTRODUCTION A micro controller is a small, inexpensive computer, usually used for sensing in put from the real world and controlling devices based on the input. Most electro nic devices have a microcontroller in them of some form or another. Microcontrol lers are easy to use with simple sensors and output devices, and they can commun icate with desktop computers fairly simply as well. They are also very useful fo r designing simple interactive devices that do not need the full power of a desk top computer, but need to be smaller or cheaper. There are several different lev els of microcontrollers. Some are very small, chip-size devices while others are larger composed of several components and ports for input and output. Higher level microcontrollers have a simple hardware interface to other devices and a simpler programming language though they are expensive because they are pr e-programmed. Lower level microcontrollers are the cheapest and most flexible in terms of what it is made to do though they require more work both in terms of hardware connec tions and programming. Microcontrollers are frequently used in automatically controlled products and de vices such as automobile energy control systems, remote controls office machine, appliances, power tools and toys. By reducing the size, cost and power consumpt ion compared to a design using a separate microprocessor, memory and input outpu t devices, microcontrollers make it economical to electronically control many mo re processes. Some common microcontrollers include:Intel family i.e. 8031, 8035, 8040, 8080. Atmel family i.e. AT mega 64, AT mega 32, Atmega16, ATmega8575 Atmel family microcontrollers are readily available and affordable. The most com monly used is ATmega 32. 2.7.2 ATMEGA 32 MICROCONTROLLER ATmega 32 is a high performance, low-power AVR 8-bit microcontroller that uses a dvanced RISC architecture. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the ATmega 32 achieves throughput approaching IMIPS per MHZ allowing the system designers to optimize power consumption version processing speed. The AVR core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general purpose working reg isters. All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) allowing two independent registers to be accessed in one single instructi on executed in one clock cycle. The resulting architecture is more code effici ent while achieving throughputs up to ten times faster than conventional CISC mi crocontrollers. 2.7.3 FEATURES OF ATMEGA 32 Some of the features of the AT mega 32 microcontroller includes the following: (i) 131 powerful instructions most single- clock cycle execution (ii) 32x8 General purpose working registers. (iii) Up to 16MIPS throughputs at 16 MHz (iv) On-ship 2 cycle multiplier. (v) High endurance non-volatile memory segments. (vi) 32kbyte of in-system self-programmable flash program memory (vii) 1024 bytes EEPROM (viii) 2 kbytes internal SRAM (ix) Data retention: 20 years at 850 c/100 years at 250c

(x) (xi) (xii) face.

In-system programming by on- chip boot program True read- while- write operation Programming of flash, EEPROM, fuses and Lock Bits through the JTAG inter

(xiii) Peripheral features Two 8-bit timer/counters with separate pre scalar sand compare modes One 16-bite timer/counter with separate pre scalar, compare mode, and capture mo de Real time counter with separate oscillator 8-channel, 10-bit ADC Byte-oriented two-wire serial interface Master/slave SPI serial interface On chip analog comparator. 2.7.4 SPECIAL MICROCONTROLLER FEATURES: Power on reset and programmable brown-out detection Internal calibrated RC oscillator External and internal interrupt sources. Six sleep modes: idle, ADC Noise reduction, power-save, power-down, standby and extended standby Input/output and package 32 programmable input/output lines. 40 pin PDIP, 44-Lead TQFP and 44-pad QFN/MLF Operating voltages 2.7-5.5 v for ATmega 32 l 4.5- 55v for ATmega 32 Speed grades 0-8 MHZ for ATmega 32l 0-16MHZ for ATmega 32 Power consumption at 1 MHZ, 3V, 250 For ATmega 32L Active -1.1 mA Idle mode 0.35 mA Power-down Mode <1 MODES OF OPERATION 1) The idle mode stops the CPU while allowing the SRAM, timer/counters, SPI Port and interrupts system to continue functioning 2) The power-down mode saves the registers contents but freezes the oscilla tor, disabling all other chip functions until the next interrupt or hardware res et. 3) In standby mode the crystal/resonator oscillator is running while the re st of the device is sleeping. This allows very fast start-up combined with low po wer consumption. ( Lovine, 2000) 2.8BEARING Bearings are elements that are applied in machine design to enhance smooth motio n and transmission of torque. (Khurmi, 2006) 2.8.1 CLASSIFICATION OF BEARINGS Bearings may be classified in two ways 1) Depending upon the direction of load to be supported: are either radial or thrust bearing 2) Depending upon the nature of the contact: are either sliding contact or rolling contact bearings. 2.8.2 ROLLING CONTACT BEARINGS There are five types of roller bearing namely. Ball bearing Cylindrical roller bearing Needle roller bearings

