A VERSATILE MICROPROCESSOR BASED CONTROLLER FOR SOLAR TRACKING

Ashok Kumar Saxena and V.Dutta

Photovoltaic Laboratory ,Centre for Energy Studies

Indian Institute of Technology , New Delhi (INDIA)

ABSTRACT

such a versatile solar tracking

A microprocessor based
Cracking controller i s designed
solar
and
controller based on 8085 .
fabricated .
In addition to tracking ,
he controller i s capable acquiring Design o f Tracking Controller
photovoltaic and metereological data
rrom a photovoltaic system and P V systems have found main application
controlling battery / load .
These a s decentralized power generation system
features are extremely useful
autonomous PV system installed in remote
in for remote area such a s Leh Keeping .
this in mind , the controller has been
areas for system control and monitoring. designed with following criteria:
Solar tracking can be achieved in closed
loop and open loop modes and the 1. It should be totallv automatic and
controller can provide eixther 6 PWM
signals for 3 phase, 50 Hz ac motor or 4
simple to operate he .
operator
step signals for a stepper motor .
The
interference should be minimal and
restricted to only when i t i s actually
controller has been tested using PV
system in our laboratory.
required .
The design should be flexib e to operate
different types of tracking system.
INTRODUCTION
For this we have provided 6 PWM
Solar tracking i s essential for many signals for 3 phase , 5 0 Hz ac motors or 4
solar energy based power generation step signals for stepper motors. The
systems for improved system performance program for signal generation i s stored
( 1 ) . The change in sun position i s in an EPROM which can be changed to suit
monitored and the convertor is the tracker requirement. The software i s
maintained normal to the incident designed in a modular fashion for ease in
radiation for optimum performance.
‘Tracking is essential for concentrator
modifications .
We have also implemented
both open loop and closed loop strategies
systems. However, even in flat-plate P V
system, consisting of C.E.L modules, a n
for tracking .
increase in power output by 30-60% 3.It should have facility for control of
(depending on the location) has been
observed by tracking a s compared to fix
batteries /load .
The state of charge o f
batteries and load requirement should be
tilt (2). The increase i s significant checked to prevent any excessive charging
enough to make tracking a
preposition inspite of the enhancement
viable 1 discharging of batteries .
i n system cost (3). The state of change of batteries i s
sensed through the voltage of the
I t i s possible to align the tracking battery bank ( configured for 2 4 V , 4 8 V dc
heliostat using electronic control by a applications ) .
The software senses the
computer
d cd i c a t e d
or a controller(4,5).
microprocessor
A
based
voltage signals during the day If .
batteries get overcharged, a n OVS signal
controller has immense importance for P V is generated to cutoff the battery
systems upto few KWs . Larger systems do charging .On the other hand, if
require elaborate computer based control batteries are undercharged ( below depth
system. Such a dedicated controller of discharge ) , a UVS signal is
should have in addition to tracking
built in capability for system control /
generated to cuttoff the load In .
addition to this ,load management can
monitoring . In this paper we describe

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0160-8371/90/0000-1105 0 $1.00 1990 IEEE

also be provided. RAM during the day. At dayend ,the
data from RAM can be transferred to the
4. A system monitoring facility should cassette recorder.The Data thus collected
be included in the design . can be processed at a central location .
This obviates the need of providing
The PV parameters (Isc,Voc,Pm etc.) expensive computer facility at remote
and matereological parameters need to be locations.
studied to evaluate the PV system
performance in field condition . Such a design i s effected using different
Therefore ,the controller should have a card for each feature. Fig.1 shows the
Data acquisition / storage facility In . block diagram of the tracking controller.
order to keep the design simple we have It consist of:
utilized voltage to frequency conversion
for data acquisition .
Though this i s a (i) Converter Card - which provides +5V
slower process ,it does not severly and -5V signals using DC-to-DC converter
affect the data acquisition since most from a 4 8 volt input.
o f the parameters are slowly varying.
(ii) Microprocessor card- It contains
The VFC signals can be easily acquired 8085 CPU,two 8255 ( #1 and #2 )
by the processor .The signals can be Programmable Peripheral Interfaces ,2716
provided directly to a cassette player ( or 2 7 3 2 ) EPROM for program storage and
for simultaneous recording (6) . 6 1 1 6 RAM for data storage . The ports in
Otherwise , these can be stored in the 8255. #1 are used exclusively for

