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Abstract
Fast development of renewable energy technology results in increasing demand for higher education. The National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM (TUES) program from May 2012 to April 2016 funds this project. The overall project goal is to increase the number of college graduates with renewable energy and power engineering knowledge and skills to create a sufficient workforce for the future. As part of the project objectives, researchers designed and developed a sun tracking solar power system as a teaching tool for the laboratory. This paper describes the design and simulation of a sun tracking solar power system for a MATIAB/Simulink platform. The simulation consists of four modules: solar tracking cells, signal conditioning circuits, controller, and motor. Detailed construction of the simulation for each module is described. The modules are then integrated into the system. The simulation provides an excellent platform for undergraduate engineering technology students to study the design and theory of a sun tracking solar power system. After the simulation, a team of senior design students and a graduate student built a prototype solar tracker. The simulation reduces the amount of time for tuning and testing and provides theoretical guidance for implementation. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to evaluate impact, solar tracker.
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1. Introduction
Global energy consumption is dramatically increasing due to higher standards of living and an increasing world population. The world has limited fossil and oil resources, and, as a consequence, the need for renewable energy sources is more urgent. Renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power have experienced rapid growth in the past decade. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that installations of photovoltaic (PV) power sources in the U.S. reached 6,200 MW in 2014. This was a 30% increase from the figures reported in 2013, and 12 times the amount installed five years earlier (SEIA 2014).
Solar energy conversion is one of the most addressed topics in the field of renewable energy. Solar radiation is usually converted into two forms of energy: thermal and electrical. Solar electricity has applications in many systems such as rural electricity, water pumping, and satellite communications.
The overall goal of this NSF project is to increase the number of college graduates with...