Automatically aligning Solar Panel

In today's world, due to the climate change crisis, renewable sources like solar play a crucial role in providing clean energy. The efficiency of energy production dramatically depends on the angle of incidence of solar rays. However, the angle of incidence of the solar rays changes throughout the day with peak intensity during noon time. The orientation of the panel with respect to the roof is another variable. All these constraints reduce the efficiency of the solar panel.

To address this issue, I developed a prototype that tracks the solar rays and finds the angle at which incident rays are maximum and aligns the setup in that direction. To incorporate this, I used two servo motors to account for both the angles (polar and azimuthal) to improve accuracy and a phototransistor to measure the intensity and controlled the setup using an Arduino. During each turn, the setup thoroughly scans the angular space and finds the combination of angles at which the sun's rays are maximum. Then the structure aligns in that direction. By orienting towards the angle at which the sun's rays are maximum, the solar panel's output is increased. For more details on the POC, check out the above video. I showcased the prototype at the annual hobbies club meeting at IIT Roorkee and won second prize.