Design and performance analysis of automated two axis solar tracking system for steam generation

The main aim of this project is to develop and implement a prototype of automated two axis solar tracking system and a cost effective system for water heating application. Parabolic dish is constructed around 0.6m² area to capture the sun's energy. The focus of the parabolic reflector is theoretically calculated down to an infinitesimally small point to get extremely high temperature. The assembly programming language is used to interface the PIC microcontroller with two-axis solar tracking system. This auto-tracking system is controlled with two 12V, 18N- m DC gear box motors. The speed of the motor (40rpm) is reduced to 0.5rpm (3 degree) for efficient tracking. Tracking calculation is done by altitude and azimuth angular position of the sun, so that drawback in using light sensor based tracking method can be eliminated. Tracking errors due to weather and environmental factor can be eliminated by this system. The system starts to operate at morning 8am and by evening 5pm it reaches the initial position. The temperature attained is about 100 to 160°c. The designs of the gear and the parabolic reflector are carefully considered and precisely calculated. The two-axis solar tracking system is constructed with both hardware and software implementations. This system proves to be cost effective tracking system for heating and cooking applications. By making large reflector, it can be used for power generation.