Sistem Monitoring dan Pengaturan pada Solar Tracker Berbasis Internet of Things

Abstract

Solar energy is one of the most potential renewable energy sources to address the global energy crisis. However, the efficiency of conventional solar panels installed statically is still relatively low due to the changing position of the sun throughout the day. This research aims to design and implement a monitoring and control system for an Internet of Things-based solar tracker that can improve solar panel efficiency through automatic sun position tracking and real-time monitoring. The research uses a research and development approach with stages including literature study, needs analysis, system design, hardware and software implementation, as well as testing and evaluation. The system consists of an ESP32 microcontroller, light dependent resistor sensors, DC motor actuators, PZEM sensors, and a blynk application for remote monitoring and control. Test results show that the solar tracker system successfully increased solar energy collection efficiency by 30,4% compared to static solar panels. In testing over 3 days, the solar panel with automatic tracker generated 162 Wh, and the solar panel with manual tracker generated 165,68 Wh, while the solar panel in static position generated 92,7 Wh for the same panel capacity (50Wp). The IoT system implementation successfully provided real-time monitoring with stable data communication. The remote controll feature allows users to change operating modes (automatic/manual) and adjust tracking parameters through a mobile application. The main contributions of this research include: implementation of an integrated IoT system for solar tracker monitoring and control, and validation of energy efficiency improvement through field testing.