Tapered roller bearings Spherical bearings 2.8.3 BALL BEARING A ball bearing is a rolling element bearing which uses balls to maintain the sep aration between the moving parts of the bearing. The purpose of a ball bearing i s to reduce rotational friction and axial loads. It achieves this by using at le ast two races to contain the balls and transmit the loads through the balls. Usu ally one of the races is held fixed. As one of the bearing races rotates it caus es the ball to rotate as well. Because the balls are rolling they have a much lower efficient of friction than if two flat surfaces ere rotating on each other. 2.8.4 ADVANTAGES OF BALL BEARINGS ARE: 1) They can tolerate some misalignment of the inner and outer races. 2) The ball bearing is the least expensive primarily because of the low cos t of producing the balls used in the bearing. 2.9 COUPLINGS A coupling is a device that is used to make permanent or semi-permanent connecti on between two shafts. Shaft couplings are used in machinery for several purpose s the most common being 1) To provide for the connection of shafts of units that is manufactured se parately such as a motor and generator and to provide for repairs or alterations 2) To provide for misalignment of the shaft or introduce mechanical flexibi lity. 3) To reduce the transmission of shock load from one shaft to another. 4) To introduce protection against overloads.(Khurmi, 2006) 2.9.1 REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD SHAFT COUPLING 1) It should be easy to connect or disconnect 2) It should transmit the full power from one shaft to the other shaft with out losses. 3) It should hold the shafts in perfect alignment. 4) It should reduce the transmission of shock load from one shaft to the ot her. 5) It should have no projecting parts. Types of shaft coupling include Rigid couplings These are to connect two shafts which are perfectly aligned Flexible couplings These are used to connect two shafts having both lateral and angular misalignmen t. A jaw coupling is a type of flexible coupling designed to transmit torque while damping system vibrations, which protects other components from damage. Jaw coupling have three parts: two metallic hubs and a rubber insert called an e lement. The three parts press fit together with a jaw from each hub fitting alte rnately with the lobes of the element. The curved jaws of the hubs reduce deform ation of the element to maintain the zero backlash fit. 2.10 WORM GEARS. Worm gears have the property that no other gear set has: the worm gear can easil y turn the gear, but the gear cannot turn the worm. This is because the angle on the worm is shallow that when the gear tries to spin it, the friction between t he gear and the worm holds the worm in place. This feature is useful for machines such as conveyor systems, in which the locki ng feature cannot act as a brake for the conveyor when the motor is not turning. (Khurmi, 2006) Worms are usually classified into two: Cylindrical or straight worm Cone or double enveloping worm. 2.11 RECHARGEABLE BATTERY Lead acid batteries are commonly used in solar power systems. A lead acid batter

y is composed of several single cells connected in series. Each cell produces ap proximately 2.1V. A 6 Volt battery has three single cells. When fully charged, it produces an output Voltage of 6.3V. A 12 Volt battery has six single cells an d produces an output voltage of 12.6 V when fully charged. The lead acid battery has various versions. Shallow cycle rechargeable batteries are used in automobiles when a short burst of energys drawn from the battery. (S ukhatme, 1994)

CHAPTER THREE 3.0 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Methods The objective of the project was accomplished in this way 1. Mechanical Design and fabrication to achieve the required sun tracking d evice 2. Design of sensors circuitry 3. Motor Selection and drive circuitry design 4. Choice of controller and control circuitry design 5. Development of a tracking program (Coding) 6. Interface of components 3.1.1 Mechanical Design and fabrication to achieve rotation The mechanical structure was made of mild steel which has the following properti es: Yield stress 200MPa Density 7850kg/3 Safety factor 2 Yield strength in shear 165GPa Safety factor 3 Modulus of Elasticity, E 190GPa Modulus of Rigidity, G 75GPa Poissons Ratio 0.27 Allowable Stress 100MPa This was achieved by assembling of the following components Design of Shaft The shaft was designed based on the torque to be transmitted Torque, Where F is the force supported by the shaft and h is the perpendicular distance. Force supported by the shaft is 56N Perpendicular distance of force from shaft centre will be 100mm Therefore torque results to 5Nm

