Implementation of New Designs to Improve Efficiency of Solar Panels

Abstract

As non-renewable energy resources are decreasing and becoming less feasible for long term use, the need for renewable resources for producing electricity is increasing. Options of renewable energy include wind farms, harvesting tidal energy, utilizing nuclear power and the use of solar panels. The problem with some of these options is that they are potentially hazardous, or that they might not produce enough power. However, solar panels are gaining popularity. Solar panels absorb energy from incident sun-rays and store it in batteries. In order to ensure peak efficiency, the panel must be perpendicular to the Sun in order to absorb maximum sunlight. This implies that the solar panel needs to continuously rotate in accordance to the Suns position as it traverses through the sky. This can be done with the help of a sun tracking system. Sun tracking systems are not a new concept, but our proposed design excludes the use of any microprocessor, that are used in conventional designs. Not using any computational device means that there is no need for an external power source. Thus making our proposed design a completely autonomous, stand alone system capable of performing at high efficiency without external power or intervention. Using the above mentioned technique and a few others, we predict a thirty percent increase in efficiency over industry standards.