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LOAD
LOAD CONTROL
0
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BATTERY BANK ---I

- -
CONTROL CARD

F I G . l BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE TRACKING CONTROLLER SHOWING DIFFERENT

CARDS AND SIGNALS USED.

1106
t r a c k i n g and t h e o t h e r p o r t s i n 8255. #2 VFC s i g n a l i s s e r i a l l y i n p u t o n S I D p i n
are used for Data a c q u i s i t i o n and and t h e number o f s t e p s a r e c o u n t e d . A
control. Additional chips can be used timer provides timing pulses of 4 sec
for display etc. interval which t h e n i n c r e m e n t s a 4 bit
binary counter at each pulse . The 4 b i t s
(iii) Driver c a r d - T h e PWM o r step of t h e counter provide address l i n e s f o r
si.gnals from t h e microprocessor card are a d e m u l t i p l e x e r t o s e l e c t o n e of t h e 16
connected to the driver stages ( channel outputs . Since demultiplexer
consisting of BDX 6 2 a n d BDX 63 cannot provide current required to
Lransistors i n complementary push-pull actuate r e l a y s , a bus d r i v e r is used .
configuration ) through a b u f f e r . Using T h e Data are a c q u i r e d i n one minute (
t r i - s t a t e b u f f e r s ( 74 LS 3 6 7 ) , w e c a n time r e q u i r e d t o s c a n a l l t h e c h a n n e l s )
connect t h e s e s i g n a l s t o e i t h e r of the every 10 m i n u t e s. A t dayend the data
driver s t a g e s by providing a gate a r e t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e c a s s e t t e p l a y e r by
signal. p r o v i d i n g S T a r t R e c o r d i n g ( STR ) signal
t o s t a r t t h e c a s s e t t e a n d SOD s i g n a l f o r
( i v ) Data a c q u i s i t i o n c a r d - I t c o n s i s t s Data .
of a Voltage t o Frequency Converter t o
which the s i g n a l s are provided for a ( v ) C o n t r o l Card - The s t a t e of c h a r g e o f
fixed i n t e r v a l of time . Different batteries i s d e t e c t e d by measuring the
voltages signal are sequentially voltage . I f t h e v o l t a g e i s below 1 0 V (
selected by a r e l a y s e l e c t o r which is for a 12 v o l t battery ), a Schmitt
started by a S T a r t Data acquisition t r i g g e r i s a c t u a t e d t o g i v e a HIGH on
(STD) s i g n a l f r o m t h e p r o c e s s o r (7).The UVS. I f t h e v o l t a g e i s a b o v e 1 3 . 2 v o l t ,

PORT #2, C :
(BIOPEN LOOP
OBOOH

ovs uvs x X STR STD LOAD BATT DATAQ

0700H

CONTROL
0600H
GAL GAZ X X ST4 ST3 ST2 STI
DLYWRD

0 100H
CIPLDOP
STPGEN
MN4 MN3 MN2 MNI T4 T3 T2 TI
INIT
OOOOH
[A) CLOSED LOOP
OBOOH
DATAQ
VERT HORZ DAY
END HOME X X X X
0700H

CONTROL
0600H
GAL GAZ X X ST4 ST3 ST2 STI

OIOOH
INSIG
STPGEN
WIND X MANL X ALTR ALTF AZR AZF INIT
OOOOH
F I G . 2 B I T ASSIGNMENT I N DIFFERENT PORTS F I G . 3 MEMORY MAP SHOWING DIFFERENT
I N 8255. #I AND U2 . MODULES I N THE SOFTWARE

