Sistema de rastreamaneto solar microcontrolado para obtenção da máxima radiação em sistemas fotovoltaicos

Abstract

To become competitive, photovoltaic energy must have its costs reduced and use photovoltaic systems of greater efficiency. The high cost of producing photovoltaic energy when compared to other generation methods makes it impossible to apply it even if it has grown by 74% between 2010 and 2012. The methods for greater efficiency of photovoltaic systems, such as the search for Point of maximum power and the solar tracking, are solutions that are being studied and guarantee a gain of efficiency and the latter presents an even greater gain compared to a fixed plate. Thus, this work presents a project of a two-axis solar tracker that controls the azimuth and elevation of one of the photovoltaic panel, using radiation sensors composed of four photoresistors. The control of two motors servo that work on the vertical and horizontal axes is done by an ARDUINO microcontroller programmed in C language. Aiming at the low cost, small power consumption and practicality the project was implemented in small scale using a solar plate of 5 Wp (Watt-peak). After the construction of the prototype, the potential of generation of the proposed tracking system with that of a fixed system was compared.