Modelling and Simulation of a Hydraulically Operated Solar Tracker

The work deals with the design of the hydraulically operated solar tracker used for a photovoltaic (PV) platform. The tracking mechanism is a dual-axis, azimuthal type, the primary axis, that of the daily/diurnal movement, being positioned vertically, which provides a high stability of the entire structure. The actuation in both movement subsystems (daily and elevation) is achieved by using linear actuators, in the subsystem for the daily movement a stroke amplification mechanism being interspersed between the actuator and the rotating part of the support pillar, which constitutes an element of novelty/originality regarding the mechanical device of the solar tracker. The sun tracking is conducted by an open-loop control strategy, based on a predefined step-by-step algorithm, which was designed so that to capture as much as possible incident solar radiation with a minimum energy consumption for achieving the orientation. The modeling and simulation of the solar tracker is carried out in mechatronic concept, by using the virtual prototyping solutions ADAMS (for the mechanical device model) and EASY5 (for the control system model) of MSC Software.