TITLE:
Intelligent Solar Tracker Designed to Optimize Photovoltaic Yield in Burundi
AUTHORS:
Icoyitungiye Olivier, Bukuru Denis, Pritpal Singh, Niyonzima Jean Bosco, Ntawuhorakomeye Noel
KEYWORDS:
Battery Management System, Solar Tracker, Solar Panel, Photovoltaic Yield, Control Algorithm
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.13 No.10,
October
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: This research project concerns the development of an intelligent solar tracker designed to optimize the yield of photovoltaic systems in Burundi, one of the countries in the equatorial region, characterized by high variability in solar irradiation due to clouds, humidity and limited seasonal variations. During the day, the earth rotates around the sun continuously. Most photovoltaic generator installations are fixed, thus losing a considerable amount of energy, which could be available because the solar rays are not always perpendicular to the fixed solar panel. The aim of this paper is to design an automatically controlled device, using position and irradiance sensors, combined with a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, to dynamically orientated the solar panels to capture the optimum amount of sunlight. Today’s solar tracking systems differ from designer to designer and in the technology used to ensure good performance, high accuracy and a reliable, low-cost system. The solar tracker orientation technique in our study is based on an active method using two light sensors with photo-resistors placed in a crisscross pattern, which receive solar radiation and thus generate photoelectric control signals to a servomotor in azimuth. The method also involves capturing the current time and date using a real time clock RTC 3231 to control the second servomotor in East to West. The electronic control board is an Arduino UNO microcontroller, and the system studied enables intelligent management of energy consumption to minimize the tracker’s self-consumption. The study includes modelling, mechanical design and programming using MATLAB 2020a, Proteus 8.13, Arduino IDE and SolidWorks 2023 software. The simulation results validate the experimental results. The energy gain of the single-axis solar tracker compared with the fixed solar panel varies between 29% and 41%. The energy gain of the dual-axis solar tracker compared with the fixed solar panel varies between 42% and 50%. The results show a significant improvement in photovoltaic electricity production, contributing to energy security and the energy transition in equatorial zones.