IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i1p217-d1561164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Hybrid Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System: Combining Light-Sensing and Time-Based GPS for Optimal Energy Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Hammas

    (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X5, Canada)

  • Hassen Fituri

    (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X5, Canada)

  • Ali Shour

    (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X5, Canada)

  • Ashraf Ali Khan

    (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X5, Canada)

  • Usman Ali Khan

    (School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea)

  • Shehab Ahmed

    (CEMSE Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Fixed solar panels face significant energy loss as they cannot consistently capture optimal sunlight. Because of that, the overall efficiency of the PV panel will be reduced, and the installation requires larger land space to generate appropriate power; this stems from the use of a dual-axis solar tracking system, which can significantly increase overall energy production. The system is based on the combination of two approaches to precisely track the sunlight: first, using multiple LDRs (light-dependent resistors) as photo sensors to track the position of the sun by balancing the resistivity using a proportional integral deprival (PID) controller, and the second approach using the time-based control for cloudy days when sunlight is diffused, getting the time GPS coordinates and time to calculate the accurate position of the sun by determining the azimuth and altitude angle. This dual system significantly improves energy production by 33.23% compared to fixed systems and eliminates errors during shaded conditions while reducing unnecessary energy use from continuous GPS activation. The prototype uses two linear actuators for both angles and a 100-watt solar panel mounted on the dual-axis platform.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Hammas & Hassen Fituri & Ali Shour & Ashraf Ali Khan & Usman Ali Khan & Shehab Ahmed, 2025. "A Hybrid Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System: Combining Light-Sensing and Time-Based GPS for Optimal Energy Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:1:p:217-:d:1561164
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/217/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/217/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    dualaxis; GPS; IoT; latitude; LDR; PV; PID;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:1:p:217-:d:1561164. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.