A microcontroller based automatic sun tracker combined with a new solar energy conversion unit

A microcontroller based automatic sun tracker combined with a new solar energy conversion unit is designed and implemented. The automatic sun tracker is implemented with a DC motor and a DC motor controller. The solar energy conversion unit consists of an array of solar panels, a step-up chopper, a single-phase inverter, an AC mains power source and a microcontroller based control unit. The novelty of this unit is that the switching device of the chopper is not only used for power conversion but also for maximum power point (MPP) detection. In the existing MPP trackers, the MPP is detected by hardware. The parameters of the hardware subject to the changes of the environmental conditions. In the new unit the MPP is determined by simple embedded software with a current sweep approach. With this new approach, the modularization of the conversion from solar power to electric power at its maximum power point can be made more compact and more reliable.