An imperative role of sun trackers in photovoltaic technology: A review

The efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) system is directly proportional to the solar energy. The maximum efficiency from the PV systems can be achieved if the panel is kept perpendicular to the direction of the radiations of sun. Hence, in order to achieve maximum concentration, radiation and efficiency of the PV cell, tracking of the position of the sun with accuracy is extremely important. The various methods of sun tracking system have been discussed which includes two axes, one axis, polar axis, open loop, closed loop, hybrid model, azimuth and tilt roll mechanism. The comparison of existing solar tracking systems and methods has also been discussed. In this paper, various existing solar tracking systems in terms of the controller used like PLC, microcontroller, FPGA to design the system and their economic assessment have been studied. It is concluded that two axis solar tracking systems has more power gain with respect to fixed systems. The microcontroller based tracking system with same size, capacity and location as of PLC based systems are more economic.