Sun Tracking System (rahul Raj)

Automatic Sun Tracking System for Street light applications By M R Rahul Raj

Aim of the Project 

Implementation of the automatic street light application by using solar panel using efficient power management concept.

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Solar energy is the most readily available source of energy. It is free. It is also the most important of the non-conventional sources of energy because it is nonpolluting.

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By using PSoC microcontroller we can control the system to capture the maximum energy from sun light in day time.

Basic Principle of Design 

Solar photo voltaic (SPV). Can be used to generate electricity form the sun.

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Silicon solar cells play an important role in generation of electricity.

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While the output of solar cells depends on the intensity of sunlight and the angle of incidence. The solar panels must remain in front of sun during the whole day.

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But due to rotation of earth those panels can’t maintain their position always in front of sun. This problem results in decrease of their efficiency.

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Thus to get a constant output, we are implementing an automated system which should be capable to constantly rotate the solar panel.

Existing Methods 

Microcontroller based systems can be existing but they don’t have Automatic Sun Tracking System by getting the maximum power in the day time.

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By using the PSoC Microcontroller we are overcome the above problem and make the system intelligently according to our requirements with a less complexity .

Proposed Solution 

Using PSoC microcontroller we can implement the intelligent system.

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The unique feature of this system is that instead of taking the earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guiding source. By using RTC constantly monitor the sunlight and rotate the panel towards the direction where the intensity of sunlight is maximum.

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The hardware complexity is also simple and we can reduce cost

Specifications 

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PSoC CY8C29466 24PXI Powerful Harvard Architecture Processor and M8C Processor Speeds to 24 MHz In-System Serial Programming (ISSP) Low Power at High Speed 3.0V to 5.25V Operating Voltage. Solar Panel Specifications:   

5 watts power 16 V output voltage 300 mA current

Automatic Sun Tracking System using PSoC Basic Block Diagram RTC

PSoC

LCD Display Sensor unit

Geared motor Driver

+5 V

Voltage sensor Light Sensor

Battery

Solar Panel

Mechanical arrangement

TOOLS

Hardware Tools 

PSoC Microcontroller unit

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Solar panel

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Geared motor

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Mechanical item to drive the solar panels

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LCD Display.

Software Tools 

PSOC Designer IDE for PSoC microcontroller Programming.

PSoC Mixed-Signal Array Microcontroller 

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The PSoC Mixed-Signal Array microcontroller are designed to replace multiple traditional MCU-based system components with one, low cost single-chip programmable device. PSoC devices include configurable blocks of analog and digital logic, as well as programmable interconnects. The basic function of PSoC Microcontroller is read the time from RTC according to that time it set the angle of the solar panel. To that it can drive the steeper motor according to where the maximum energy we are getting Also send the data for displaying purpose to LCD

PSoC= Programmable System-on-Chip

Solar Panel 

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Solar photo voltaic (SPV). Can be used to generate electricity form the sun. Silicon solar cells play an important role in generation of electricity. Solar cells Characteristics.  Isc-short circuit current.  Voc-open circuit voltage.  Peak power.

Isc

How solar cells Generate electricity

From Cells to Modules 

The open circuit voltage of a single solar cell is approx 0.5V.

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Much higher voltage is required for practical application.

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Solar cells are connected in series to increase its open circuit voltage.

RTC (Real Time Clock ) 

Real time clock counts seconds, minutes, hours, date of the month, month, day of the week, and year with leap year compensation valid up to 2100

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Consumes less than 500nA in battery backup mode with oscillator running

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The date and time collected PSoC Microcontroller using 2-wire serial interface (I2C Protocol) for attendance purpose.

LCD Display 

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This module used for display the present status of the system. This is interface to 4 bit mode with PSoC microcontroller

Applications 

Street light applications with out using normal power supplies.

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In Remote areas implementing a small power systems units at each home.

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Using this system to getting hot water

Advantages 

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The advantage of this unit is that to run the system it does not need computer Solar cells directly convert the solar radiation into electricity using photovoltaic effect without going through a thermal process. During the winter the sun has a low position , tracking angle from sunrise to sunset is shortened.

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The plant will not driven up to the final position but just to that position at which really sets, therefore saving of power. Depending on the radiation intensity, it may sinks under a predefined value for instance at dusk , when the sky is cloudy, tracking is interrupted.

Limitations 

Using this system at a time we can controls only one solar panel.

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Higher hardware expenditure

Thank You