CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION:
1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND:
As the range of applications for solar energy increases, so it needs
for improved materials and methods used to harness this power source.
There are several factors that affect the efficiency of the collection process.
Major influences on overall efficiency include solar cell efficiency, intensity
of source radiation and storage techniques. The materials used in solar cell
manufacturing limit the efficiency of a solar cell. This makes it particularly
difficult to make considerable improvements in the performance of the cell,
and hence restricts the efficiency of the overall collection process.
Therefore, the most attainable method of improving the performance of solar
power collection is to increase the mean intensity of radiation received from
the source
1.2 JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PROJECT:
There are three distinct methods of increasing the mean intensity of
solar radiation received by a solar array. These include focusing the incident
rays, tracking the path of the sun using fixed control algorithms, and
dynamic tracking.
The first method involves focusing incident rays onto a rigid array,
this allows incident rays to reach the array normal to the array surface. The
second method uses a controller device to determine the position of the sun
with reference to the current day, month and year. The dynamic tracking is

1
similar to this method, however sensors are used to determine the current
position of the radiation source.
Currently there are a number of variations on each of these methods.
The research undertaken in this thesis is directed towards the design of a
dynamic tracking system. The dynamic tracking system was chosen because
it proposed the most accurate method of maintaining maximum power
collection possible.

1.3 DEFINITION OF PROJECT:

The objective of this thesis is to design a Sun Tracking Solar Array
System. The concise definition of this system is as follows. A
microcontrolled solar array that actively tracks the sun so that maximum
power is received by the array at all times. This is achieved by using sensors
to locate the sun's position at any instance, and aligning the array using the
microcontroller so that all incident rays are normal to the array surface.

1.4 SCOPE OF PROJECT:

The scope of this project only encompasses the design of the
tracking system. There has been no formal consideration of optimizing
power used by the tracking device, or the affect of heat on the performance
of the array.

2
1.5 PROJECT OVERVIEW:
The remaining chapters detail the research, design and analysis
performed during the course of the thesis project.

Chapter 2 discusses theory associated with solar cell technology and the
optimizing of power received by an array. This incorporates a review of
relevant literature and current designs in the field of sun tracking.

Chapter 3 explains the methodology used while forming a solution to the

problem and the design considerations undertaken in this process
.
Chapter 4 gives an analysis of the design and data obtained during testing.

Chapter 5 concludes the report by discussing the effectiveness of the

tracking system and possible applications. This chapter also suggests some
further research areas and future design proposals.

3
CHAPTER 2:
BACKGROUND THEORY:
2.1 INTRODUCTION:
Before beginning the design of the tracking system, it was
necessary to obtain some background information on solar cells and methods
of energy collection. It was equally important to research the various
tracking systems available. To obtain this information a study of relevant
literature was conducted. This study involved a review of solar cell theory,
an investigation into the sources of loss in solar systems and an examination
of current tracking methods.

2.2 SOLAR CELL THEORY:

Nuclear fusion reactions on the sun's surface supply earth with solar
energy. This energy is primarily released in the form of electromagnetic
radiation in the ultraviolet, infrared and radio spectral regions (wavelengths
from 0.2 to3µm).Presently, the most efficient means of harnessing this
power source is the solar cell, which converts solar radiation directly into
electricity. Solar cells are fabricated from various semiconductor materials
using numerous device configurations and selecting single-crystal,
polycrystal, and amorphous thin-film structures. To following theory
considers the silicon p-n junction cell, because it acts as
1.Reference device for all solar cells.

2.The solar cell has a single energy bandgap.

4
 When the cell is exposed to the solar spectrum, a photon with
energy less than Eg makes no contribution to the cell output. A photon with
energy greater than Eg contributes an energy Eg to the cell output, and the
remaining energy is wasted as heat. The idealized equivalent circuit of the
cell is shown in Figure 1(b), where a constant-current source is in parallel
with the junction. The source IL results from the excitation of excess carriers
by solar radiation; Rs is the diode saturation current and RL is the load
resistance.

(b)
Figure 1. (a) Energy-band diagram of a silicon p-n junction solar

cell under solar irradiation.

(b) Idealised equivalent circuit of a solar cell.

5
 A typical schematic representation of a solar cell is shown in Figure 2. "It
consists of a shallow p-n junction formed on the surface (e.g., by diffusion),
a front ohmic contactstripe and fingers, a back ohmic contact that covers the
entire back surface, and an antireflection coating on the front surface."

6
2.3 CONVERTING PHOTONS TO ELECTRONS:

The solar cells that you see on calculators and satellites are
photovoltaic cells or modules (modules are simply a group of cells
electrically connected and packaged in one frame). Photovoltaics, as the
word implies (photo = light, voltaic = electricity), convert sunlight directly
into electricity. Once used almost exclusively in space, photovoltaics are
used more and more in less exotic ways.
They could even power your house. How do these devices work?
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made of special materials called semiconductors
such as silicon, which is currently the most commonly used. Basically, when
light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the
semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is
transferred to the semiconductor. The energy knocks electrons loose,
allowing them to flow freely.
PV cells also all have one or more electric fields that act to force
electrons freed by light absorption to flow in a certain direction. This flow of
electrons is a current, and by placing metal contacts on the top and bottom of
the PV cell, we can draw that current off to use externally. For example, the
current can power a calculator. This current, together with the cell's voltage
(which is a result of its built-in electric field or fields), defines the power (or
wattage) that the solar cell can produce. That's the basic process, but there's
really much more to it. Let's take a deeper look into one example of a PV
cell: the single crystal silicon cell.

7
2.4 WHEN LIGHT HITS THE CELL
When light, in the form of photons, hits our solar cell, its energy frees
electron-hole pairs. Each photon with enough energy will normally free
exactly one electron, and result in a free hole as The effect of the electric
field in a PV cell If this happens close enough to the electric field, or if free
electron and free hole happen to wander into its range of influence, the field
will send the electron to the N side and the hole to the P side.
This causes further disruption of electrical neutrality, and if we
provide an external current path, electrons will flow through the path to their
original side (the P side) to unite with holes that the electric field sent there,
doing work for us along the way. The electron flow provides the current, and
the cell's electric field causes a voltage. With both current and voltage, we
have power, which is the product of the two. How much sunlight energy
does our PV cell absorb? Unfortunately, the most that our simple cell could
absorb is around 25 percent, and more likely is 15 percent or less.
2.5 ENERGY LOSS:
Solar cell absorbs only about 15 percents of the sunlight's energy.
Visible light is only part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic
radiation is not monochromatic -- it is made up of a range of different
wavelengths, and therefore energy levels. (See How Special Relativity
Works for a good discussion of the electromagnetic spectrum.) Light can be
separated into different wavelengths, and we can see them in the form of a
rainbow. Since the light that hits our cell has photons of a wide range of
energies, it turns out that some of them won't have enough energy to form an
electron-hole pair.