1107
a HIGH i s given on OVS .
The two signals
a r e indicated from the battery bank in
fig. 1. Then LOAD or BATT signal from
the processor are used by the control
card to actuate relays to cutoff the
load or input P V power ,respectively.
If the loads ( for example
Tubelights a t different places ) are to
b e switched off at different times ,
additional signal can be provided to the
control card .
Each time a signal i s
received , the controller card can
switch on / off a relay to connect or
disconnect the load.
(vi) Sensor card - The detail circuitry
o f the sensor card i s given in ( 4 ) . I n
closed loop mode the sensor card i s
given 6 signals ( WIND, CLOUD, ALTITUDE
REVERSE , ALTITUDE FORWARD , AZIMUTH
REVERSE, AZIMUTH FORWARD ) from
detectors mounted on the tracker for
AUTO motion . MANUAL motion i s done
using front panel switches .
In open
loop mode , the sensor card is
eliminated , since the tracker is
brought to a precalculated position
depending on the month and time of the
day . The signals from front-panel
switches are directly connected to the
microprocessor card.
Design o f controller software
The details of controller
software for ac motors in closed loop
mode has been given earlier ( 4 ) .
Here
we will describe the software for
stepper motors for both closed loop and
open loop modes.
The Port A , B , C in 8255. # 1 are
used by the controller for monitoring
the tracking system. Port A and Port C (
upper nibble ) are initialized as Input
and Port B and Port C (lower nibble )
are Output ports .
The error signals
from the tracking system for azimuth /
altitude motion are converted to T T L
signals by means of the sensor card
T h e interpretation for different bits
are indicated in fig.2.
I n closed loop mode these bits are
generated a s error signals from the
detector / manual switches .
However ,
i n open loop mode , these bits are
generated by the front panel switches
for manual operation only. The end
positions of the tracker in azimuth and
altitude directions are input on Port C
t o invoke different programs when any of
the bits goes HIGH. The stepper motors
require four steps signals ( 90' out of
phase ) . These are generated at Port B
to run the motors through driver cards .
The upper two bits ( GAL and G A Z ) are
used to provide the step signals to
either azimuth or altitude motor This .
way we can drive several trackers
simultaneously by adding more driver
cards in the controller .
Additional gate
signals can be provided o n Port C ( lower
nibble )
Port # 2 , B i s identical to Port # 1 , B
and can be used to drive additional
trackers .
I n fact by providing PWM
signals on one of the B Ports and step
signals in the other Port , w e can also
run trackers having different types of
motors .
Port #2, A and Port 2#, C are also
interpreted as input ports .
Port A i s
used in open loop mode to provide month (
M N ) and Time ( T ) signals in manual
motion. If tracker i s stopped ( for
maintenance , say ) and i s to be
restarted , MANL bit of Port # I , A i s set
HIGH . The software then acquires on Port
# 2 , A the starting month and time to
determine which of the DELAY WORDS i s to
be used .
Then the motion i s started
under AUTO mode by making MANL low . Port
# 2 , C i s used for Data acquisition
/control .The Over Voltage Signal (OVS)
and Under Voltage Signal (UVS) from the
battery bank are provided to detect the
state of charge of batteries .
If OVS i s
HIGH , BATT i s output to cutoff the PV
array from the battery bank On the .
other hand ,if UVS i s high ,LOAD is
output to cutoff the load to prevent
draining of the batteries .
A STart Data
acquisition bit i s provided to the data
acquisition card to start the timer The .
VFC signal i s input on SID pin and the
count number is stored in the RAM A .
STart Recording ( STR ) bit starts the
cassette recorder for data storage in the
end of the day .
The data stored in the
RAM i s serially output on SOD pin for
recording.
Fig.3. shows the memory map of the
. software consisting of different modules.
The entire software i s stored in 2K
EPROM. The program area can be increased
to 4K by changing a jumper in the
microprocessor card for 2732 INIT .
initilizes the ports and memory STPGEN .
i s used for step generation for running
the stepper motors .
The speed of the
motors can be changed by changing the
delay between the steps. I n closed loop
mode , INSIG i s used to acquire the
tracker status and then program for
azimuth forward/reverse or altitude
forvard/reverse motion is executed
accordingly .
I n open loop mode , OPLOOP
checks if the motion i s to be done in
1108
AUTO or MANL mode. REFERENCES

