• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.664-671
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• 2018

Generally, conventional solar tracking systems employ irradiance sensors to track a sun position, which enables the system to generate maximum solar energy. The usage of irradiance sensors increases system costs and deteriorates the performance of systems from sensor malfunctions. In this paper, a new solar tracking system without irradiance sensors has been proposed in which the controller capable of controlling and monitoring remotely is based on Artik platform. The proposed system tracks the sun position by comparing the amount of currents from several solar panels, resulting in removing irradiance sensors. In order to verify the performance of the proposed solar tracking method, the 12[V]-20[W] prototype system is built and implemented. Since the proposed system has remote monitoring functions through the employment of Artik as the IoT platform, more advantages in installation, maintenance and expanded functionality can be obtained compared to the conventional solar tracking system.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1187-1195
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• 2013

Photovoltaic inverters should always track the maximum power of solar cell arrays in operation. Also, they should be irrespective of the maximum power point voltage of a wide range of solar cells in tracking the maximum power point. If the current ripple of solar cells occurs, the function of maximum power point tracking drops, and normal tracking is difficult when solar radiation or the maximum power point changes. To solve this problem, this paper proposed a new maximum power point tracking algorithm with high efficiency and an algorithm to reduce the current ripple of solar cells. According to the results from the test on 4KW grid-connected PV inverter, the efficiency of maximum power point tracking and inverter output and the total harmonic distortion of inverter output current showed 99.97%, 97.5% and 1.05% respectively. So, the inverter showed excellent performance, and made possible stable maximum power point tracking operation when the solar radiation rapidly changed from 100% to 10% and from 10% to 100% for 0.5 seconds.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.10
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• pp.1823-1831
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• 2010

This paper proposes an automatic tracking control algorithm for efficiency improvement of photovoltaic generation. Increasing the power of PV systems should improve the efficiency of solar cells or the power condition system. The normal alignment of the PV module always have to run perpendicular to the sun's rays. The solar tracking system, able to improve the efficiency of the PV system, was initiated by applying that to the PV power plant. The tracking system of conventional PV power plant has been studied with regard to the tracking accuracy of the solar cells. Power generation efficiency were increased by aligning the cells for maximum exposure to the sun's rays. Using a perpendicular position facilitated optimum condition. However, there is a problem about the reliability of tracking systems unable to not track the sun correctly during environmental variations. Therefore, a novel control algorithm needs to improve the generation efficiency of the PV systems and reduce the loss of generation. This control algorithm is the proposed automatic tracking algorithm in this paper. Automatic tracking control is combined the sensor and program method for robust control in environment changing condition. This tracking system includes the insolation, rain sensor and anemometer for climate environment changing. Proposed algorithm in this paper, is compared to performance of conventional tracking control algorithm in variative insolation condition. And prove the validity of proposed algorithm through the experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 2010

This paper describes the design and implementation of hybrid sun tracking solar power generation system designed by combining astronomical data with optical tracking mechanism. The advantages of proposed power generation system are small amounts of calculation for tracking operations and enhancement of 40% of power generation at best. This system is able to track toward optimal position for maximum sun-lights under scattered lights due to clouds. The performance of implemented power generation system is confirmed by field experiments.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.408-408
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• 2000

A parabolic dish concentrator used in a high temperature application of solar energy tracks the sun's movement by two axis sun tracking system. In such a system, sun tracking performance affects the system efficiency directly. Generally the higher the tracking accuracy is, the better the system performance is. A large number of parabolic dish type concentrators has been developed and implemented in the world. However none of them clearly provided a qualitative method of how the accuracy of the sun tracking system can be evaluated. The work presented here is the evaluation of sun tracking performance of parabolic dish concentrator, which follows the sun's movement by the sensor, using computer vision system. We install a camera on the parabolic dish concentrator. While the concentrator follows the sun, sun's images are captured continuously. Then the performance of sun tracking system was evaluated by analyzing the variation of the position of the sun in the images.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.929-938
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• 2015

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and battery charging control are two important functions for a solar battery charger. The former improves utilization of the available solar energy, while the latter ensures a prolonged battery life. Nevertheless, complete implementation of both functions can be complex and costly, especially for low voltage application such as standalone street lamps. In this paper, the operation of a solar battery charger for standalone street light systems is investigated. Using only one voltage sensor, the solar charger is able to operate in both MPPT and constant voltage (CV) charging mode, hence providing high performance at a low cost. Using a lab prototype and a solar simulator, the operation of the charger system is demonstrated and its performance under varying irradiance is validated.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.17-24
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• 2015

The MPPT(Maximum Power Point Tracking) techniques are employed in photovoltaic (PV) systems to maximize the PV array output power which depends on solar irradiance and temperature. The dynamic MPPT performance under varying irradiance conditions affects the impact on overall PV system performance. This paper presents the improved MPPT algorithm by the simulation comparison with other algorithms. The simulation models are made by the Matlab & Simulink. The result of simulation, the dynamic MPPT efficiency of proposed algorithm is higher than the other algorithms.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.6-11
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• 2010

Amount of power generated from solar photovoltaic can vary according to solar flux of sunlight due to nature of solar cell panel, and an angle that the sun and the surface of cell makes brings difference in amount of power generation. Solar flux is decided by location of surface of the Earth that is classified into longitude and latitude, but on the other hand, an angle that the sung and the surface of cell makes can be changed by changing the angle of a solar power generation device at the fixed location. A method of changing the angle of a solar power generation device as a measure for improving practical power generation efficiency. and studies about a solar tracking device for this are in active. This study conducted a research on a solar tracking system for improvement of solar power generation efficiency. A solar tracking system of this study is composed of a sensor part to confirm a location of the sun with a semiconductor photosensor using the photo conductive effect, and it analyzed output signal of a sensor by using microprocessor and it produced a control signal of driving part for tracking the sun. A solar power generator (25W) was produced to analyze performance of a solar tracking system and usefulness of a solar tracking device that was designed and produced in this study was confirmed through experiments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.1023-1025
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• 2012

Solar energy is rapidly gaining notoriety as an important means of expanding renewable energy resources. As such, it is vital that those in engineering fields understand the technologies associated with this area. My project will include the design and construction of a microcontroller-based solar panel tracking system. Solar tracking allows more energy to be produced because the solar array is able to remain aligned to the sun. This system builds upon topics learned in this course. Performance and usefulness of a solar tracking device that was designed and produced in this study was confirmed through experiments.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.392-402
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• 2020

This paper proposes a solar tracking system without photo-sensors. The system can be classified into four modules: Solar Tracking, MPPT, ESS, and Real-Time Monitoring. Nine solar panels, as a basic unit, are adopted with grid structures of different heights to reduce wind influence and to enable solar tracking without photo-sensors. The low-cost MCU implements MPPT method which generates PWM switching signal for boost converter. The unit of ESS consists of three-series and four-parallel lithium-ion batteries in order to enable monitoring for abnormalities in temperature and electrical characteristics of battery. Four MCUs used in the system consists of two AVR Atmega128, and two Raspberry PI, and they exchanges operation informations. Experimental results of the proposed system show the solar tracking performance, the possibility of on-site and remote monitoring and the convenience of maintenance based on IoT technology.