8
 They'll simply pass through the cell as if it were transparent. Still
other photons have too much energy. Only a certain amount of energy,
measured in electron volts (eV) and defined by our cell material (about 1.1
eV for crystalline silicon), is required to knock an electron loose. We call
this the band gap energy of a material.
If a photon has more energy than the required amount, then the extra
energy is lost (unless a photon has twice the required energy, and can create
more than one electron-hole pair, but this effect is not significant). These
two effects alone account for the loss of around 70 percent of the radiation
energy incident on our cell. Our band gap also determines the strength
(voltage) of our electric field, and if it's too low, then what we make up in
extra current (by absorbing more photons), we lose by having a small
voltage. Remember that power is voltage times current.
The optimal band gap, balancing these two effects, is around 1.4 eV
for a cell made from a single material. We have other losses as well. Our
electrons have to flow from one side of the cell to the other through an
external circuit. We can cover the bottom with a metal, allowing for good
conduction, but if we completely cover the top, then photons can't get
through the opaque conductor and we lose all of our current (in some cells,
transparent conductors are used on the top surface, but not in all). If we put
our contacts only at the sides of our cell, then the electrons have to travel an
extremely long distance

9
2.6 OPERATION OF A PV CELL:
Silicon is a semiconductor -- it's not nearly as good as a metal for
transporting current. Its internal resistance (called series resistance) is fairly
high, and high resistance means high losses. To minimize these losses, our
cell is covered by a metallic contact grid that shortens the distance that
electrons have to travel while covering only a small part of the cell surface.
Even so, some photons are blocked by the grid, which can't be too small or
else its own resistance will be too high.
2.7 MAXIMIZING POWER OBTAINED FROM SOLAR CELLS:
Through experiments conducted during research, it was concluded
that the current obtained from solar cells is influenced by the angle at which
incident rays strike the cell surface. By using a stationary light source and
adjusting the angle at which the light rays strike the cell, a plot of current
delivered vs. angle of incidence can be created. This property of solar cells is
confirmed by the data contained in Table 1, and illustrated by figure(3)

Table 1. current delivered for various incidence

10
 After considering the experimental data obtained, it can be stated that,
to maintain maximum power output from a solar array, the angle of
incidence must be held at zero degrees. Hence the array must constantly face
the sun. This requires a tracking system that can continuously align the array
into the desired position.

11
2.8 SOLAR CELL TESTING PRINCIPLE:

Measurement of solar cells and solar irradiance measurements are

closely linked. Solar radiation on the ground is changing all the time, this
change is not only reflected in the total irradiance, but also its intrinsic
details of the spectral irradiance are also constantly changes, this has brought
about the first solar cell measurements have been very great difficulties. As
the solar cell is a spectrum selective components, and its optical sensitivity
of the distribution of the solar spectrum changes with changes in the same
total irradiance and spectral irradiance of different light sources, the solar
cell's electrical properties of the output will be quite different.
In order to achieve the unity of solar cell measurement value, the
International Electro technical Commission first standard solar spectral
irradiation has been stipulated. All the ground with solar standard conditions
of measurement is used AM1.5 standard solar spectral distribution, the
spectral distribution of the data from specific meteorological conditions,
atmospheric absorption of solar spectral distribution under the condition of
the measured values.
The main technical parameters of solar cells is the spectral response of
solar cells, short-circuit current and open circuit voltage and photoelectric
conversion efficiency of solar cells. As a solar cell measuring the project,
usually carried out the following two aspects of the test - the standard solar
cells under the conditions of the solar spectrum in the standard short-circuit
current in the solar simulator calibration and measurement of solar cells
under the V - A characteristics measurements,

12
 Calculate the standard solar spectrum under the condition of the
photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cells. Unable to get with the
standard AM1.5 solar spectral distribution consistent with artificial light, so
can not directly measure the solar cells under the conditions of solar
radiation in the standard short-circuit current.
The solar cell measurement laboratories usually a very complicated
method to achieve the standard AM1.5 solar spectrum solar cells under
short-circuit current measurements and traceability to the international
benchmark measure light irradiation, this process is known as solar
calibration.
IV characteristics of solar cell measurement method is to first use of
solar cells with the measured spectral response similar to the standard solar
cell to set the sun simulator under standard test conditions of irradiance, and
then measured in the sun simulator under test solar cells IV characteristic
curve, as measured with the standard solar cell solar cell spectral response
similar to, so this alternative measurement method can overcome the out due
to the spectral distribution of solar simulator.
2.8.1 CHINA’S SOLAR CELL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
TEST:
The seventies of last century, Tianjin Institute in solar power research
and development applications at the same time, invested considerable human
and material resources, the establishment of a solar cell measuring
laboratory, began solar cell calibration and testing of technology research.

13
 The main testing equipment, including domestic and imported A-
grade solar simulator for the measurement of electrical properties and the
development of phase-locked amplification technology based on solar
spectral response measurement system.
The initial goal was to establish an accurate solar as a standard
industry-wide baseline measurement of solar cells. In the meantime, a
variety of solar cell calibration technique has been fully developed, mainly
including mountain calibration, ground spectral calibration, spectral
calibration laboratories, aircraft calibration, calibration of the space shuttle
and many other calibration techniques have been developed and tried and
eventually the formation of Tianjin Institute of the standard solar power
system, and Tianjin Institute of the standard solar power in mainland China
has been widely promoted and applied.
The early eighties, China's solar cell testing technology has gradually
matured. As an emerging industry, the importance of products, measurement
of the standardization work, so organized industry-wide testing experts has
established a national solar photovoltaic energy systems Standardization
Committee, specializing in solar cell measuring, testing and product quality
standards of the drafting of and development work. The initial goal is to
achieve the solar value products, industry-wide unity, has formulated the
"solar cell calibration method", "general norms mono crystalline silicon
solar cells", "space-solar temperature coefficient measurement method,"
"single crystal general norms of silicon solar cells "," on the ground with the
solar components of the environment, experimental methods, "" on the
ground with standard solar cells, "" space with standard solar cells ".

14
2.8.2 CHINA’S SOLAR CELL TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
ADVANCED LEVEL TEST:
The early nineties, the state investment fund special transformation,
transformation of Tianjin Institute of solar power testing laboratory to
establish a set of a standard solar cell measuring device. Include the
laboratory a standard solar cell calibration system and two standard solar
value transfer systems, greatly improves the level of the lab's solar cell
testing and capacity. On this basis, the establishment of a Ministry of
Information Industry E-205 metering stations, specializing in solar testing
Dell LATITUDE D410 Battery for the Chinese solar industry to provide
accurate.
Value of solar cells is also a unity in the world to be a difficult
problem. To this end the international advanced solar testing laboratory
trying to achieve through international comparison of the solar value unity
throughout the world. The most famous and most successful of an
international alignment is PEP `93 solar cells compared to international
standards, it is the U.S. Department of Energy project. By the United States
Renewable Energy Laboratory, led 10 countries around the world have 13
well-known solar testing laboratories to participate.
Each laboratory provides two standard solar cell calibration data is not
standard sample, all 23 standard solar cell through a variety of laboratory
calibration back to back to form after the international solar cell base WPVS
(world photovoltaic scale). Tianjin Power Research Institute (MII 205
metering stations) participated in this sub-standard solar activities in the
international comparison.

