Microcontroller Based Solar Tracking System Design and Grid Connected Photovoltaic Systems

Abstract

In the era of ever-rising demands of electrical energy, the concerns related to scarcity and environmental damages associated with the application of fossil fuels have increased. Renewable energy resources have proved to be a blessing. With their world-class ability to produce zero greenhouse emissions and diversifying the energy supply in turn reducing the dependency on fossil fuels, renewable energy resources have been gaining quite a lot of popularity in the electricity generation sector. Aiming to create a more well developed, efficient, and reliable system, this paper focuses on the concept of employing the best possible application of the most abundant source of energy - Solar Energy. The system is based on mechanically tracking the position of the Sun and orienting the Solar Panel with respect to the Sun’s radiation for achieving the maximum output by incorporating the application of Microcontroller. The proposed system focuses on the design and simulation of a Microcontroller-based solar tracking system on Proteus 8 professional software. The paper also incorporates the concept of ‘Grid-connected Photovoltaic systems’ as a dominant phenomenon and advancement for increasing the efficiency of the solar tracking system.