Internet of Things: Solar array tracker
Kyle J. Williams, Amer Qouneh · 2017
Due to economies of scale and advancement in silicon technologies, powerful computing platforms are ushering a new era in computing and connectivity. These platforms are sometimes categorized under the umbrella of Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, one such platform is used to design and build an Internet of Things solar tracker. The solar tracker predicts the sun position for maximum power output, controls servos that move the cell, monitors the output of the solar cell, collects and processes raw data to infer information that can be sent to a remote station for further analysis. Similar solar trackers can be installed at solar farms to help in energy harvesting and management over a large geographical area. Solar trackers send processed information to a centralized location where further analysis provides energy utility companies with fine-grained energy harvesting and management capabilities; thus improving overall efficiency of energy generation and consumption.