15
 Through the screen, near the end, only four laboratories with the
average data is used as WPVS the value, the four laboratories are NREL
(USA), JQA (Japan), PTB (Germany) and the Tianjin Institute of Power . It
also has four laboratories in the world photovoltaic measurement for future
reference.
Now, this solar standard (WPVS) has become the world's solar
industry, widely used standards. As the active promotion of Tianjin Institute
of Power, China's solar industry is now widely used WPVS as a test. The
value of a mention is that by this ratio of activities, 205 solar cell testing
capacity metering station has been internationally peer recognition.
Calibration of metering station already has 205 solar cells (production
standard) and transmission of solar standards. 205 measuring stations are
also the Global Environment Facility / China Renewable Energy
Development solar testing laboratory for the project is being carried out to
upgrade the capacity.
2.8.3TIMES EQUIVALENT TO IEC STANDARD FOR USE:
As an emerging industry, solar product range and performance is
changing very fast, corresponding solar cell testing technology has not been
able to keep up immediately. For example, the multi-junction solar cell
testing technology.
In recent years, China developed a new variety of multi-junction solar
cells for multi-junction solar cells, solar cells if it is using the traditional test
equipment, will produce incalculable test error.

16
 Developing multi-junction solar cell is an urgent need testing
technology and development for multi-junction solar cell measurements.
In addition, with the expansion of industrial scale, the entire industry
has with international standards and must therefore pay close attention to the
implementation of international standards as soon as tantamount to the
adoption of work. Solar cells work is the standardization of the mainland's
solar industry to make greater sony vgp-bps9 laptop battery .
2.9 TRACKING TECHNIQUES:
There are several forms of tracking currently available, these vary
mainly in the method of implementing the designs. The two general forms of
tracking used are fixed control algorithms and dynamic tracking.
The inherent difference between the two methods is the manner in
which the path of the sun is determined.
In the fixed control algorithm systems, the path of the sun is
determined by referencing an algorithm that calculates the position of the
sun for each time period. That is, the control system does not actively find
the sun's position but works it out given the current time, day, month, and
year. The dynamic tracking system on the other hand actively searches for
the sun's position at any time of day (or night).
Common to both forms of tracking is the control system. This
system consists of some method of direction control, such as DC motors,
stepper motors, and servo motors, which are directed by a control circuit,
either digital or Analog.

17
2.10 FUTURE HIRING PLANS:
When asked to forecast future hiring, nearly half of those responding
worldwide report that they anticipate adding few or no staff members or full-
time contractors to their work groups over the next year. The outlook for
hiring in Asia, however, is considerably more optimistic than in the world as
a whole, with 72% from that region anticipating their organizations will
increase work group headcount by 5% or more. These hiring forecasts are in
line with the Asian respondents’ statements about gearing up for R&D
within the next year.
2.11 THE FUTURE POINTS TO GROWTH IN SOLAR CELL
PRODUCTION:
Although the percentage of those reporting engagement in full-scale
production is relatively low today, the number of manufacturers seems
destined to grow substantially over the next few years, with 43% reporting
plans to move into full scale production in the next 12–36 months. In
Europe, EU mandates to increase the use of alternative energy sources and
high energy costs will likely continue to drive investments in research there.
In North America, the energy research and development portion of the U.S.
economic stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009) is likely to provide a boost to the nation’s solar industry.
The situation in China is similar, in that the Chinese government
included solar subsidies as part of its “green” stimulus package. These
subsidies have the potential to improve the profitability of producing and
selling solar cells for Chinese solar companies.

18
 Given the staggering array of device technologies now being explored
or developed, the industry seems poised to become larger and increasingly
competitive, with manufacturers making significant investments in finding
new ways to extract the maximum energy at the lowest possible cost from
every photon that reaches their products. Asian manufacturers appear firmly
committed to playing a major role in the worldwide solar cell industry.
2.12 SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT (ISC):
The point at which the I-V curve crosses the x axis at zero volts.
When a solar cell is operated at short circuit (that is, when a low-resistance
connection is established by accident or intention between two points in an
electric circuit, so the current tends to flow through the area of low
resistance, bypassing the rest of the circuit), V = 0 and the current (I)
through the terminals is defined as the short-circuit current.
2.12.1 OPEN-CIRCUIT VOLTAGE (VOC):
The cell voltage at which there is zero current flow. When a cell is
operated at open circuit (that is, an incomplete electrical circuit in which no
current flows, so I = 0) the voltage across the output terminals is defined as
the open-circuit voltage.
Assuming the shunt resistance is high enough to neglect the final term
of the characteristic equation, the open-circuit voltage (VOC) is:

19
2.12.2 MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT (PMAX):
The voltage and current point where the cell is generating its
maximum power. The PMAX point on an I-V curve is often referred to as
the maximum power point (MPP).
2.12.3 CURRENT AT MAXIMUM POWER (IMAX):
The cell’s current level at PMAX.
2.12.4 VOLTAGE AT MAXIMUM POWER (VMAX):
The cell’s voltage level at PMAX.
2.12.5 FILL FACTOR (FF):
PMAX divided by the VOC multiplied by ISC. Fill factor is a popular
measurement because it indicates the cell’s efficiency under a specific
spectrum and intensity of light. In essence, it calculates the percentage of
performance of the real cell vs. an ideal cell with no internal losses.
2.12.6 SHUNT RESISTANCE (RSHUNT):
RSHUNT can be thought of as leakage across the cell

20
 Any decrease in RSHUNT creates a more attractive leakage path,
which allows more of the cell current and power to be lost. This can be
caused by leakage in the interconnect, but it is more often an effect of the
intrinsic cell design. As the plot shows, this percentage drop in current looks
like a change in slope on what should be the flat part of the I-V curve.
2.12.7 SERIES RESISTANCE (RSERIES):
An increase in series resistance will cause a cell’s efficiency to decrease.
Intuitively, one can think of RSERIES as taking voltage from the load as the
diode turns on. Given that RSHUNT is much greater than RSERIES,
RSERIES doesn’t normally affect the amount of current being delivered but
directly takes voltage from the load as it appears in series. As RSERIES
increases, cell efficiency decreases.
2.12.8 CONVERSION EFFICIENCY:
The percentage of power converted (from absorbed light to electrical
energy) and collected when a solar cell is connected to an electrical circuit.
This term is calculated by dividing Pmax by the input light irradiance (E, in
W/m2, measured under standard test conditions) multiplied by the surface
area of the solar cell (AC, in m2).
2.12.9 DOPING DENSITY (N):
Doping density is an important property of any doped semiconductor
material. Taken together, information on doping density and resistivity
provide valuable information about the quality of a material. By adding
assumptions about the consistency of the fabrication process, it’s possible to
infer the electron mobility within the material. Understanding the mobility,
doping density, and resistivity and eventually the changes over operating
temperatures can help you to refine your process.

