Metrological Analysis of Sunflower Prototype

Hermes Jose Loschi, Yuzo Iano, Rosivaldo Ferrarezi, Neusa Rocha Ferrarezi, Fabrizzio Daibert Conte

Department of Communications, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.

DOI: 10.4236/sgre.2015.63004                

Abstract

It is well known that the solar tracking systems can increase the efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) panel by about 30 percent. However, these systems require precise control of their components, mainly of the equipment’s used for the measurement of energy. In this paper, a metrology analysis is conducted, through of the results obtained by Sunflower prototype. The Sunflower is a solar tracking system developed by H. J. Loschi. A tracking system through a microcontrolled timing logic, sending commands to a linear actuator that moves the system. The deductions, based on in research trials, confirms that the Sunflower prototype is more efficient in relation to fixed PV panels, it is possible to observe the difference in the efficiency of 31%, with a variation of ±0.8% (that depends the solar irradiation). The main purpose of this paper is to attest to the quality of the measurements carried out during the performance tests of the Sunflower prototype, evaluating the uncertainty of measurements collected through the measurements equipment, and, introducing methods to minimize uncertainties of measurement equipment in the PV systems.

Keywords

Photovoltaic-PV, Tracking, Metrological, Sunflower, Prototype

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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