fairfolio
Saved Projects

Self-Optimizing Solar Tracking System

CSEF · 2011 Electronics & Electromagnetics Third Award

Todd G. Porter · Holy Spirit School, Fremont, Alameda County

Overview

Objectives/Goals For my experiment, I asked myself this question: Can a self-optimizing solar tracking system produce more energy output over a fixed period of time than a stationary solar panel system? I predicted that if a self-optimizing solar tracking system efficiently tracks the movement of the sun, it will produce greater energy output than a stationary panel over a fixed period of time. Methods/Materials To test my hypothesis, I created a self-optimizing solar tracking system that automatically tracked the sun. Key to the development of this system was the creation of a microprocessor driven algorithm that was designed to command multiple servo motors and a light sensor. To conduct my experiment, I measured the power output (watts) of the Self-Optimizing Solar Tracking System that I created, and compared that to the output of a stationary panel over the course of a day, and then plotted these results for analysis. Results From analysis of my experimental results, my hypothesis proved to be correct. After several months of development(design, programming, tuning) of the self-optimizing solar tracking system, I was able to demonstrate that a solar panel that autonomously tracks the sun produces greater power output over the course of a day than a stationary solar panel. Power measurements for multiple stationary panel starting light angles were analyzed to simulate the sun#s movement over the course of a year. Experimental results indicated that both the tracking and stationary solar panels produced similar power output until the solar angle became too large and the stationary panel power output dropped dramatically. Unexpectedly, the experimental outcome demonstrated that the stationary solar panel performed remarkably well over a wide range of solar light angles. Conclusions/Discussion As result of my experiment, I was able to confirm my hypothesis that if a self-optimizing solar tracking system efficiently tracks the movement of the sun, it will produce greater energy output than a stationary panel over a fixed period of time. Although the experimental conclusions seem obvious, the difficulty in development of the self-optimized solar tracking system and the countless days spent tuning the test environment and taking power performance measurements, proved to be challenging

Summary statement

My science project verifies that a Self-Optimizing Solar Tracking System will produce greater power output over fixed period of time than a stationary panel.

Help received

Over the course of my experiment I received assistance from my father, my mother, and my science teacher. My Father helped me with difficulties that I had in the C++ code, my mother helped me layout my board, and my science teacher provided insight throughout the entire project.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2011 Electronics & Electromagnetics · Entry J0921

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google