21
2.12.10 CELL RESISTIVITY (VAN DER PAUW RESISTIVITY OR
SURFACE RESISTIVITY):
There are two common methods for resistivity measurements on
semiconductor materials: four-point collinear probe measurements and van
der Pauw resistivity measurements. These techniques can be used to find the
surface resistivity and conductivity of the material itself, which are
important in optimizing fabrication techniques.
2.12.11 DEFECT DENSITY:
Defect density is a measure of defects (electrons or holes) in the
active region of the semiconductor material. Drive Level Capacitance
Profiling (DLCP) is a new measurement technique used to characterize this
material property. Understanding when defects appear in a semiconductor
material is important to refining a fabrication process.
2.12.12 CURRENT DENSITY:
A measurement used in comparing the outputs of cells of different
sizes. Current density refers to the amps of current produced per square
centimeter of cell area.
2.12.13 QUANTUM EFFICIENCY (QE):
The quantum efficiency of a solar cell is a measure of efficiency over
wavelength. Changes in quantum efficiency might indicate different
processes occurring at the junction that would affect the cell’s efficiency.
2.13 CONCLUDING REMARKS:
After careful consideration of the forms of tracking available and
the methods of implementing each, it was decided that the preferred tracking
system involved a microcontroller based dynamic tracking system using
stepper motors for alignment.

22
CHAPTER 3
P89V51RD2 MICROCONTROLLER:
3.1 INTRODUCTION:
It is a computer implemented on a single VLSI chip which contains
memory, timer, ADC,DAC,DMA controller,parallel port,serial port,etc.
Need for microcontroller is,
 Microprocessors require external memory
 Microprocessors cannot interface directly with input or output devices
 Glue logic such as address decoders and buffers is needed to interconnect
external memory and peripherals ICs with microprocessors.
The differences between microcontroller and microprocessor is
 Microprocessors have less bit handling instructions, but microcontrollers
have many such instructions.
 Microprocessors are concerned with rapid movement of code and data
from external memory. But microcontrollers is concerned with that of bits
within the chip.
 Of course Microprocessors needs additional chips for memory, parallel
port, timer etc and microcontrollers needs no such external ports.
3.2 P89V51RD2 DESCRIPTION:
The P89V51RD2 is an 80C51 microcontroller with 64 kB Flash and
1024 bytes of data RAM. A key feature of the P89V51RD2 is its X2 mode
option. The design engineer can choose to run the application with the
conventional 80C51 clock rate (12 clocks per machine cycle) or select the
X2 mode (6 clocks per machine cycle) to achieve twice the throughput at the
same clock frequency.

23
 Another way to benefit from this feature is to keep the same
performance by reducing the clock frequency by half, thus dramatically
reducing the EMI. The Flash program memory supports both parallel
programming and in serial
In-System Programming (ISP), Parallel programming mode offers
gang-programming at high speed, reducing programming costs and time to
market. ISP allows a device to be reprogrammed in the end product under
software control. The capability to field/update the application firmware
makes a wide range of applications possible. The P89V51RD2 is also In-
Application Programmable (IAP), allowing the Flash program memory to be
reconfigured even while the application is running.
This device has the option of storing a 31-byte serial number along
with the length of the serial number (for a total of 32 bytes) in a non-volatile
memory space. When ISP mode is entered, the serial number length is
evaluated to determine if the serial number is in use. If the length of the
serial number is programmed to either 00H or FFH, the serial number is
considered not in use.
If the serial number is in use, reading, programming, or erasing of the
user code memory or the serial number is blocked until the user transmits a
‘verify serial number’ record containing a serial number and length that
matches the serial number and length previously stored in the device. The
user can reset the serial number to all zeros and set the length to zero by
sending the ‘reset serial number' record. In addition, the ‘reset serial
number’ record will also erase all user code.

24
3.3 FEATURES:
 80C51 Central Processing Unit
 5 V Operating voltage from 0 to 40 MHz
 64 kB of on-chip Flash program memory with ISP (In-System
Programming) and IAP (In-Application Programming)
 Supports 12-clock (default) or 6-clock mode selection via software
or ISP
 SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) and enhanced UART
 PCA (Programmable Counter Array) with PWM and
Capture/Compare functions.
 Four 8-bit I/O ports with three high-current Port 1 pins (16 mA
each)
 Three 16-bit timers/counters
 Programmable Watchdog timer (WDT)
 Eight interrupt sources with four priority levels
 Second DPTR register
 Low EMI mode (ALE inhibit)
 TTL- and CMOS-compatible logic levels
 Brown-out detection
 Low power modes
 Power-down mode with external interrupt wake-up

25
3.4 BLOCK DIAGRAM OF P89V51RD2:

26
3.5 PIN DIAGRAM:

27
3.6 SPECIAL FUNCTION REGISTERS:
Special Function Registers (SFRs) accesses are restricted in the
following ways:
 User must not attempt to access any SFR locations not defined.
 Accesses to any defined SFR locations must be strictly for the

functions for the SFRs.

 SFR bits labeled ‘-’, ‘0’ or ‘1’ can only be written and read as
follows:
 Unless otherwise specified, must be written with ‘0’, but can
return any value when read (even if it was written with ‘0’). It
is a reserved bit and may be used in future derivatives.
 ‘0’ must be written with ‘0’, and will return a ‘0’ when read.
 ‘1’ must be written with ‘1’, and will return a ‘1’ when read.

3.7 IN-SYSTEM PROGRAMMING (ISP):

In-System Programming is performed without removing the
microcontroller from the system. The In-System Programming facility
consists of a series of internal hardware resources coupled with internal
firmware to facilitate remote programming of the P89V51RD2 through the
serial port. This firmware is provided by Philips and embedded within each
P89V51RD2 device. The Philips In-System Programming facility has made
in-circuit programming in an embedded application possible with a
minimum of additional expense in components and circuit board area. The
ISP function uses five pins (VDD,VSS, TxD, RxD, and RST).

28
3.7.1 USING THE IN-SYSTEM PROGRAMMING:
The ISP feature allows for a wide range of baud rates to be used in
your application, independent of the oscillator frequency. It is also
adaptable to a wide range of oscillator frequencies. This is accomplished by
measuring the bit-time of a single bit in a received character. This
information is then used to program the baud rate in terms of timer counts
based on the oscillator frequency. The ISP feature requires that an initial
character (an uppercase U) be sent to the P89V51RD2 to establish the baud
rate. The ISP firmware provides auto-echo of received characters. Once
baud rate initialization has been performed, the ISP firmware will only
accept Intel Hex-type records.
In the Intel Hex record, the ‘NN’ represents the number of data bytes
in the record. The P89V51RD2 will accept up to 32 data bytes. The
‘AAAA’ string represents the address of the first byte in the record. If there
are zero bytes in the record, this field is often set to 0000. The ‘RR’ string
indicates the record type. A record type of ‘00’ is a data record. A record
type of ‘01’ indicates the end-of-file mark. In this application, additional
record types will be added to indicate either commands or data for the ISP
facility.
The maximum number of data bytes in a record is limited to 32
(decimal). ISP commands are summarized .. As a record is received by the
P89V51RD2, the information in the record is stored internally and a
checksum calculation is performed.

