Performance comparison of dual-axis solar tracker vs static solar system in Malaysia

Abstract

Extensive researches on enhancing the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) system are ongoing in order to boost its competitiveness among the available renewable energy sources. Solar tracking system is one of the most direct approaches adopted to harvest more solar energy from PV system compared to static solar system. Solar tracker follows the position of the Sun over the course of the day from east to west in a daily and seasonal basis. Hence, the PV panels able to receive maximum sunlight and generate more energy. A low cost prototype dual-axis solar tracking system is proposed in this study. The dual-axis solar tracker prototype adopted low cost microcontroller and light sensors to detect the sun's movement and follow it accordingly throughout the year. The performance of dual-axis tracking system and fixed-position system are compared and discussed qualitatively and quantitatively based on outdoor environment under Malaysia climate. Comparative results depicted that performance in terms of irradiance and energy gain of static solar system thrives by dual-axis tracking system.