Board 107: Emergency Sun-Tracking Solar Generator

In recent years, due to the growing electricity demand in modern societies and unforeseen natural disasters and catastrophic events, the number of power interruptions and outages has increased. The proposed emergency sun-tracking solar generator is designed and developed to address such power failure issues. The components used in this project and their functionalities are listed as follows: (i) A photoresistor array measures the luminosity level of the sun; (ii) a microcontroller (Arduino UNO) acquires the luminosity level data, calculates the desired solar photovoltaic panel angles for maximum sunlight energy absorption, and sends commands to servo motors; (iii) two servo motors control the tilt and rotation angles of the solar photovoltaic panel to orient it in the direction of maximum sunlight energy; and (iv) a stand-alone solar photovoltaic system collects the sunlight energy and generates electrical power for the entire system and external power outlets to be used in emergency situations. This senior design project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and conducted by a group of undergraduate students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) program at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).