29
 The operation indicated by the record type is not performed until the
entire record has been received. Should an error occur in the checksum, the
P89V51RD2 will send an ‘X’ out the serial port indicating a checksum
error.
3.8 FLASH ORGANIZATION:
The P89V51RD2 program memory consists of a 64kB block. An
InSystem Programming (ISP) capability, in a second 8kB block, is provided
to allow the user code to be programmed in-circuit through the serial port.
There are three methods of erasing or programming of the Flash memory
that may be used.
First, the Flash may be programmed or erased in the end-user
application by calling low-level routines through a common entry point
(IAP). Second, the on-chip ISP boot loader may be invoked. This ISP boot
loader will, in turn, call low-level routines through the same common entry
point that can be used by the end-user application. Third, the Flash may be
programmed or erased using the parallel method by using a commercially
available EPROM programmer which supports this device.
3.8.1 BOOT BLOCK:
When the microcontroller programs its own Flash memory, all of the
low level details are handled by code that is contained in a Boot block that
is separate from the user Flash memory. A user program calls the common
entry point in the Boot block with appropriate parameters to accomplish the
desired operation. Boot block operations include erase user code, program
user code, program security bits, etc. A Chip-Erase operation can be
performed using a commercially available parallel programer.

30
3.8.2 POWER-ON RESET CODE EXECUTION:
Following reset, the P89V51RD2 will either enter the SoftICE mode
(if previously enabled via ISP command) or attempt to autobaud to the ISP
boot loader. If this autobaud is not successful within about 400 ms, the
device will begin execution of the user code.
3.8.3 FLASH PROGRAM MEMORY:
There are two internal ash memory blocks in the device. Block 0 has
64kbytes and contains the user’s code. Block 1 contains the Philips-
provided ISP/IAP routines and may be enabled such that it overlays the first
8kbytes of the user code memory. The 64kB Block 0 is organized as 512
sectors, each sector consists of 128 bytes.
3.8.4 DATA RAM MEMORY:
The data RAM has 1024 bytes of internal memory. The device can
also address up to 64kB for external data memory.
3.8.5 EXPANDED DATA RAM ADDRESSING:
The P89V51RD2 has 1kB of RAM. “Internal and external data
memory structure.”
The device has four sections of internal data memory:
1. The lower 128 bytes of RAM (00H to 7FH) are directly and indirectly
addressable.
2. The higher 128 bytes of RAM (80H to FFH) are indirectly addressable.
3. The special function registers (80H to FFH) are directly addressable only.
4. The expanded RAM of 768 bytes (00H to 2FFH) is indirectly addressable

31
by the move external instruction (MOVX) and clearing the EXTRAM bit.

CHAPTER 4:
METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN:
4.1 INTRODUCTION:
When beginning the design for the tracking system, a TOP/DOWN
approach was used to break the project into separate tasks. Taking the
project as a whole, it involves reading voltages from a sensor array, then
comparing these voltages digitally to determine the direction the array must
move to align itself with the sun. To perform this movement a motor circuit
is needed to receive output from the controller and step the motors
accordingly. The following sections of this chapter outline the methods and
designs used to implement this system.
4.2 METHOD OF ALIGNMENT:
Before the design of the sensing circuit can be considered, it is
necessary to choose an appropriate method of alignment. There are two
feasible methods for aligning the array The first method involves tilting the
array in two axes to maintain the required position, illustrated in Figure 4(a).
The second method involves rotating and tilting the array toachieve the same
result, illustrated in Figure 4(b).

32
4.3 DRIVER CIRCUIT:
In applications where absolute positioning is important, the drive
electronics must calibrate the motor position.
This is may be done by,
 Driving the motor all the way in one direction until it encounter a
mechanical stop.
 Driving the motor all the way in one direction until it triggers a
“limit switch”.
 Using some form of feed back, such as the current track number on
a disk.
4.3.1 DESCRIPTION OF ULN2003:
The ULN2003 is a monolithic high voltage and high current
Darlington transistor arrays. It consists of seven NPN darlington pairs that
features high-voltage outputs with common-cathode clamp diode for
switching inductive loads. The collector-current rating of a single darlington
pair is 500mA. The darlington pairs may be parrlleled for higher current
capability. Applications include relay drivers,hammer drivers,

33
lampdrivers,display drivers(LED gas discharge),line drivers, and logic
buffers. The ULN2003 has a 2.7kW series base resistor for each darlington
pair for operation directly with TTL or 5V CMOS devices.
4.3.2 FEATURES:

 500mA rated collector current(Single output)

 High-voltage outputs: 50V
 Inputs compatibale with various types of logic.
4.3.3LOGIC DIAGRAM OF ULN2003:

34
4.4 STEPPER MOTOR:

A stepper motor (or step motor) is a brushless, synchronous electric

motor that can divide a full rotation into a large number of steps. The
motor's position can be controlled precisely, without any feedback
mechanism. Stepper motors are similar to switched reluctance motors
(which are very large stepping motors with a reduced pole count.

4.4.1 FUNDAMENTALS OF OPERATION:

Stepper motors operate differently from DC brush motors, which

rotate when voltage is applied to their terminals. Stepper motors, on the
other hand, effectively have multiple "toothed" electromagnets arranged
around a central gear-shaped piece of iron. An external control circuit, such
as a microcontroller, energizes the electromagnets. To make the motor shaft
turn, first one electromagnet is given power, which makes the gear's teeth
magnetically attracted to the electromagnet's teeth. When the gear's teeth are
thus aligned to the first electromagnet, they are slightly offset from the next
electromagnet. So when the next electromagnet is turned on and the first is
turned off, the gear rotates slightly to align with the next one, and from there
the process is repeated. Each of those slight rotations is called a "step," with

35
an integer number of steps making a full rotation. In that way, the motor can
be turned by a precise angle.

4.4.2 STEPPER MOTOR CHARACTERISTICS:

1. Stepper motors are constant power devices.

2. As motor speed increases, torque decreases.

3. The torque curve may be extended by using current limiting drivers and
increasing the driving voltage.

4. Steppers exhibit more vibration than other motor types, as the discrete
step tends to snap the rotor from one position to another.

5. This vibration can become very bad at some speeds and can cause the
motor to lose torque.

6. The effect can be mitigated by accelerating quickly through the problem

speeds range, physically damping the system, or using a micro-stepping
driver.

7. Motors with a greater number of phases also exhibit smoother operation

than those with fewer phases.

4.4.3 OPEN-LOOP VERSUS CLOSED-LOOP COMMUTATION:

Steppers are generally commutated open loop, ie. the driver has no
feedback on where the rotor actually is. Stepper motor systems must thus
generally be over engineered, especially if the load inertia is high, or there is
widely varying load, so that there is no possibility that the motor will lose
steps. This has often caused the system designer to consider the trade-offs
between a closely sized but expensive servomechanism system and an
oversized but relatively cheap stepper.

36
 A new development in stepper control is to incorporate a rotor
position feedback (eg. an encoder or resolver), so that the commutation can
be made optimal for torque generation according to actual rotor position.
This turns the stepper motor into a high pole count brushless servo motor,
with exceptional low speed torque and position resolution. An advance on
this technique is to normally run the motor in open loop mode, and only
enter closed loop mode if the rotor position error becomes too large -- this
will allow the system to avoid hunting or oscillating, a common servo
problem.

