Experimental Assessment of a Smart Sun Tracking System Consumption for the Improvement of a Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Module Performance under Variable Weather Conditions

Abstract

Sun tracking systems are often used to improve the performance of crystalline silicon photovoltaic plants. However, their power consumption still remains a challenge till date. In this paper, a low power consumption sun tracking system has been implemented for driving a crystalline silicon photovoltaic module under variable weather conditions. The experimental results showed that this sun follower consumes less than 1% of the increased energy. Taking into account the tracker consumption, the energy gain can attain up to 25% under the same weather conditions compared to a fixed photovoltaic system. In addition to that, results gotten from data-based simulations are coherent with experimental results.