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Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 24112421 www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Design and construction of a two-axis Sun tracking system for parabolic trough collector (PTC) efciency improvement
George C. Bakos
Laboratory of Energy Economics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67 100 Xanthi, Greece Received 5 October 2005; accepted 29 November 2005 Available online 23 January 2006

Abstract An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of using a continuous operation two-axes tracking on the solar energy collected. The collected energy was measured and compared with that on a xed surface tilted at 401 towards the South. The results indicate that the measured collected solar energy on the moving surface was signicantly larger (up to 46.46%) compared with the xed surface. The proposed two-axis Sun tracking system was characterized by a fairly simple and low-cost electromechanical set-up with low maintenance requirements and ease on installation and operation. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Solar energy; Two-axis tracking system; PTC efciency

1. Introduction Many authors have studied Sun tracking systems with different applications to improve the efciency of solar systems by adding the tracking equipment to these systems [16]. A tracking mechanism must be reliable and able to follow the Sun with a certain degree of accuracy, return the collector to its original position at the end of the day or during the night, and also track during periods of cloud cover. Fixed collectors producing heat or
Tel.: +30 25410 79725; fax: +30 25410 79734.

E-mail address: bakos@ee.duth.gr. 0960-1481/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.11.008

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electricity throughout the year are usually installed and tilted at an angle equal to the latitude of the installation site facing directly to the Sun. In this case, the energy collected by the solar collector during both winter and summer is less due to Suns changing altitude. The use of a tracking mechanism increases the amount of solar energy received by the solar collectors resulting to a higher output power. Commercially, one-axis and two-axis tracking mechanisms are available. Usually, the single-axis tracker follows the Suns EastWest movement, while the two-axis tracker follows also the Suns changing altitude angle. The aim of this work is to present the installation of a two-axis Sun tracking system which is based on the combined use of the conventional photoresistors and the programming method of control which works efciently in all weather conditions regardless of the presence of clouds for long periods. 2. Automatic Sun tracking system design and control The proposed Sun tracking system consists of the following parts [7]: (i) the electro-mechanical movement mechanism, (ii) the sensors signal processing unit, and (iii) the system software. 2.1. Electro-mechanical movement mechanism The electro-mechanical movement mechanism consists of four relays and two electronic circuits, where the rst is connected to the computer and the other to the sensors. The four relays are connecting the motors to the electro-mechanical movement mechanism, and their purpose is to move the solar collector reector to four directions (up, down, left and right). The relays are driven through an electronic circuit which consists of eight similar subcircuits. Fig. 1 shows the schematic of one of those circuits. The circuit operates for logic states 0 and 1. During the logic state 1, the current is passing through the resistor R2 and the transistor Q1 is activated. Then, the relay closes the circuit and the motor moves the reector towards the desired direction. The all movement procedure is controlled visually using the photodiode D2. Diodes D3 and D1 protect the transistor and the circuit, respectively, from reversed polarity. During the logic state 0, the transistor Q1 is deactivated and the relay opens the circuit. The eight sub-circuits are divided in three groups and are described below: The rst group of sub-circuits consists of two sub-circuits used for the reector movements from left to right (EastWest) and are connected to the computer. The second group of sub-circuits consists of two sub-circuits which are used for the reectors movement up and down (NorthSouth), connected also to the computer. The third group consists of two sub-circuits for driving the reector according to the sensors signal. There is also a subcircuit which connects the sensor system to the computer and another sub-circuit is used to decide whether the sensors will be activated, depending on the level of solar intensity. Table 1 shows the possible combinations of resistors R2, R5, R8 and R11 logic states (where resistors R5, R8 and R11 correspond to three remaining relay driving sub-circuits), the corresponding states of the relays and the movements of the reector.