4.4.4 THERE ARE THREE MAIN TYPES OF STEPPER MOTORS:

 Permanent Magnet Stepper

 Hybrid Synchronous Stepper
 Variable Reluctance Stepper
Permanent magnet motors use a permanent magnet (PM) in the rotor
and operate on the attraction or repulsion between the rotor PM and the
stator electromagnets. Variable reluctance (VR) motors have a plain iron
rotor and operate based on the principle of that minimum reluctance occurs
with minimum gap, hence the rotor points are attracted toward the stator
magnet poles. Hybrid stepper motors are named because they use use a
combination of PM and VR techniques to achieve maximum power in a
small package size.

4.4.5 TWO-PHASE STEPPER MOTORS:

There are two basic winding arrangements for the electromagnetic

coils in a two phase stepper motor: bipolar and unipolar.

4.4.5.1 UNIPOLAR MOTORS:

37
 A unipolar stepper motor has two windings per phase, one for each
direction of magnetic field. Since in this arrangement a magnetic pole can be
reversed without switching the direction of current, the commutation circuit
can be made very simple (eg. a single transistor) for each winding.
Typically, given a phase, one end of each winding is made common: giving
three leads per phase and six leads for a typical two phase motor. Often,
these two phase commons are internally joined, so the motor has only five
leads.

A microcontroller or stepper motor controller can be used to activate the

drive transistors in the right order, and this ease of operation makes unipolar
motors popular with hobbyists; they are probably the cheapest way to get
precise angular movements.

Unipolar stepper motor coils

A quick way to determine if the stepper motor is working is to short

circuit every two pairs and try turning the shaft, whenever a higher than
normal resistance is felt, it indicates that the circuit to the particular winding
is closed and that the phase is working.

4.4.5.2 BIPOLAR MOTOR

38
 Bipolar motors have a single winding per phase. The current in a
winding needs to be reversed in order to reverse a magnetic pole, so the
driving circuit must be more complicated, typically with an H-bridge
arrangement. There are two leads per phase, none are common.

Static friction effects using an H-bridge have been observed with

certain drive topologies Because windings are better utilised, they are more
powerful than a unipolar motor of the same weight.

An 8 lead stepper is wound like a unipolar stepper, but the leads are
not joined to common internally to the motor.

Bipolar with series windings. This gives higher inductance but lower
current per winding.

Bipolar with parallel windings. This requires higher current but can
perform better as the winding inductance is reduced.

Bipolar with a single winding per phase. This method will run the
motor on only half the available windings, which will reduce the available
low speed torque but require less current.

Multi-phase stepper motors with many phases tend to have much

lower levels of vibration, although the cost of manufacture is higher.

4.5 STEPPER MOTOR DRIVE CIRCUITS :

Stepper motor performance is strongly dependent on the drive circuit.

Torque curves may be extended to greater speeds if the stator poles can be
reversed more quickly, the limiting factor being the winding inductance. To
overcome the inductance and switch the windings quickly, one must increase
the drive voltage. This leads further to the necessity of limiting the current
that these high voltages may otherwise induce.

39
4.5.1 L/R DRIVE CIRCUITS:

L/R drive circuits are also referred to as constant voltage drives

because a constant positive or negative voltage is applied to each winding to
set the step positions. However, it is winding current, not voltage that applies
torque to the stepper motor shaft. The current I in each winding is related to
the applied voltage V by the winding inductance L and the winding
resistance R.

The resistance R determines the maximum current according to

Ohm's law I=V/R. The inductance L determines the maximum rate of
change of the current in the winding according to the formula for an Inductor
dI/dt = V/L. Thus when controlled by an L/R drive, the maximum speed of a
stepper motor is limited by its inductance since at some speed, the voltage V
will be changing faster than the current I can keep up.

With an L/R drive it is possible to control a low voltage resistive

motor with a higher voltage drive simply by adding an external resistor in
series with each winding. This will waste power in the resistors, and
generate heat. It is therefore considered a low performing option, albeit
simple and cheap.

4.5.2 CHOPPER DRIVE CIRCUITS:

Chopper drive circuits are also referred to as constant current drives

because they generate a somewhat constant current in each winding rather
than applying a constant voltage. On each new step, a very high voltage is

40
applied to the winding initially. This causes the current in the winding to rise
quickly since dI/dt = V/L where V is very large. The current in each winding
is monitored by the controller, usually by measuring the voltage across a
small sense resistor in series with each winding.

When the current exceeds a specified current limit, the voltage is

turned off or "chopped", typically using power transistors. When the
winding current drops below the specified limit, the voltage is turned on
again. In this way, the current is held relatively constant for a particular step
position. This requires additional electronics to sense winding currents, and
control the switching, but it allows stepper motors to be driven with higher
torque at higher speeds than L/R drives. Integrated electronics for this
purpose are widely available.

A stepper motor is a polyphase AC synchronous motor and it is

ideally driven by sinusoidal current. A full step waveform is a gross
approximation of a sinusoid, and is the reason why the motor exhibits so
much vibration. Various drive techniques have been developed to better
approximate a sinusoidal drive waveform: these are half stepping and
microstepping.

Full step drive is the usual method for full step driving the motor.
Both phases are always on. The motor will have full rated torque.

4.5.3 WAVE DRIVE:

In this drive method only a single phase is activated at a time. It has

the same number of steps as the full step drive, but the motor will have
significantly less than rated torque. It is rarely used.

41
4.5.4 HALF STEPPING:

When half stepping, the drive alternates between two phases on and a
single phase on. This increases the angular resolution, but the motor also has
less torque at the half step position (where only a single phase is on). This
may be mitigated by increasing the current in the active winding to
compensate. The advantage of half stepping is that the drive electronics need
not change to support it.

4.5.5 MICROSTEPPING:

What is commonly referred to as microstepping is actual "sine cosine

microstepping" in which the winding current approximates a sinusoidal AC
waveform. Sine cosine microstepping is the most common form, but other
waveforms are used. Regardless of the waveform used, as the microsteps
become smaller, motor operation becomes more smooth, thereby greatly
reducing resonance in any parts the motor may be connected to, as well as
the motor itself. It should be noted that while microstepping appears to make
running at very high resolution possible, this resolution is rarely achievable
in practice regardless of the controller, due to mechanical stiction and other
sources of error between the specified and actual positions. In professional
equipment gearheads are the preferred way to increase angular resolution.

Step size repeatability is an important step motor feature and a

fundamental reason for their use in positioning. Example: many modern
hybrid step motors are rated such that the travel of every Full step (example
1.8 Degrees per Full step or 200 Full steps per revolution) will be within 3%

42
or 5% of the travel of every other Full step; as long as the motor is operated
with in its specified operating ranges. Several manufacturers show that their
motors can easily maintain the 3% or 5% equality of step travel size as step
size is reduced from Full stepping down to 1/10th stepping. Then, as the
microstepping divisor number grows, step size repeatability degrades. At
large step size reductions it is possible to issue many microstep commands
before any motion occurs at all and then the motion can be a "jump" to a
new position.

