Mitsubishi UK D700 inverters controlled by FX3U PLCs are enabling solar panel tracking systems to optimize energy output from photovoltaic panels by positioning them to follow the sun’s path throughout the day.

The sun’s position in the sky varies both with installation location, the seasons, and the time of day. Tracking systems are being increasingly used as purchasers of solar systems understand that the cost of energy over the life of the panel is more important than the initial installed cost per watt.

Increasingly, the solar industry is using Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) to measure the efficiency of solar power plants.  LCoE considers all costs associated with a solar panel installation over its operating life, including initial installed cost, degradation in panel efficiency over time, and on-going maintenance and trouble-shooting. Compared with fixed-position installations, active solar tracking systems lower the LCoE of a solar panel installation improving their viability.

Active trackers use an electric motor to turn the panel, and a sensor or timer to give a reference for the direction. Using the trigonometric functions in the Mitsubishi FX3U PLC, such as its regular and inverse floating point sine, cosine and tangent as well as radian and degree conversion enable it to calculate complex math functions for calculating the solar azimuth and zenith angles

Electric motors are used to turn the panel, and a sensor to give a reference for the direction. Using the Mitsubishi D700 inverter to drive the solar tracker provides more accurate control and a soft-start function to the motor.  This results in smoother rotation and reduced mechanical wear.  Other benefits of using an inverter drive are lower maintenance costs and extended system life.

Active tracking can be used for: horizontal axis tracking; vertical axis tracking; polar tracking, and two axis mount tracking.

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