ABSTRACT
It is necessary to use solar energy efficiently and there are no other better ways than solar photovoltaic systems employed with solar trackers. Solar trackers can help photovoltaic modules mounted on any surface to track the sun path and point the module face toward the sun to obtain maximum energy generation. A comparative study of static solar panels and tracked solar panels using a vertical single-axis solar tracker is presented in this chapter. The design of a vertical single-axis solar tracker using Arduino uno microcontroller is also discussed in this chapter along with a flow chart for Arduino programming and a block diagram for the functioning of the tracker system. In this work, the output of both vertically tracked panels and static panels is compared for the location of Himachal Pradesh, India. This study shows that about 23% more energy can be harvested as compared to static panels when using a vertical axis solar tracker during a clear sky day. Additional energy gain was found during the morning and evening. While during noon time both panels generated quite a similar amount of power. When clouds are in the sky, it is observed that both vertically tracked and static panels generated approximately equal amounts of energy because both the panels had the same tilt angle. As compared to static panels, vertically tracked panel was economically superior.
