Solar photovoltaic panel steering

What is a non-mechanical beam-steering solar concentrator?

A non-mechanical beam-steering solar concentrator was proposed in 2005 37; it consists of a Fresnel lens and an array of liquid crystal prisms whose refractive index can be electrically controlled, thereby changing the deflection angle. To the best of our knowledge, no practical demonstration of the system has yet been published.

How are photovoltaic panels tracked?

They can also be distinguished by two tracking techniques: The MPPT (maximum power point tracking) method which is based on an algorithm to find the maximum power curve of the photovoltaic panel, or the sun tracking system, which is based on the orientation of solar panels throughout the day to better exploit the photovoltaic cells [4, 5].

What are solar panels tracking systems?

Solar panels tracking systems consist of a mechanical tracking system that usually uses mechanical components (tracker mounting, motor and motor controller, sensors, drives and tracker solving algorithm) to capture the maximum amount of energy from the sun in a whole day.

What are active solar tracking systems?

Active solar tracking systems are systems that use motors, gears, and other controllers to direct the photovoltaic panels toward the sun. Active tracker systems come in several varieties that can be classified into a few categories.

How do passive solar tracking systems work?

3.1. Passive solar tracking systems Passive solar tracking systems use the temperature of the sun to heat a kind of liquid which is stored in canisters and is affixed to the sides of photovoltaic modules. The idea is to heat up this kind of liquid in the canisters and expand it into a gas.

How does a photovoltaic module work?

A stepper motor was used to rotate the photovoltaic module from one side to another, and a real-time clock microcontroller was used to find the suitable angles and feed them directly to the stepper motor. The microcontroller depends on using an algorithm that can calculate the positions and directions of the solar panel.