Using a factor of safety of 2 Where D = Shaft diameter The Choice Shaft 15mm in Diameter was sufficient Design of Support Flame External factors such as wind and rain were put to consideration. Taking the cas e of Nairobi region, wind speeds range between 10 and 20m/h. Hence there was nee d for a robust design. The base was also designed in such a way as to prevent to ppling over of the structure. Upper Plate Design The plate behaves as simply supported beam with a uniformly distributed load for Therefore

Considering that welding would be done, a value h = 3mm assumed Figure 4. Panel Support Plate Drawing Worm Gearing Design The Worm Gearing was found necessary in this system for Locking the mechanism wh en not in Motion to safeguard from external forces due to wind and slipping back Taking,

Figure 5 Worm and Wheel Drawing Figure 6The mechanical Design assembly 3.2 Design of the Circuitry Design of sensors circuitry LDRs (Light Dependent Resistors) were used as sensors for generating an electri c signal proportional to intensity of light falling on the panel. LDRs were mounted at the peripheries of the panel i.e. East/West, enclosed in tu bes. This was done to increase the disparity in the light intensity falling on d ifferent sensors. Figure 7 Mounting of sensors on solar panel Figure 8 CdS light detectors circuit

Due to the fact that the controller reads the voltage output from the sensors, i t was necessary to set the operating range of the sensors to an appropriate volt age range. To accomplish this, the output of the sensors had to be sent to an am plifier circuit that would deliver the required voltage range to the controller. 3.3 Limit switch design This activates the reverse motion set at several times the tracking speed, which is adjustable. The tracking system goes back to the starting position. Another limit switch stops the reverse motion and causes a time delay switch to turn on a delay for the rest of the night hours. 3.4 Drive circuitry design This was developed to operate the stepper motor (decoupled) that conduct 2-D rot ation of the panel. 3.5 Control circuit design and choice of controller Choice of Control Chip: When choosing a controller chip for the tracking system, it was important to con sider the functions it would need to perform. The functions include: Converting the analog voltages from the sensor circuits into digital values that can then be compared. Carry out outputs to the stepper motor control circuit. The output to the motor circuit requires eight data channels to control movement of the stepper motors ( four each). Inputs and outputs need to be clarified before the control is chosen. Read four voltage levels simultaneously and continuously. To select between automatic and manual tracking and four pushbuttons To control direction when using manual control. The control circuit was designed to operate the motors in open loop due to the a ccuracies of the stepper motors. 3.6 Development of a tracking program (coding) Programming was done in C programming language The software includes the positioning of panel through stepper motor and data ac quisition and processing in Microprocessor. 3.7 Model Testing and Debugging After the fabrication was done the model was one through a series of experiments to check gy collection, as compared to when the panel The algorithm was severally run to check for riately. tested for functionality. It was d efficiency in optimizing solar ener is fixed. errors, and corrections done approp

3.7 Brief description of system operation This design is based on the principle of generation of a differential signal by tracking sensors whenever the orientation of the solar panel is not perpendicula r to the sun rays. The sensors detect the sunlight intensity, which is reflected as a change in vol tage and is sent to the microprocessor via a comparator. The signals fed by the tracking sensor form the basis of the controller (microprocessor) input. The mic roprocessor outputs the signals to control the stepper motor and hence, the sola r panel orientation. If the light source intensity received by the sensors is different, the system o btains signals from the sensors output voltage in the two orientations. The sys tem then determines which sensor received more intensive light based on the sens or output voltage value interpreted by a voltage type A/D converter and a microp rocessor-compatible, A/D converter. The system drives the step motor towards the

orientation of this sensor. If the output values of the two sensors are equal, both the output difference and the motor s drive voltage are zero, which means t he system has tracked the sun s current position.

