A Novel Multilevel Solar Panel System: Implementation and Verification

A prototype multilevel solar panel system with an automated solar tracker has been developed for its use in urban areas. The system consists of three solar panels stacked one above another at some fixed distance to minimize the floor area and shifted horizontally from one another to avoid the shading of the lower panels. Experimental results show that the developed system can harness about 23% more energy while occupying 33 % less floor area than that by the conventional fixed panel system of same size. The proposed system is easy to construct and implement, takes less floor space and will be effective for urban areas where not only electricity is in short supply, availability of roof top space to install solar panels is also very limited.