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**Title:** Exploring Solar Tracking: A Small Experiment with Big Implications

**Introduction**

In my previous project video, I showed you how to create a photovoltaic off-grid system that has worked without any problems. However, many of you mentioned in the comment section that a flat mounting on the roof is not ideal, and I agree with that assessment. Not only does it make the panel more susceptible to damage, but it also decreases air flow and affects the power output due to the sharp angle of the sun.

**The Reason Behind Flat Mounting**

I chose to mount my solar panels in a flat position initially because it was easy to spot them, making it less likely for them to be stolen. However, since I've been interested in how much energy I'm actually losing due to the position of my panel, I decided to conduct a small solar tracking experiment.

**The Experiment**

For this experiment, I used two identical solar panels with an open circuit voltage of 6 volts and a maximum output power of 1 watt. One was placed on a flat surface, while the other was mounted to a solar tracker that follows the position of the sun in order to maximize the power outputs of the solar panel.

**Building the Solar Tracker**

To move the panel in a circular manner and also in an uptown movement, I used a mini pencil mechanical system designed by fbuenonet. The base plates were attached to a piece of wood with leftover screws, and SG90 servos were used to move the whole system. The movement was made possible by adding a fitting accessory part to the base plates and attaching the motor to it.

**Adding the Photoresistors**

To utilize the photo resistors in an effective way, I created a circular object in 3D design using my 3D printer. Four photo resistors were mounted on the circular roof wall divided segments so that when one side is dark, the motors rotate the system clockwise, and if the lower side is stocked, the motors move the solar panel upwards.

**Mounting the Solar Panel and Photoresistor Setup**

To mount the solar panel and the photoresistor setup to the mechanical system, I created an 11x9.5 cm piece of foam plastic and secured it with hot glue. The photoresistor setup was attached to the top section of the foam plastic.

**Connecting the Servos and Powering It Up**

The servos were connected to the circuits and powered with a 5V supply, making sure that they moved in sync with each other. A potentiometer load was used to determine the maximum power point of the system, which according to my calculations should be reached with a resistance of around 3150 ohms.

**The Experimental Setup**

To conduct both measurements at the same time, I had to create a second power logger for the solar tracker. The flat solar panel setup was completed by adding a potentiometer load in order to determine the maximum power point of the system.

**Conducting the Outdoor Experiments**

I hooked up the solar tracking solar panel and the flat solar panel to their respective power loggers along with the 50 Ohm loads, and started the outdoor experiments. The systems created electrical energy from solar energy for around 2.5 hours while making sure that all the data was locked onto the SD card.

**Results**

After waiting for 2.5 hours, the flat solar panel delivered a total energy of 10,345 milliwatt hours, while the solar tracking solar panel delivered about 11,891 milli watt hours, which is a difference of 15% more energy. Although this experiment was rather short and didn't utilize an MPPT method, it showed promising results.

**Conclusion**

Although the solar tracker was limited in its movements, it managed to outperform the flat solar panel by 15%. Considering that the sun angle of only 45 degrees can decrease the power output by 30%, my solar panel might be missing out on around 20-30% of possible solar energy. This experiment has shown me the importance of using a solar tracker in my photovoltaic system, and I hope to implement it in future projects.