Figure 10 Block diagram showing sun tracking system The Designed system sends no signals during night times by sensing low or none s unshine intensities and remains facing West after the sun set. The micro-control ler unit is also skipped to sleep mode and consumes low energy. The panel should be rotated towards East direction in order to make it ready for operation on th e next day. 3.2Materials and Equipment 3.2.1Electronic Components Opto Isolator 4N25 Transistors TIP 142 Microcontroller and Socket AT mega 32 Limit Switches 802M BY5 LDRs P1201 Capacitors 25 Resistors 10K, 1K, 470 Solar panel 50W Stepper Motor8718M -065 holding torque 5Nm Lead Acid Battery 12Volt Bread board WD102 3.2.2 Mechanical Components Bearings Skf 61902 -2RS Jaw Coupling L075 15mm Diameter Angle Bars 40mm x 40mm x 3 Mild steel Round Bar Dia 20mm X 300 Mild steel Plate 1000mm X 1000mm x 6mm Mild steel Plate 500mm x 500mm X 3mm Mild steel Plate 200mm x 200mm x 10mm Mild steel Square tube 40mm X 40mm X 3 Mild steel Round bar Dia 10mm X 100mm ASSEMBLING AND TESTING All the mechanical parts were machined and fabricated to their specifications. I t was followed by assembling the parts together to achieve the mechanical struct ure. The circuit was developed on a bread board to allow for any necessary correction s during testing after which the circuit was soldered on the strip board. The mechanical structure was connected to a circuit and the stepper motor in rea diness for testing of the system. TESTING The system was connected to a power source. A torch was used to vary the light i ntensity on the sensors. As a result of the variations of the light intensity, a signal was sent to the already programmed micro-controller which in return acti vated the motor to turn the solar panel to the desired orientation. During this stage, some adjustments were made to improve on the performance of t he system which included lubricating of the gearing unit to reduce friction, pro

gramme debugging and correction of motor and coupling adjustments.

CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Results The design was implemented to come up with the systems whose photo is shown in f igure 4.1 Figure 11 A Photograph of the Complete System

Using a voltmeter the following data was obtained for a fixed panel and a tracki ng system. Time of Day 0900 18.7 1000 19.4 1100 19.5 1200 20.0 1300 20.4 1400 19.1 1500 19.2 1600 19.0 1700 18.9 Fixed Panel (v) Tracking System (v) 19.4 19.5 20.0 19.8 20.6 20.8 20.2 20.5 20.4

Table 2 Comparison of fixed and tracking system Discussion Fabrication of the model was done successfully although some modifications were inevitable which were meant to enhance the system. The mechanical design failed to satisfactorily achieve the desired orientation from east to west due to crank size limitations. The shaft of the motor was too small as compared to the shaft of the worm. This brought about misalignment causing vibration of the system wh en coupling was done.

CHAPTER FIVE 5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Conclusion In spite of some challenges, the project was fully designed and fabricated to so me functional level. The project was able to achieve the following objectives: i. Design and fabrication of the mechanical structure allowing for variatio ns of orientation of the solar panel.

ii. Design and fabrication of the control and interface circuits. iii. Testing the effectiveness of the tracking systems by comparing it with t he fixed panel. Through this, the project was able to optimize solar energy production. 5.2 Recommendation Based on the achievements and challenges met in carrying out the project, the fo llowing is recommended: i. A means of reducing systems vibration is necessary. ii. Circuit routing to achieve neat and compact circuits. iii. A means of determining the correct crank diameter.

REFERENCES Agarwal, A. K. (1992)Two Axis Tracking System for Solar Concentrators. Renewable Energy, 2: 181-182. Bairi, A. (1990)Method of quick determination of the angle of slope and the orie ntation of solar collectors without a sun tracking system. Solar Wind Techno, 7: 327-330. Enslin, J. (1992). Maximum Power Point Tracking.Journal of a Cost Saving Necessi ty in Solar System 2: 543 -549. Flavin, C., & Hull M. (2007).Energy for Development.Journal of the Potential rol e of renewable energy 7 (10): 110-119. Hamilton, Initials. (1999). Full Title.Sun Tracking Solar Array Systems, Unpubli shed Doctoral Dissertations, University of Queens land Kamen, D. (2005). An Energy Policy for the 21stCentury.Journal of Policy Matters 2 (2): 14-19. Khurmi, R., & Gupta, J. (2006).A text Book of Machine Design (14th Edition). New Delhi: Chand (S.) & Co. LTD. Lee C., et al. (2009). Sun Tracking Systems.Journal of Sensors (9): 3875 -3890. Lovine, J. (2000). PIC Microcontroller Project Book.New York: McGraw Hill. Mukund, R. P. (2006). Wind and Power Systems, Design, Analysis and Operation (2n d Edition). Illinois USA : CRC Press Rizk, J., &Chaiko, Y. (2008).Solar Tracking System.Journal of More Efficient Use of Solar Panels (41): 313-314. Sukhatme, S. (1994).Solar Energy Priciples of Thermal Collection and Storage.New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Ward, S. (2007). Electrical Engineering.(First Edition). New Delhi: Global Media APPENDIX

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