PROJECT PROPOSAL

LabView based on Solar Tracking System

With Stepper Motor

STUDENT NAME: ………………………………………………

ID NO.: …………………………………………………………..

INSTITUTION: ………………………………………………….

SECTION: …………………………………………………

SUPERVISOR: …………………………………………………..

DATE: …………………………………………………………….

ABSTRACT

As we can see now, the earth becomes hot effect of the global warming. Here we can take an advantage from the effect of the global warming. We can use solar energy as an electrical energy to operate an electrical appliance. The problem that we can see now is most of the solar panel that had been use by a user just only in a static direction. If the solar panel located at east and the sun is located at west, the solar panel cannot be charging. So, the project that wants to develop here is called “Labview Based Solar Tracking System with Stepper Motor ”. Solar tracking system is the project that used National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW software as a brain to control the whole system. The LDR (Light Dependant Resistor) had been used to sense the intensity of light at 30 degree each or 180 degree total and sent the data to the National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW. This National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW will compare the data and rotate a stepper motor to the right direction. The stepper motor will rotate the solar panel based on the highest intensity of light.

INTRODUCTION

As we know, sun is a one of the most important component in this world. Without sun, it is impossible for a human or living creature to live in this world. Humans nowadays feel uncomforted about the global warming situation. Even this kind of situation bring a lot of negative perception, they should have to think it through the positive way. One of the way to reduce the global warming is to reduce the utilizing of electrical voltage and change to a natural voltage source like wind, rain, tides, sunlight and geothermal heats. So, the engineers try to create a new device that can convert the natural energy to an electrical energy like solar panel for sunlight energy, wind turbines for wind energy, water turbines. The problem that still exists now is the device that invests by an engineer. For example, the solar panel that many of the users use is only in a one way direction. If the sun located at the direction that is not perpendicular to the solar panel, the power that can be generate is low compare to the when the sun located exactly perpendicular to the solar panel. The sun is rotate from east to west but the highest power that can be generate by the solar panel is when location of sun is perpendicular to the solar panel. So the power that can be use in the night day is quite short. So, the project that I will do is called ‘Labview Based Solar Tracking System with Stepper Motor ’. This is because the sunlight can generate a clean and free power. This project helps for power generation by setting the equipment to get maximum sunlight automatically. This project will use a six sensor in a six direction to sense the direction of maximum intensity of light. Each sensor will face 30°. So, the total angle that this system can sense is 180°. This system will detect the maximum intensity of light. When there is decrease in intensity of light, this system will automatically change it direction using a motor to get a maximum intensity of light. This system will use National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW software as a brain to operate this system and a stepper motor to rotate the solar panel. The angle/direction of solar panel will be shown in the monitor.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

As we can see, there are many problems that occur in the previous type of solar tracking system. The problem that we can see here is the solar panel that is use is only in one way direction. Because of this problem, the power that can be generated is low. The second problem is the price for the solar tracking system is very expensive for the family that use more power than usual because they need to install more than one solar panel to produce enough power. So, this project is to fix the problem that occurs here. This solar tracking system can detect a 180 degree of rotation. So, the solar panel that can be generating here is very high compare to when the solar panel can only stay in one direction. So, the families don’t have to install more than one solar panel to generate enough power. One solar panel is enough to produce a lot of power.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Solar tracking system project had been widely employed by the other giant company like BP Solar, Yingli Green Energy, Kyocera, Q-Cells, Sanyo, Sharp Solar, Solar World, Sun Power, and Suntech. Now, many people use solar energy or photovoltaic energy as an alternative power because it’s free and renewable. As we can see now, the payment charge for an electricity had been risen rapidly because the increasing of gas price. Many researchers have tried to find the alternative energy to replace the gas. One of the alternative energy that we can use is photovoltaic energy. Photovoltaic energy is the most promising and popular form of solar energy. In solar photovoltaic’s, sunlight is actually converted into electricity. This is very different from a conventional understanding of solar power as only a way of heating water. Photovoltaic, now the biggest usage of solar energy around the world, is briefly explained below: Sunlight is made of photons, small particles of energy. These photons are absorbed by and pass through the material of a solar cell or solar photovoltaic panel. The photons 'agitate' the electrons found in the material of the photovoltaic cell. As they begin to move (or are dislodged), these are 'routed' into a current. This, technically, is electricity - the movement of electrons along a path. Solar panels made of silicon to convert sunlight into electricity. Solar photovoltaic are used in a number of ways, primarily to power homes that are inter-tied or interconnected with the grid. Wire conducts these electrons, either to batteries or to the regular electrical system of the house, to be used by appliances and other household electrical items. In many solar energy systems, the battery stores energy for later use. This is especially true when the sun is shining strongly.

