VHDL based automated solar panel intensity controller

Harvesting solar energy with electronic based technology is the new trend. This project deals with a micro- controller based solar panel tracking system. Solar tracking enables more energy to be generated because the solar panel is always able to maintain a perpendicular profile to the sun’s rays. Development of solar panel tracking systems has been ongoing for several years now. As the sun moves across the sky during the day it is advantageous to have the solar panels track the location of the sun such that the panels are always perpendicular to the solar energy radiated by the sun. This will tend to maximize the amount of power absorbed by PV systems. It has been estimated that the use of a tracking system over a fixed system can increase the power output by 30% - 60%. This solar tracking system is the project that uses a VHDL based CPLD board programming to control the whole system.