My Capstone Project - Solar Panel with MPPT mounted on single axis tracker Solar energy has been the focus of renewable energy research because it can be harnessed using PV panels at any place that receives sunlight. The power supplied by the panel is subject to variations in loads, irradiance and alignment. These irregularities result in decreased panel efficiency and significant power loss. Hence, for low power applications, there is a need to implement new techniques to improve the efficiency of the PV arrays. This thesis augments the energy harnessing capability of the PV panel by integrating MPPT algorithm, Perturbation and Observation, with Single-Axis Tracking mechanism. It presents a novel single degree sun tracking mechanism using an ARM processor and provides results of its performance in real time under various weather conditions. Additionally, hardware design and simulation of DC/DC boost converter with MPPT control is done and experimental verification is performed using imitated PV. Finally, these two independent systems are integrated and data is captured for six different comparative models. The results of this research depicts that, for domestic solar arrays, the combination of Single-Axis Tracking with MPPT provides a significant increase to the power output than using just the MPPT algorithm.
