The Applictaion of Tracking or Fixed Solar Photovoltaic Panels : A Practical Comparison
Fite, Ignasi; Torres, Roger (2019)
Fite, Ignasi
Torres, Roger
2019
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019061416909
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019061416909
Tiivistelmä
The aim of this thesis was to develop, assemble, document and compare output data for two different photovoltaic installations where one is a fixed panel system and the other a 2-axis solar tracking panel system.
In order to do so, a fully functioning solar tracking system was developed and programmed using a combination of both Modbus communication protocol and a LabVIEW interface for data acquisition and user control.
All the data were collected by a series of energy meters and transferred to Microsoft Excel for analysis and efficiency comparison.
The results indicate that a 2-axis solar tracker panel system can achieve greater values of efficiency than comparable fixed panel installations, with improvements that can reach up to 27%.
The outcome of this thesis resulted in the successful demonstration of a working photovoltaic comparison system, but some limitations were encountered due to time and material inconveniences.
In order to do so, a fully functioning solar tracking system was developed and programmed using a combination of both Modbus communication protocol and a LabVIEW interface for data acquisition and user control.
All the data were collected by a series of energy meters and transferred to Microsoft Excel for analysis and efficiency comparison.
The results indicate that a 2-axis solar tracker panel system can achieve greater values of efficiency than comparable fixed panel installations, with improvements that can reach up to 27%.
The outcome of this thesis resulted in the successful demonstration of a working photovoltaic comparison system, but some limitations were encountered due to time and material inconveniences.