Applications of Photovoltaic Power

Here are the examples of application of photovoltaic power or solar power.

1 Photovoltaic in transport

Photovoltaic power has traditionally been used for auxiliary power in space. Photovoltaic power is rarely used to provide motive power in transport applications, but is being used increasingly to provide auxiliary power in boats and cars.

Photovoltaic power in standalone devices

Photovoltaic power has been used for many years to power calculators and novelty devices. Improvements in integrated circuits and low power LCD displays make it possible to power a calculator for several years between battery changes, making solar calculators less common. In contrast, solar powered remote fixed devices have seen increasing use recently, due to increasing cost of labour for connection of mains electricity or a regular maintenance programmed. For examples are parking meters, emergency telephones, and temporary traffic signs.

Advantages of solar electricity

· The 89 pet watts of sunlight reaching the earth's surface is plentiful – almost 6,000 times more - compared to the 15 terawatts of average power consumed by humans. Additionally, solar electric generation has the highest power density (global mean of 170 W/m²) among renewable energies.

· Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls. End-of-use recycling technologies are under development.

· Facilities can operate with little maintenance or intervention after initial setup.

· Solar electric generation is economically superior where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly or impossible. Examples include satellites, island communities, remote locations and ocean vessels.

· When grid-connected, solar electric generation can displace the highest cost electricity during times of peak demand (in most climatic regions), can reduce grid loading, and can eliminate the need for local battery power for use in times of darkness and high local demand; such application is encouraged by net metering. Time-of-use net metering can be highly favorable to small photovoltaic systems.

· Grid-connected solar electricity can be used locally thus reducing transmission/distribution losses (transmission losses were approximately 7.2% in 1995).

· Once the initial capital cost of building a solar power plant has been spent operating costs are extremely low compared to existing power technologies.

Disadvantages of solar electricity

· Solar electricity is almost always more expensive than electricity generated by other sources.

· Solar electricity is not available at night and is less available in cloudy weather conditions. Therefore, a storage or complementary power system is required.

· Limited power density: Average daily isolation in the contiguous U.S. is 3-7 kW·h/m² and on average lower in Europe.

· Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC (using a grid tie inverter) when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy loss of 4-12%

METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains detail about the methodology of the whole system and flow of step that used in “Labview Based Solar Tracking System with Stepper Motor”. This chapter also describes further more about the planning of the whole project that is included about software and hardware development.

1. Block Diagram

Monitoring Unit

For monitoring unit this project uses the sensor Light Dependant Resistor (LDR). The Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) will be use as a sensor to detect the intensity of light. The Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) will send the data to the National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW. The Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) circuit is taken from internet. The Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) will be use because this component is very cheap compare to photo sensor. Next, when the Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) circuit is complete and can be used, we will construct the stepper motor circuit. The stepper motor will use IC ULN2003AG to drive a current to stepper motor. The high current is needed to drive the stepper motor. Lastly, we will troubleshoot all the part of circuit to make sure no problem will occur in the future.

Programming

For this project, the programming that use is National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW software. LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment used by millions of engineers and scientists to develop sophisticated measurement, test, and control systems using intuitive graphical icons and wires that resemble a flowchart. It offers unrivaled integration with thousands of hardware devices and provides hundreds of built-in libraries for advanced analysis and data visualization – all for creating virtual instrumentation. The LabVIEW platform is scalable across multiple targets and OSs, and, since its introduction in 1986, it has become an industry leader. The software used to control and display the output. This will be connected with the DAQ card to transfer the data to the Lab View. The software is used to show data from the solar panel and to switch on the solar circuit. It also uses to control the motor movement.

Emotion Controller

For this project the emotion controller that use is stepper motor. Stepper motors are special motors that are used when motion and position have to be precisely controlled. The stepper motor is closely related in design to three-phase AC synchronous motors where an internal rotor containing permanent magnets or a large iron core with salient poles is controlled by a set of external magnets that are switched electronically. A stepper motor may also be thought of as a cross between a DC electric motor and a solenoid. As each coil is energized in turn, the rotor aligns itself with the magnetic field produced by the energized field winding. Unlike a synchronous motor, in its application, the motor may not rotate continuously; instead, it "steps" from one position to the next as field windings are energized and reenergized in sequence. Depending on the sequence, the rotor may turn forwards or backwards. The stepper motor will be controlled by National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW after get signal from Light Dependant Resistor (LDR).

