Design of Solar Tracking System for Solar Panel Using Microcontroller Based on Internet of Things

Abstract

PLTS is an environmentally friendly technology because it produces less pollution than fossil fuel electricity. Indonesia has a tropical climate where the amount of sunlight is very high, so sunlight can be an alternative source of electrical energy using solar panels, but most PLTS do not have a sunlight tracking system and are not integrated with the internet, causing the absorption of sunlight to be less than optimal. Therefore, in this research, a tool has been designed that can track or follow the direction of the sun's movement in order to produce alternative electrical energy and connect to the internet. The solar tracking system designed uses a servo motor to drive the solar panel so that its position is always perpendicular to the direction of sunlight, an ESP32 microcontroller is used as the main component in this research, and the battery used in this research uses a 12v 7a battery, and a Solar Charger Controller as a controller for the power entering from the solar panel to the battery so that it remains in the same direction. The research methodology used for this final assignment consists of three stages. The first stage is to conduct a literature review by analyzing college books, libraries and internet media related to this research. The second step is to carry out laboratory studies where testing of the various components used in this design is carried out. The discussion approach is the final stage, where questions about this final project are asked to colleagues and discussions with the supervisor are carried out. Based on the results of tests carried out on the tool that has been designed, the tool can move following the movement of the sun and can absorb sunlight energy more optimally. compared to fixed solar panels with a percentage of 38.03542% which is more optimal.