The Effect of a Pneumatic Cylinder-Based Solar Tracking System on the Electricity Production of a Photovoltaic Panel
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Engineering
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
With global warming increasing exponentially, renewable energy sources have never been more important. Solar energy has held a promising future, however, the low efficiency of solar cells has limited popularity. Implementing a solar tracking system is one way to optimize electricity production. The ideal solar tracker is not yet marketed because of the lack of reliability or inefficient energy production. The purpose of this paper was to construct an electricity-free solar tracking system that produces an increase in average voltage levels over a fixed solar panel. It was hypothesized that when an efficient solar tracking system was created, the average voltage production of the solar panel would increase when compared to a fixed solar panel because the tracker would keep the panel perpendicular to the sun at all times. The final solar tracker design implemented a pneumatic cylinder and microcontroller to create a single-axis chronological tracker. The tracker was tested with a light moved around the panel. The results of the solar tracker indicated an average 31% increase in voltage levels when compared to a fixed panel, which is consistent with other dual-axis solar trackers. Data were statistically analyzed with an unpaired z-test using a 95% confidence interval. The mean increase in voltage was determined statistically significant, as the p-value of 0.0072 was less than the α-value of 0.05. Therefore, it was found that the proposed pneumatic cylinder solar tracker is a viable, electricity-free alternative to conventional solar tracking systems.
Recommended Citation
Ganesh Babu, Shrihan, "The Effect of a Pneumatic Cylinder-Based Solar Tracking System on the Electricity Production of a Photovoltaic Panel" (2022). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 38.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2022/all/38
Location
HSS 109
Start Date
4-2-2022 9:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effect of a Pneumatic Cylinder-Based Solar Tracking System on the Electricity Production of a Photovoltaic Panel
HSS 109
With global warming increasing exponentially, renewable energy sources have never been more important. Solar energy has held a promising future, however, the low efficiency of solar cells has limited popularity. Implementing a solar tracking system is one way to optimize electricity production. The ideal solar tracker is not yet marketed because of the lack of reliability or inefficient energy production. The purpose of this paper was to construct an electricity-free solar tracking system that produces an increase in average voltage levels over a fixed solar panel. It was hypothesized that when an efficient solar tracking system was created, the average voltage production of the solar panel would increase when compared to a fixed solar panel because the tracker would keep the panel perpendicular to the sun at all times. The final solar tracker design implemented a pneumatic cylinder and microcontroller to create a single-axis chronological tracker. The tracker was tested with a light moved around the panel. The results of the solar tracker indicated an average 31% increase in voltage levels when compared to a fixed panel, which is consistent with other dual-axis solar trackers. Data were statistically analyzed with an unpaired z-test using a 95% confidence interval. The mean increase in voltage was determined statistically significant, as the p-value of 0.0072 was less than the α-value of 0.05. Therefore, it was found that the proposed pneumatic cylinder solar tracker is a viable, electricity-free alternative to conventional solar tracking systems.