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The signals for the operation of the rst and second group of sub-circuits are sent through four of the eight output pins (D0D7) of the parallel port of the computer. The other sub-circuits are operating autonomously. 2.2. Sensors signal processing unit The sensors system consists of two photoresistors connected in series with voltage Uc. When the resistors are facing the Sun then the voltage in the middle of the photoresistors is
D1 +12V LED DIODE D2 D3 DIODE R1 1,5k Q1 NPN R2 2,2k Signal R3 47k RELAY SPDT K1

Fig. 1. Sub-circuit for relay driving. Table 1 Logic state combinations Logic state of R2 Logic state of R5 Logic state of R8 Logic state of R11 Logic state of relay for horizontal movement (H1) 0 1 0 0 0 Logic state of relay for horizontal movement (H2) 0 0 1 0 0 Logic state of relay for vertical movement (V1) 0 0 0 1 0 Logic state of relay for vertical movement (V2) 0 0 0 0 1 State of operation

0 1 1 0 0

X 0 1 X X

0 0 0 1 1

X X X 0 1

Idle Left movement Right movement Up movement Down movement

Xno inuence to system operation, 15 V DC/220 V AC, 00 V DC,0 V AC

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R2 R1 R2 R1 R1 > R2
Fig. 2. Photoresistors set-up.

R1 R2 R1< R2

R1 = R2

Uc/2. Otherwise, the system is moving accordingly, so that the same value of resistance is achieved in both photoresistors (Fig. 2). The comparison of resistor values is achieved using the circuit shown in Fig. 3. Outputs O1 and O2 of the triggers are connected to the relay control circuit which is responsible for the movement of the reector to the required directions. The sensor system is operating when the solar radiation intensity exceeds a minimum level of solar intensity (400 W/m2), and this is achieved with the circuit shown in Fig. 4. 2.3. System software The system software is written in Visual C++ programming language, and the software interface is shown in Fig. 5. Manual operation of the reector movement can be carried out activating the buttons Motor 1 Left, Motor 1 Right, Motor 2 Up and Motor 2 Down. Using the buttons Go To Left, Set Left End, Go To Down and Set Down End it is possible to pre-set the initial position of the reector during the beginning of the operation. The data given in the windows Sun Rise, Sun Set, Sun Rise +301 and Sun Set 301 represent the Sun rise time, the Sun set time and the time corresponding to 301 inclination of Sun in reference to the horizon for the sunrise and sunset, respectively. Also, a graphical representation of the reector position is given. Finally, the user has the ability to select manually the sensors by activating the Use sensor option. When there is an interruption of power supply, the tracking system is switched off, and when the system restarts the reector orientation procedure begins automatically. 3. Description of the experimental facility The metal frame (supporting structure) of the PTC consists of two xed bases and three moving parts (Fig. 6). The total length of the PTC frame is 6.10 m and the height is 8.60 m.

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D1 P1 51k 2 U1B LM339 2 U3A 1 2 74LS00 4 5 U3B 6 74LS00 U1C LM339 14 9 10 U3C 8 74LS00 12 13 U3D 11 74LS00 O2 O1 3 1 Uc 3 5 + 4 12 R1 2k U1A LM339 7 + 1 6 12 9 + 8 12 LDR2 1 UL1 P3 51k 2
Uc 1 P9 4,7k 2 R27 2k 1 P5 51k 2 1 3 P4 51k 3 2 9 + 8 12

UH2

LDR1

C1 100nF

P7 4,7k 2

UH1 Uf 1

UL2

P2 18k

Fig. 3. Circuit of four comparators and two RS triggers.

12

R2 2k

U1D LM339 11 + 13 10 -

U2C LM339 14

9 10

U4C 8 74LS00 O3

LDR3

11 + 10 12

U2D LM339 13

12 13

U4D 11 74LS00

Fig. 4. Circuit for the comparison of solar intensity level.

