Thermographic Image Processing Application in Solar Followers

Today, humanity is looking for alternative sources for power generation. Among sources of renewable energy, one that is gaining plenty of space in the market is the photovoltaic solar energy. With the aim of maximize the production of electricity in photovoltaic panels, this paper proposes a method for use in solar trackers. The solar trackers have a larger collection of solar radiation, compared to the static photovoltaic panels having better energy efficiency. This method is based on digital processing thermographic images, to perform the sun detection and indication of the same position. The thermographic images were very important because the sun differentiated from other objects in space. From tests carried out with digital processing of the thermographic images, the method showed a hit rate of 96% for detecting the sun. Demonstrating so that the method is efficient and can be used in solar trackers.