Implementation and remote monitoring of a photovoltaic test bench with and without solar tracking in equatorial zones

Photovoltaic systems have been positioning themselves as an alternative with great potential for harnessing the sun’s energy, but their use has not yet reached the desired levels. The use of solar tracking systems is an option to improve the solar energy collection capacity, compared to a static system, provided that the atmospheric conditions are favorable, as confirmed by the tests carried out in this project. To know the influence of solar rays, tests were carried out in two cities near the coasts of Ecuador, Machala, and Guayaquil, which have different geographical and environmental characteristics. To obtain data on the different electrical and position parameters of the systems with and without tracking, remote monitoring of 2 test benches located in the aforementioned cities was carried out through the Internet. At the end of the tests, a comparative analysis was performed, where it was determined that, due to the predominance of cloudy weather in Machala, the static photovoltaic system had an advantage of about 53%. On the other hand, according to the analysis of the data in the city of Guayaquil, the photovoltaic system with solar tracking had an advantage of 33% over the static system.