Research on an intelligent solar tracking system based on LPC2131

Solar energy is becoming more and more attractive as the shortage of conventional energy and the continuous deterioration of the earth climate. This article describes the implementation of an intelligent solar tracking system based on embedded microcontroller LPC2131. It can improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the solar cell array by tracking the movement of the sun through 2-axis stepping motors´ rotation. In order to achieve this goal, a new calculation method for sun position is introduced briefly comparing with two conventional solar tracking methods. Then, the hardware structure of the intelligent solar tracking system based on Philips LPC2131 microcontroller is proposed and implemented in detail. Fuzzy control strategy is applied to the control mechanism to ensure its adjustability and fast response time. Furthermore, the software code for stepping motor is present. This solar tracking system increases the efficiency of solar panels with high accuracy and flexibility.