The dimensions of the parabolic reector are 3.42 m in length and 3.24 m wide. One of the moving parts is a pylon which is connected to one of the two xed bases and has the ability to move with respect to spherical coordinates (y,j). When the collector is in a horizontal position, a small trolley can move on the pylon, from the lower point to the higher point, forcing one end of the collector axis (pivot) to move upwards [8]. Since one end is xed and the length of the axis is constant, the pylon is changing position relative to the horizontal ground. This movement can bring the axis of the PTC orthogonal to the incoming solar radiation, and is necessary because the position of the Sun is changing according to the season. The system also has the ability to follow the Suns daily orbit. This can be achieved

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Fig. 5. Interface for the control of reector movement.

Fig. 6. PTC supporting structure (metal frame).

by the EastWest rotation of the collector axis. These two movements can be achieved using two AC Siemens motors. One of these motors (Fig. 7a) is 0.37 kW (1370 rpm) and is being used for the vertical movement, and the other (Fig. 7b) is 0.75 kW (915 rpm) and is being used for the EastWest solar collector rotation. For both motors gearbox MOTOVARIO is used, and the total time required for the collector to move from full East to full West position is 540 s. The movement of the collector is protected using Philips

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Fig. 7. (a) Motor for vertical movement. (b) Motor for horizontal movement.

Fig. 8. Small-scale PTC model.

end-point terminators. The large-scale parabolic base was installed in the industrial area of Xanthi City in Greece. Before the actual application of the Sun tracking system on the large-scale PTC supporting structure, a small-scale PTC model was developed for laboratory experiments and verication of reliable operation of the tracking system. This model is installed in the Laboratory of Energy Economics of Democritus University of Thrace and consists of two metal bases and three moving parts. The PTC model is 1.37 m in length, 0.64 m wide and 1.34 m in height (Fig. 8).

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4. Experimental results and discussion The experiments were carried out in the industrial area of Xanthi where the large scale parabolic mirror base was installed. For the measurements two pyranometers were used. One was placed in the center of the parabolic mirror base and the other on a 401 xed surface facing the South. The results were normalized in order to compare the pyranometer readings easily and also to compensate for reading uctuations. The maximum intensity of global solar radiation noticed during the experiments was 1010 W/m2 and measured between 14:3015:30 on 1 June 2004. Two sets of experiments were carried out in order to assess the efciency of the proposed twoaxis tracking system. One set of measurements was taken under normal weather conditions (absence of clouds and rain) running on combined software and sensor mode of operation. The other set of measurements was taken under abnormal weather conditions running rstly on combined software and sensor mode of operation and secondly only on software mode. 4.1. Measurements of two-axis tracking system under normal weather conditions (i) The experiments took place on 12 May 2004 from 06:30 to 19:30 PM and the ambient temperature was 22 1C, the humidity 45%, and the results are shown in Fig. 9. During these experiments the weather conditions were very good and there were no clouds in the sky. (ii) The experiments took place on 1 June 2004 from 06:30 to 19:30 with ambient temperature 25 1C, the humidity 50%, and the results are shown in Fig. 10. During these experiments the weather conditions were very good and there were almost no clouds in the sky. (iii) The experiments were carried out on 20 April 2004 from 06:30 to 19:30, the ambient temperature was 23 1C and the humidity 50%. During the experiment the weather conditions were very good and there were almost no clouds in the sky. The experimental results are shown in Fig. 11.
1.0 Normalized Solar Radiation Values 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 7:00 7:30 8:00 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 Time (Hours:Min)
Fig. 9. Experimental results using combined software and sensors mode of operation.

Fixed Two axis tracking

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1 Normalized Solar Radiation Values 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 10:30 11:30 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:30 16:30 17:30 19:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 7:00 8:00 9:30 Fixed Two axis tracking

Time (Hours:Min)
Fig. 10. Experimental results using combined software and sensors mode of operation.

1 0.9 Normalized Solar Radiation Values 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 10:30 11:30 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:30 16:00 17:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 Fixed Two axis tracking

Time (Hours:Min)
Fig. 11. Experimental results using combined software and sensors mode of operation.