Panel

For this project, the panel use is solar panel. Solar panels collect solar radiation from the sun and actively convert that energy to electricity. Solar panels are comprised of several individual solar cells. These solar cells function similarly to large semiconductors and utilize a large-area p-n junction diode. When the solar cells are exposed to sunlight, the p-n junction diodes convert the energy from sunlight into usable electrical energy. The energy generated from photons striking the surface of the solar panel allows electrons to be knocked out of their orbits and released, and electric fields in the solar cells pull these free electrons in a directional current, from which metal contacts in the solar cell can generate electricity. The more solar cells in a solar panel and the higher the quality of the solar cells, the more total electrical output the solar panel can produce. The conversion of sunlight to usable electrical energy has been dubbed the Photovoltaic Effect. The photovoltaic effect arises from the properties of the p-n junction diode as such there are no moving parts in a solar panel. The solar panel will be control the movement by stepper motor to get sun ray.

Flow Chart

The project starts when the input Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) will be use as a sensor to detect the intensity of light. The Light Dependant Resistor (LDR) will send the data to National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW. National Instrument (NI) LabVIEW read the data and send the signal to the stepper motor to move the solar panel to get the intensity of light.

Objectives

The aims of this project are to construct and test of the Labview Based Solar Tracking System with Stepper Motor. The objectives for this project are:

1. To design a project that can detect and compare the intensity of light.

2. To design a project that able to move a stepper motor based on the intensity of Light and show the direction/angle of solar panel on Labview.

3. To track the sun so that the solar panel can produce maximum power output.

Benefits/ Contributions

Based on the objectives above, this research study will propose methods to estimate solar tracking system and applies them to the major solar tracking system configurations currently available in the market. If modeled carefully, the research outcomes will provide some original contributions in developing the solar tracking system reliability estimation techniques and these findings will suggest useful recommendations in establishing the area of improvement in the design of the highest solar tracking system reliability. The main original contributions of this research study can be stated briefly as follows:

1. The presence of this device is extremely important because the sun’s position varies from time to time. And the position of the sun will often vary with the season and the elevation and dependent as well on the time of the day. And this is where the solar tracker comes in the picture. This solar powered equipment will make the solar panel work better and with efficiency since this will be pointed directly to the sun with the help of the tracker.

2. It can be used most effectively in areas with low horizons and locations that are shade free from dawn to dusk each day. Throughout the year the tracking array will be able to utilize the wide open access to gain every available electron from the sun. This way, energy production is at an optimum and energy output is increased year round.

3. Performing a cost-benefit analysis study that determines the break-even point when comparing the annual total outage cost in various industries or sectors against the annual solar tracking system ownership cost.

The existence of solar tracking system is very useful in situation when the demand of electricity is higher. As to increase the electricity, the solar tracker plays the role in producing more electricity. The solar tracking system tracks the sun and concentrates the maximum sunlight to the photovoltaic module to generate electricity. As the solar tracker is used, the electricity can be generating more than the usual amount electricity generate in year if used only solar panels. It can cover the electricity demand so that the users can live better without electricity being cut off and it can cover critical situation when there are technical problem with main electric generator. Overall, the solar tracker is useful and has to be commercialized more for the better future.

Work Plan

The project time plan can be described as the term of work progress starting from the first development until it finished. It also can define as time duration in completed this project. It takes within 1 semester (4 month) to develop this project and most of the task is complete in time schedule.

Budget

Hardware

No	Component	Quantity	Cost(RM)
1	Solar panel	1	350.00
2	Stepper motor	1	30.00
Total			380.00

Software

No	Component	Quantity	Cost(RM)
1	DAQ card	1	-
2	Lab View software	1	-
Total			-

Motor controller circuit

No	Component	Quantity	Cost(RM)
1	Voltage regulator (LM805)	1	1.50
2	Resistor	12	1.20
3	Motor Drive (L298)	1	5.00
Total			7.70

Total all costing is RM387.70. All the costing and budget above are the estimation only and all the item and components are not finalize at all because there is only estimation and maybe involve with other component and other circuit or any upgrading to the project.

Conclusion

In summary for this research study, this project consists of taking a standard hardware and solar panel that use in this project. The Solar Tracker was able to constantly follow the sun movement. To conclude, the system design that use in the project can brings a lot of function and other application. Still using the design, with a little bit modification such as change the sensor to temperature sensor, the system that tracks the heat can develop. Other application such as tracking signal also can use and develop from this sample electronic design. The systems will be useful to the user that have been used the solar energy to create electricity in their daily life. This is because they will get more output power and worthwhile if they upgrade to solar tracking system. The solar trackers also useful to save the space because in old method it have to install more solar panel to get more output power so it takes a lot of space. Just a few solar panel is enough to get more output power if use the solar tracking system. In other hand it will also save the cost to buy solar panel. Practically, the main targets are the company that provides electricity to the end user. The knowledge and skill from this project will give more experience for student in engineering field.

References

1. What are solar trackers?

http://www.helmholz.us/smallpowersystems/Intro.pdf

2. Advantage and Disadvantage Solar Tracking System?

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/environment_and_going_green/article_268.shtml