Solar Tracker for Autonomous Power Supplying of Electronic Systems Used in Precision Agriculture

In this paper is presented the design and the implementation of an enhanced positioning module intended to be used in the implementation of highly efficient solar energy based autonomous power supplying units for electronic systems operating in isolated locations. The targeted application of the system is in the agricultural domain, for powering the electronic equipments that are used in intensive fruit farming systems based on precision agriculture concept. The proposed double axis solar tracker allows an increase of up to 15% in the performances in comparison with a regular photovoltaic system based on fixed mounted panels. The solar tracker is realized using a set of stepper motors that are controlled by a computer through a series of drivers and latches. For an increased flexibility and reliability, the control algorithm for the solar tracker was realized in LabVIEW graphical programming environment.