From the experimental results (i), (ii), and (iii), it can be noticed an increased efciency of the two-axis tracking due to the variation of Sun orbit (NorthSouth and EastWest movement). The efciency is improved when the Sun inclination is increased with respect to 401 inclination of xed surface and, in any case, when the parabolic collector base is tracking EastWest, particularly during early morning and late afternoon hours. The solar energy collection efciency of the PTC, due to the application of the developed tracking system compared to xed surface inclination, is given in Table 2.

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2420 G.C. Bakos / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 24112421 Table 2 Experimental average daily total solar radiation in MJ/m2 Date 20-04-04 12-05-04 01-06-04 Average Two axis tracking (MJ/m2) 34.07 35.76 38.15 35.99 Fixed at 401 latitude (MJ/m2) 23.52 24.55 25.63 24.57 Gain (%) 44.86 45.66 48.85 46.46

1 Normilized Solar Radiation Values 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 Fixed Two axis tracking

Time (Hours:Min)
Fig. 12. Experimental results using combined software and sensors mode of operation.

4.2. Measurements of two-axis tracking system under abnormal weather conditions (i) The experiments took place on 2 June 2004 from 09:45 to 17:00 with ambient temperature 19 1C and 50% humidity, and the results are shown in Fig. 12. During the experiment the solar radiation after the noon hours was decreased due to the appearance of clouds and rain (marked by the arrow) in late afternoon hours. It can be seen that after the decrease of solar radiation intensity, the developed software is helping the reector to follow the Sun up to the end of the day, even though the solar intensity is inadequate to switch on the sensors. (ii) The experiments took place on 18 July 2004 from 09:45 to 17:00 with ambient temperature 26 1C, 40% humidity, and the results are shown in Fig. 13. As it can be noticed during late afternoon hours, the solar radiation intensity decreases due to rain (pointed by the arrow) although the rest of the day the weather is quite good.

5. Conclusions In this paper an experimental study is performed to investigate the effect of two-axis tracking on the solar energy collected under normal and abnormal weather conditions.

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1.0 Normalized Solar Radiation Values 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 10:00 0.0 Fixed Two axis tracking 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Time (Hours:Min)
Fig. 13. Experimental results using only sensor mode of operation without software support.

Experimental results based on different modes of system operation are presented. It is concluded that when the solar intensity is low and the tracking system operates only on sensor mode, the solar reector cannot follow the Sun orbit, and the efciency is decreased signicantly, reaching the efciency of the xed inclination surface. However, in this case the tracking system behavior is improving considerably when it operates on combined software and sensor mode. The developed tracking mechanism could be used efciently to orient other concentrating solar collectors such as parabolic dish collectors. The gain of the proposed two-axis tracking system is considerable (up to 46.46%) compared with the xed surface for operation under normal weather conditions. Further studies are already in progress to evaluate the integration of the proposed system in specic solar thermal and photovoltaic applications in Greece. References
[1] Kalogirou SA. Design and construction of a one-axis Sun-tracking system. Solar Energy 1996;57(6):4659. [2] Abdallah S. The effect of using Sun tracking systems on the voltagecurrent characteristics and power generation of a at plate photovoltaics. Energy Convers Manage 2004;45:16719. [3] Khalifa A, Al-Mutawalli S. Effect of two axis Sun tracking on the performance of compound parabolic concentrators. Energy Convers Manage 1998;39(10):10739. [4] Al-Mohamad A. Efciency improvements of photo-voltaic panels using a Sun-tracking system. Appl Energy 2004;79:34554. [5] Abdallah A, Nijmeh S. Two axes Sun tracking system with PLC control. Energy Convers Manage 2004;45:19319. [6] Kalogirou S. Design of a fuzzy single-axis Sun tracking controller. Int J Renew Energy Eng 2002;4(2). [7] Lianopoulos E. Development of a two-axis tracking system for PTC used for solar energy conversion to electricity. MSc thesis, Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, 2004 [in Greek]. [8] Bakos GC, Ioannidis I, Tsagas NF, Seftelis I. Design, optimisation and conversion-efciency determination of a line focus parabolic-trough solar-collector (PTC). Appl Energy 2001;68:4350.