Analysis of the Optimal Adjustment Frequency for a Dual-Axis Solar Tracker
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Gibson, Nicholas; Ibrahim, Adham; Lihn, Samuel; Mullin, Jenna; Jafari, Mohsen; Powers, Max; Rudawski, Patrick; Huang, Yufei
- Source
- 2022 IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference (URTC) Undergraduate Research Technology Conference (URTC), 2022 IEEE MIT. :1-5 Sep, 2022
- Subject
- Aerospace
Bioengineering
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
General Topics for Engineers
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
Robotics and Control Systems
Tracking
Educational robots
Lighting
Robot sensing systems
Sensors
Solar panels
Sun
- Language
With the rising need for clean energy around the world, sources of clean energy must be improved upon to increase their efficiency and meet global demands. This project aims to investigate an improvement to solar panel efficiency through the construction of a dual-axis solar tracker equipped with light sensors and an accompanying robotic light source that can simulate the motion of the Sun. The performance of the solar tracker was compared to a fixed solar panel, revealing a significant improvement in power generation. The frequency at which the solar tracker automatically adjusts throughout the day was varied and analyzed to determine the rate of adjustment that causes the greatest panel output. The dual-axis solar tracker and robotic light source system created also enable future research in the tracker’s performance in additional lighting scenarios and the comparison of tracking algorithms.