4.6 THEORY:

A step motor can be viewed as a synchronous AC motor with the

number of poles (on both rotor and stator) increased, taking care that they
have no common denominator. Additionally, soft magnetic material with
many teeth on the rotor and stator cheaply multiplies the number of poles
(reluctance motor). Modern steppers are of hybrid design, having both
permanent magnets and soft iron cores.

To achieve full rated torque, the coils in a stepper motor must reach
their full rated current during each step. Winding inductance and reverse
EMF generated by a moving rotor tend to resist changes in drive current, so
that as the motor speeds up, less and less time is spent at full current -- thus
reducing motor torque. As speeds further increase, the current will not reach
the rated value, and eventually the motor will cease to produce torque.

4.7 APPLICATIONS

Computer-controlled stepper motors are one of the most versatile

forms of positioning systems. They are typically digitally controlled as part

43
of an open loop system, and are simpler and more rugged than closed loop
servo systems.

Industrial applications are in high speed pick and place equipment and
multi-axis machine CNC machines often directly driving lead screws or
ballscrews. In the field of lasers and optics they are frequently used in
precision positioning equipment such as linear actuators, linear stages,
rotation stages, goniometers, and mirror mounts. Other uses are in packaging
machinery, and positioning of valve pilot stages for fluid control systems.
Commercially, stepper motors are used in floppy disk drives, flatbed
scanners, computer printers, plotters, slot machines, and many more devices.

4.8 SENSOR CIRCUIT:

LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR:
A photoresistor or light dependent resistor or cadmium sulfide (CdS)
cell is a resistor whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light
intensity. It can also be referenced as a photoconductor.
A photoresistor very is made of a high resistance semiconductor. If
light falling on the device is of high enough frequency, photons absorbed by
the semiconductor give bound electrons enough energy to jump into the
conduction band. The resulting free electron (and its hole partner) conduct
electricity, thereby lowering resistance.

44
 A photoelectric device can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. An intrinsic
semiconductor has its own charge carriers and is not an efficient
semiconductor, e.g. silicon.
In intrinsic devices the only available electrons are in the valence
band, and hence the photon must have enough energy to excite the electron
across the entire bandgap. Extrinsic devices have impurities, also called
dopants, added whose ground state energy is closer to the conduction band;
since the electrons do not have as far to jump, lower energy photons (i.e.,
longer wavelengths and lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger the
device. If a sample of silicon has some of its atoms replaced by phosphorus
atoms (impurities), there will be extra electrons available for conduction.
This is an example of an extrinsic semiconductor.
A photoresistor is a sensor whose resistance varies with light
intensity. Most decrease in resistance as the light intensity increases. In a
typical microcontroller application, this resistance must be converted to a
voltage so that an A2D converter can measure it. The easiest way to do this
is with a voltage divider circuit.
A voltage divider is just two resistors in series connected between a
voltage supply and ground.

45
 If R1 is connected to the voltage supply and R2 is connected to
ground then the voltage at the junction between the two resistors is:

If R1 is the photoresistor, the voltage will increase with increasing

light intensity. If R2 is the photoresistor, the voltage will decrease with
increasing light intensity.

4.8.1 SENSOR DESIGN:

To design the sensor circuit, a suitable method for determining the
position of the sun was needed. This involved a process of design and testing
to establish the most efficient and accurate method. After testing several
designs, the most effective design was found to be a simple opposites of
sensor.
The sensors are arranged so that the voltage across each sensor is the
same when the LDR points at the sun. This is possible because the sensors
are set at 45o to the base of the pyramid. Hence, when the LDR is not
pointing at the sun, the voltage will increase on the side that is most exposed
to the sun. This allows for a simple comparison to determine the direction in
which the array must move.
To simplify the comparison even more, two opposing sensors are
dedicated to rotating and two are dedicated to tilting. Due to the fact that the
controller reads the voltage output from the sensors, it is necessary to set the
operating range of the sensors to an appropriate voltage range. To
accomplish this the output of the sensors must be sent to an amplifier circuit
that will deliver the required voltage range to the controller.

46
4.8.2 APPLICATIONS:
Photoresistors come in many different types. Inexpensive cadmium
sulfide cells can be found in many consumer items such as camera light
meters, street lights, clock radios, alarms, and outdoor clocks.
They are also used in some dynamic compressors together with a
small incandescent lamp or light emitting diode to control gain reduction.
Lead sulfide (PbS) and indium antimonide (InSb) LDRs (light
dependent resistor) are used for the mid infrared spectral region. Ge:Cu
photoconductors are among the best far-infrared detectors available, and are
used for infrared astronomy and infrared spectroscopy

4.9 TRACKING CONTROLLER:

4.9.1 CHOICE OF CONTROL CHIP:
When choosing a controller chip for the tracking system, it was
important to consider the functions it would need to perform.. The controller
also needs the capacity to handle inputs from the user interface and the
outputs to the stepper motor control circuit. These inputs and outputs need to
be clarified before the controller is chosen.
After researching an appropriate control chip, the P89V51RD2 micro-
controller was found to be the preferred choice as it can perform all required
functions using only a single chip. The chip contains an adequate
programmable memory space, ample input and output pins and a supply
voltage of five volts.
4.9.2 READING SENSORS
The P89V51RD2 has an adjustable voltage reference range for the
LDR. The amplifier circuit for the sensor voltage inputs was chosen to
supply between zero and five volts.

47
 After setting the required gain on the amplifiers, the circuit outputs
five volts when the sensors are normal to the incident rays, and outputs zero
volts when the sensors receive no light. Refer to Appendix B for the
schematic diagram of the amplifier circuit.

4.9.3 FLOWCHART:

48
4.10 CONCLUDING REMARKS:

For a detailed description of the controller program refer to Appendix

A. The control circuit, including the sensor voltage amplifier circuit, the
P89V51RD2 and attachments circuit, and the stepper motor driver circuit,
has been implemented on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) which is shown in
Appendix C. The schematic diagram of this circuit is shown in Appendix B.

CHAPTER 5:

49
ANALYSIS OF DESIGN:
5.1 INTRODUCTION:
Testing the design of the Tracking system involved breaking the
project up into the same tasks as used when designing the system. The
various sections of the design were first tested separately by writing two test
programs for the 68HC11A1 processor. The first test was for the user
interface and stepper motors, to test that the manual controls stepped the
motors correctly. The second test checked that the A/D converter was
correctly functioning. After both test programs worked, the final program
was then loaded and tested.
5.2 CURRENT RECEIVED: TRACKED V'S STATIONARY ARRAY:

50
 To test the accuracy of the tracking system, the amount of current
delivered by a single solar cell was measured during the course of a day. A
set of measurements was taken for a stationary array set in the stowed
position (array surface horizontal), as well as for Sun Tracking System
Stationary

51
 Here above table considered as differences of fixed solar panal and
variable solar &took the reading between them. Rotating solar panel of total
&average value is greater than the fixed solar panel.

