Design of Single Axis Solar Tracking System (SASTS) Integrated with Programmable Logic Controller

The solar tracking system has an automatic movement of solar panel that is able to follow the intensity of the direction of sunlight to increase the power requirement. This paper is focused to develop the Single Axis Solar Tracking System (SASTS) where both hardware and software programming are constructed. The construction of SASTS is integrated with OMRON Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as a controller. The light dependent resistor (LDR) has been selected as an input sensor while the linear actuator acts as an output device to move the panel. The photovoltaic panel will move and extract the sunshine where the maximum sun energy can be obtained. The ladder diagram for the SASTS is constructed in the OMRON PLC CX-Programming software. Finally, the testing process for the developed SASTS hardware also has been performed to ensure the SASTS is able to move and track the direction of the sun smoothly. The testing process verify that the developed SASTS hardware can move according to the programmed ladder diagram and the PV panel is able to extract the sun intensity which can maximize the power at the output regardless the actuator speed.