The precalculated azimuth and altitude 1. Tolbert ,R.E.I and Arnett, J.C ,
values for every 10 minutes o n a "Design and Installation and Performance
particular day for all months (8) are of ARC0 Solar Photovoltaic Plant", Proc.
stored in the memory .
This avoids the Seventeenth IEEE PV Specialist
complicated software for calculation of Conference, pp 1149-1152,1984.
actual position without drastically
affecting the tracker performance The . 2. Ashok Kumar Saxena and V.Dutta ,
tracker i s started from HOME position in "Performance study of solar cell modules
the morning .
It i s brought to the next a t Leh , Delhi and Jodhpur I t , Renewable
position by moving the tracker for a Energy for Rural Development Proc. 89,pp
fixed time .
The tracker waits at new 479-484 .
Tata Mc-Graw Hill ,New Delhi
position for an interval decided by 1985 .
corresponding DLYWRD .
While waiting at
the new position ,the data acquisition 3. J.C Joshi ,M.C.Bhatnagar ,A.K.Saxena
i s done and battery i s checked . and V.Dutta , I 1 Study of power generation
by P V tracking system" , Recent Trend in
Electrical Energy System (J.Nanda and D.P
DISCUSSION Kothari ,ed. ) c h 6 , pp 241 -246 Printice
Hall of India ,New Delhi 1988
The controller has several features
which makes it versatile for tracking V.Dutta and Ashok Kumar Saxena , A
4.
and system control/ monitoring "Microprocessor Based Two Axis Tracking
application .
The controller i s totally Controller ' I , Advances in S o l a r Energy
automatic and does not require any Technology, Vol 1. ( Edited by W.H Bloss
operator interferance unless needed. It and F.Pfisterer) ,Pergamon Press Oxford,
has been successfully tested using 1987 .
tracking PV system at Leh and Jodhpur
i n closed loop mode. 5. P.Baltas , Marina Tortorelli and
P.E.Russe1, 'I Evaluation of power output
In closed loop mode , the tracker for fixed and step tracking of PV
starts from the HOME position at about 5 arrays", Solar Energy vo1.37, p p 147-154,
a.m and moves it under CLOUD motion till 1986.
the sun is out .
Thereafter the tracker
i s moved to follow the sun throughout 6 .
Ashok Kumar Saxena and V.Dutta ,I1

the day in both azimuth and altitude Data Acquisition for Photovoltaic System"
directions .
I n the evening , the DAYEND Proc.NACONECS -89, Nov 2-4 ,1989,
switch is pressed which stops further Roorkee, Tata Mc-Graw Hill , New Delhi.
forward motion .
The tracker i s slowly
brought back to HOME position in the 7. V.Dutta and Ashok Kumar Saxena , I 1 A
night . In Leh , since the night Multichannel Data Recording System for P V
temperature i s extremly low , the Modules",National Solar Energy convention
Lracker i s moved back to HOME position 1-3 Dec. 1989, Udiapur.
b y a continuous reverse motion and i t
then "sleeps" at this position till the 8. R.Walraven, 'I Calculating the Position
motion i s started in the morning . of the Sun , Solar Energy 2 0 , 393-397,
1978.
In open loop mode , the motion i s
done a s described before .
Since the 9. Ashok Kumar Saxena and V.Dutta 'I
variation in sun position on the days Modified Open Loop Controlled Tracking
oLher than the preselected day of the Photovoltaic System (to be communicated).
month is within 10' ( 9 ) , the output
power from the PV system is not
drastically affected .
Using a maximum
power point tracker in Delhi, the data
for the photovoltaic parameters and
matereological parameters are acquired
every 10 minutes. The data are
transferred to an audio cassette at the
cnd of the day .

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