Design and Performance Analysis of Three axis Solar Tracking System

This study introduces the design and performance of a three-axis solar tracker system. The primary objective of evolving a three-axis solar tracker is to follow the sun's location and remove shading caused by obstacles. High-rise objects, such as upcoming buildings, trees, or shading caused by the preceding row of PV modules due to the sun's changing latitudes during the winter and summer, could be obstacles. To overcome these challenges, a third axis is included to allow the height of the solar panel to be adjusted so that it is not shaded. Existing solar tracking systems attempt to generate maximum output power but are unable to eliminate 100% shading on the solar panel's surface, resulting in lower received output power. If the PV module is kept vertical to the sun's radiation, the PV system will produce the most power. With this addition to the tracker, the solar panel stays perpendicular to the rays of sunlight with this addition to the tracker, allowing it to collect the most solar radiation at sunset and sunrise, which is difficult to achieve with static solar panels and a two-axis tracker system. Test outcomes reveal that the developed system generates more output power by up to 181% and 19% as compared to the static solar panels and dual-axis (active type) solar tracker systems, respectively. Thus, the main ideology of this technology is to obtain maximum solar radiation from sunrise to sunset, regardless of the sun's changing positions (summer and winter).