5.3 CONCLUDING REMARKS :

From Figure 8, it is apparent that the sun tracking system supplies

a greater average current supply that is almost constant throughout the day.
The drop in intensity of the incident light can account for the slight drop in
readings at the beginning and end of the day.
CHAPTER 6
LITERATURE REVIEW:
In remote areas the sun is a cheap source of electricity because instead
of hydraulic generators it uses solar cells to produce electricity. While the
output of solar cells depends on the intensity of sunlight and the angle of

52
incidence. It means to get maximum efficiency; the solar panels1 must
remain in front of sun during the whole day. 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. Thus to get a constant output,
an automated system is required which should be capable to constantly
rotate the solar panel.
The Automatic Sun Tracking System (ASTS) was made as a
prototype to solve the problem, mentioned above. It is completely automatic
and keeps the panel in front of sun until that is visible. The unique feature of
this system is that instead of taking the earth as its reference, it takes the sun
as a guiding source. Its active sensors constantly monitor the sunlight and
rotate the panel towards the direction where the intensity of sunlight is
maximum. In case the sun gets invisible e.g. in cloudy weather, then without
tracking the sun the ASTS keeps rotating the solar panel in opposite
direction to the rotation of earth.
Renewable energy is rapidly gaining importance as an energy
resource as fossil fuel prices fluctuate. At the educational level, it is
therefore critical for engineering and technology students to have an
understanding and appreciation of the technologies associated with
renewable energy.
One of the most popular renewable energy sources is solar energy.
Many researches were conducted to develop some methods to increase the
efficiency of Photo Voltaic systems (solar panels). One such method is to
employ a solar panel tracking system .This project deals with a micro
controller based solar panel tracking system. Solar tracking enables more
energy to be generated because the solar panel is always able to maintain a
perpendicular profile to the sun’s rays.

53
 Development of solar panel tracking systems has been ongoing for
several years now. As the sun moves across the sky during the day, it is
advantageous to have the solar panels track the location of the sun, such that
the panels are always perpendicular to the solar energy radiated by the sun.
This will tend to maximize the amount of power absorbed by PV systems.
It has been estimated that the use of a tracking system, over a fixed
system, can increase the power output by 30% - 60%. The increase is
significant enough to make tracking a viable preposition despite of the
enhancement in system cost. It is possible to align the tracking heliostat
normal to sun using electronic control by a micro controller.
Design requirements are:
1. During the time that the sun is up, the system must follow the sun’s
position in the sky.
2. This must be done with an active control, timed movements are

wasteful. It should be totally automatic and simple to operate. The

operator interference should be minimal and restricted to only when it
is actually required.

EXISTING SYSTEM:
 In the existing system we used the solar panel as keep as stable.
 Such solar panel is fixed on the roof tops and it did not rotate.
 If the light intensity is decreased in the environment, solar battery went to
low energy state.

54
 At this state we lost the power .

PROPOSED SYSTEM:
 In the proposed system we have to use the microcontroller based
stepper motor with multiple sensors.
 Sensors are fixed at the different angles such like that “ -180 to +180”
degrees.
 The unique feature of this system is that instead
of taking the earth as its reference, it takes the sun as a guiding source.
 Sensors(LDR) are connected with the stepper motor using
microcontroller.
 So if the intensity is decreased, then sensor sense the maximum light
intensity in environment.
 Automatically it rotates at small angles as per the sensing.
 So at this state we cannot lose the power because of it is sensing
towards the sun’s position.

CHAPTER 7:
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS:
7.1 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE TRACKING SYSTEM:
After examining the information obtained in the data analysis
section, it can be said that the proposed sun tracking solar array system is a

55
feasible method of maximizing the energy received from solar radiation. The
controller circuit used to implement this system has been designed with a
minimal number of components and has been integrated onto a single PCB
for simple assembly. The pyramid sensor design enables the device to be
attached to solar panels. The use of stepper motors enables accurate tracking
of the sun while keeping track of the array's current position in relation to its
initial position. Manual control allows the user to set the array's initial (or
reset) position, as well as make it possible to easily service the array surface
for cleaning or replacing damaged cells.
7.2 APPLICATIONS:

The sun tracking solar array system can be used for any application
that currently uses solar energy. It is ideal for hot water systems and other
domestic applications where long-term efficiency is preferred.
7.3 FUTURE DESIGN PROPOSALS:
Future design proposals include, but are not limited to, an auto-
battery supply that runs off the solar array, and a heat management system to
cool solar cells for improved efficiency.
7.3.1 SUGGESTED AREAS OF FURTHER RESEARCH:
The research are that would prove most beneficial would be heat
management, as it was found during the design stage and testing, that the
efficiency of the cells varies considerably with varying heat conditions.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Sze, S.M., Physics of semiconductor devices, 2nd Ed, New York, Wiley,

1981, pp 791-835.

56
[2] Chapin, D.M., Fuller, C.S., and Pearson, G.L., A New Silicon p-n

Junction Photocel for Converting Solar Radiation into Electrical Power, J.

Appl. Phys., 1954, 25, 676.

[3] Koyuncu, b., and Balasubramanian, K., "A microprocessor controlled

automatic sun tracker,"

[5]Piao Z G,Park J M,A study on the tracking photovoltaic system by

programme type

[6]Yousef H A,Design and implementation of a Fuzzy Logic Computer-

Controlled Sun tracking system

[7]Saxena,A K Dutta,A Versatile microcontroller based solar tracking

system

[8]Beckman, William A. and Duffie, John A., Solar Engineering of Thermal

Processes. 2nd Ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1991, pp.768-793.

[9] � Zweibel, Ken. Harnessing Solar Power: The Photovoltaics Challenge.

Plenum Press, New York and London. 1990.

Appendix I

#include"reg52.h"
sbit sen1=P1^0;

57
sbit sen2=P1^1;
sfr stepmtr=0x80;
sbit sen=P3^0;
void stepfwd(void);
void Delay(unsigned int i);
void steprew(void);
void main()
{
P1=0xFF;
P0=0xFF;
P3=0xFF;
while(1)
{
if(sen1==1&&sen2==0)
{
stepfwd();
}
else if(sen1==0&&sen2==1)
{
steprew();
}

72
else
{
P0=0x00;
}

58
}
}
void stepfwd(void)
{
stepmtr=0x80;
//while(sen==1);
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x40;
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x20;
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x10;
Delay(6500);
}
void steprew(void)
{
stepmtr=0x10;
//while(sen==1);
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x20;
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x40;
Delay(6500);
stepmtr=0x80;
Delay(6500);
}
void Delay(unsigned int i)

59
{
while(i--);
}

Appendix II

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

60
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS:
PVC : Photo Voltaic Cells.
WPVS : World Photo Voltaic Scale.
ISC : Short Circuit Current.
VOC : Open Circuit Voltage.
QE : Quantum Efficiency.

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DPTR : Data Pointer.
ALE : Address Latch Enable.
PCA : Programmable Counter Array.
VRM : Variable Reluctance Motor.
PMM : Permanent Magnet Motor.
MPP : Maximum Power Point.
FF : Fill Factor.
DLCP : Drive Level Capacity Profile.
ISP : In System Programming.
IAP : In Application Programming.
SPI : Serial Peripheral Interface.
PCA : Programmable Counter Array.
WDT : Watch Dog Timer.
SFR : Special Function Registers.
LDR : Light Dependent Registers.
ASTS : Automatic Sun Tracking System

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