Automatic solar tracking system

 
 

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INTRODUCTION 
3
AEIE, RCCIIT 
LITERATURE REVIEW 
The paucity of available resources has forced contemporary society to look for measures to 
consummate the demands of the latter. With the nurturing civilization, the depletion of 
conventional fuels, due to human practices has been an alarm to sustainable development issues. 
The scarcity of energy and its source guided us towards the optimistic approach of using the 
alternative resources bestowed to humankind–Solar, tidal etc. 
The Sun has been looked upon as an imperative source of energy. Solar energy is an eco-friendly 
resource as compared to its counterparts. The advancement of technology has out-turn foster 
techniques to utilize this energy into its own good use. Be it as thermal energy, electricity, fuel 
production and many more. Photovoltaic or concentrated solar power (CSP) systems are operated 
to transfigure the solar power expropriated by the earth into electricity. Solar tracking device 
utilizes this expropriated solar power through the channel of photovoltaic arrays, an oriented 
scaffolding of photovoltaic/solar cells.[1] 
 
Solar cells
, also known as photovoltaic cells are used to convert light energy into electricity. 
Photovoltaic cells work on the principle of the photovoltaic effect, which is similar to the 
photoelectric effect. Differences being that the electrons in photovoltaic are not emitted instead 
contained in the material around the surface, creating a voltage difference. Solar cells are forged 
with crystalline silicon. It is the most commonly used material in a solar cell. The use of silicon in 
the solar cell has been very efficient and low cost. Two forms of crystalline silicon can be used to 
make solar cells. Other than silicon, solar cells can be fabricated with cadmium telluride (CdTe), 
Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) etc. the fabrication of solar cells with materials other 
silicon is slightly expensive, thus making silicon the best material to be used in solar tracking 
systems.[2] 
One of the finest and extensively used material, monocrystalline silicon has an efficiency of about 
15-20%. While under high temperature the performance of the cell material drops by 10-15% of 
the initial. 

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INTRODUCTION 
4
AEIE, RCCIIT 
Polycrystalline silicon is another form, cheaper than the latter but has the same band gap as that of 
monocrystalline silicon. Though it has the same band gap energy, it lags in efficiency, hence this 
material is used in low-cost products. 
Amorphous silicon cells can work under extremely high temperatures, but the efficiency of these 
cells is comparatively lower than the other silicon forms. [3] 
The technologies which use 
CdTe, CIGS, Amorphous Thin-Film Silicon (a-Si, TF-Si) in the 
fabrication of solar cells are known as thin film photovoltaic modules. These thin-film solar cells 
are relatively cost-effective than the solar cells of crystalline silicon. [4]