**Final Thoughts**

I hope you learned something new about photovoltaic systems through this video. If so, don't forget to Like, share, and subscribe!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIn a previous project video of mineI showed you how I created a photovoltaic off-grid system which to this date works without any problemsbut what I noticed in the comment section back then was that many of you are stated that a flat mounting on the roof isnot idealWhich I do agree withNot only does the panel gets out more easilybut this mounting also decreases the air flow another panel and thus the cooling andAlso the power outputs since the Sun is hitting the panel more often at a sharp angleSo why did I mounted it this way then and not at an angle?Well, the reason is that it is not easy to spot that way and thus will most likely not get stolenBut anyway, since I recently got interested in how much energy I'm actually losing due to the position of my panelI will conduct a small solar tracking experiment in this videoWhich will hopefully turn out in my favor and thus let me sleep at peace once againLet's get startedThis video is sponsored by JLCPCB one fact about them. You can easily find the tracking numberinvoice and production process of your PCBs in your account andEasily order more PCBs of your old design through the reorder button without having to upload your Gerber files once againFor this experiments I will be using twoHopefully identical solar panels with an open circuit voltage of 6 volts and a maximum output power of 1 Watts1 will be placed on a flat surface while the other one will be mounted to a solar tracker which like the name impliesFollows the position of the Sun in order to maximize the power outputs of the solar panelBoth panels will be connected to power logger and loadswhich will later reveal how much more energy the solar tracker system harvested andWith the execution of this experiment explains. Let's get started by building the solar trackerTo move the panel in a circular manner and also in an uptown movements I went with this mini pencils mechanical systemDesigned by fbuenonetPrinted the three-year required parts with my 3d printer which took around 4 hoursAfterwards, I mounted the base plates to a piece of woods with some leftover screws andGot myself to SG90 servos which will be used to move the whole system.I Positioned the fitting accessory of bits in the base plates and added the motor to itWhich by then covered with the second 3d printed partsTo its I also added an accessory part of the servoMounted the second servo to the third and last3d printed parts with screws and then finally completed themechanical system by combining the two pieces with an additional screw andAs you can see the movement of the solar tracker was possibleBut of course for the servos, we need an electrical signal to move them accordinglyfor that I created this small schematic whose components I connected to one another on a piece of perfboardand Once I was getting close to finishing the circuitsI noticed that the most important components the photo resistors were not properly utilized yetIn case you're wondering photo resistors are like the name implies resistorsWould change to the resistance according to how much light hits themWith lots of lights. We got a small resistance and in darkness, we got a high resistance.I wanted to mount four of them on a circle roof wall divided segmentsso that for example when the left side is dark the motors rotate the system clockwise andIf the lower side stock the motors move the solar panel upwardsThis way the system will always follow the brightest light sourceso I constructed d described circular object in 1 2 3 D design andOnce again used my 3d printer to create itAfterwards, I enlarge the holes for the photoresistor leads push them in place and secure them all with a bit of hot glueNow to mount the solar panel and the photoresistor setup to the mechanical systemI created an eleven by nine point five centimeter piece of foam plasticTo which I firstly secured the solar panel with hot glueAfter I sold our two wires to its terminalsthen I created a 24 centimeter hole in the top section of the foam plastic andSecured the photoresistor set up there with hot glue as wellto complete the solar trackerI added wires to the photo resistorsWhich I then connected to the perfboard circuits and secured the fantastic to the mechanical system with hot glueAlong with the 1 kilo Ohm resistors, the photo resistors build up a voltage dividerWhich creates a high voltage when the photo resistor stark and a low voltage when it is illuminatedSo after connecting these servos to the circuits and powering it with a 5v power source. It was time for programmingin a nutshell, I utilized the timer one of the arduinoatmega328p microcontrollerin order to generate servo compatible pwm signalswhich are constantly alter depending on whether the lower upper left or right side of the photo resistor setup isilluminated andAfter uploading the codes I tested the setup of a flashlightWhich seems to work without any problems, which means it was time to complete the experimental setup with my power logger.I built this one in a previous project videoSo feel free to watch it if you want to understand how it works or if you want to create one for yourselfanyway, after connecting the logger to the remaining unmounted solar panel, IConnected a potentiometer loads in order to determine the maximum power point of the systemWhich according to my calculations should be reached with a resistance of around 3150 ohmsBut since we would never reach the maximum power at a higher brightness level with this resistorI rather replaced it with 4 , 200 Ohm resistors in parallelWhich should be able to get us close to 1 wattsThat means the flat solar panel setup was complete but sadly in order to conduct both measurements at the same timeI had to create a second power logger for the solar tracker which took quite a bit of timeBut once that was done, I hocked the solar tracking solar panel up to the power logger along with the 50Ohm loads and started the outdoor experimentsNow I let the two systems create electrical energy from solar energy for around 2.5 hourswhile making sure that the systems locked all the data onto the SD card andthe solar tracker are truly followed the sun's movements andAfter waiting for that long, the flat solar panel delivered a total energy of10,345 milliwatt hours while the solar tracking solar panel delivered about11891 milli watt hoursThat is a difference of 15% more energy, which is not that bad ofCourse we have to keep in mind that this experiment was rather short was executed around noonDid not utilized an MPPT methods and the solar tracker was limited in its movementsBut since we know that the Sun angle of only 45 degrees can decrease the power output by 30%We can assume that through the day especially during the morning and evening timeMy solar panel might be missing out on around 20 to 30% of the possible solar energyWhich is affect that from now on I have to live withNevertheless. I hope you learned a little bit about photovoltaic systems through this videoIf so, don't forget to Like share and subscribeStay creative, and I will see you next time!