Photovoltaic (PV) devices are one of the most renewable energy sources in demand globally. To harvest the maximum possible energy output from PV panels, it is necessary to orient them in a position where the sunray can fall on them perpendicularly. In this paper, an autonomous dual-axis smart solar tracking system is designed and implemented for positioning PV panels in a way that would make them generate the highest achievable energy output automatically anywhere in the world. The designed tracking system is built based on a mathematical model which is integrated with a microcontroller (µC), a Global Positioning System (GPS), a digital compass, and a gyro orientation sensor. The designed system provides a smart solution to accurately track the sun at a minimum power budget to increase the overall efficiency of PV panels. The suggested model is implemented and tested using 50 W PV panels, and it is empirically tested in the Middle East region of Baghdad, IRAQ. For further evaluation, it is also tested using simulated tracking data collected from three different regions Berlin, Singapore, and Sydney. This was done by selecting a city above the Tropic of Cancer, a city below the Tropic of Capricorn, and a city within the tropical region near the Equator. The obtained results confirmed that the developed system can track the sun in any region around the world, optimizing power consumption by operating the tracker within specific intervals that enables mustering maximum possible power of PV panels while ensuring minimum power consumption by the tracking system. The developed tracking system expended a mere 0.62% to 0.68% of the energy gain made.

Designing digitally controller voltage regulation modules (VRM) for mobile computing devices requires careful selection of components, choosing of a proper circuit topology and finally adopting a control scheme that will produce response figures conforming to the requirements laid down by the target processor manufacturer. This process is complicated by several factors that lead to making tradeoffs between efficiency, voltage ripple and dynamic response. Passive and active components selection is made in conformity with the performance figures required by the target processor power requirements along with compatibility with the dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) scheme adapted by the processors under investigation. A Choice of a suitable intelligent control scheme must be made that would suffice the stability and dynamic response requirements of power supply specifications set by the design requirements of the target processor. This paper describes the design of Buck converter that has a fuzzy controller implemented using a RISC based microcontroller from Atmel Atmegaxx series along with a choice of hardware components that will ensure better efficiency while delivering good stability and a dynamic response that complies with the requirements of the target processor. System simulation was carried out using a model realized using Simulink\Matlab. Simulation results showed that the fuzzy controller has the capability of providing response characteristics that makes it comparable with PID controllers, more appropriate for implementation in an application requiring variable output voltage and more apt for implementation using microcontrollers. Keywords-Fuzzy Logic Control, VRM (Voltage Regulation Module), Buck Converter, Microcontrollers, DVS (Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling). I. I. INTRODUCTIONn mobile computing applications, minimizing the amount of energy expended by a given task or application has an important role in achieving longer operating times on a single charge of the equipment battery. Along with reducing power dissipation, additional benefits are gained due to requiring smaller heat sinks which results in the capability of reducing end equipment size. The dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVS) is a technique that is being increasingly applied in modern microprocessor designs. It enables tailoring processor power in accordance with the application requirements, and since different applications have different computational power requirements, it becomes possible to change processor performance in accordance with application requirements and thus it won't be necessary to operate the central processor in its full computational power mode but rather tailor its performance to the requirements of the application. This is accomplished by reducing processor clock frequency along with core voltage. The relationship below shows that dynamic power consumed by processor circuitries implemented in CMOS is in proportionality with several parameters [1]:where V dd is supply voltage, Ceff is the total capacitance ...

In this paper, an automated test setup for PV panels using LabVIEW and several microcontrollers (µCs) based embedded systems has been designed, tested, and implemented. This PV testing system has been characterized as fully automated and the only human intervention required is to install the PV panel and to set the required testing conditions. Several PV panels were evaluated and tested, the obtained results showed a high degree of accuracy and conformity with several testing schemes that have been carried out numerically, manually and manufacturer specifications. The designed system is characterized by a high-performance standard with accuracy, precision, and resolution (9 mV / 1.8 mA) that is good enough to test any PV panel of 12 V and 24 V rating. This system can test and calculate the maximum power point for any PV panel operating at any given working condition by applying different amounts of solar irradiance from 0 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2 to simulate the amount of solar irradiation at any time and everywhere on earth. This system also mimics the environment temperature by providing ambient temperature ranged from 0 °C to 50 °C to simulate the variation of weather around the year.

Photovoltaic (PV) devices are widely used renewable energy resources and have been increasingly manufactured by many firms and trademarks. This condition makes the selection of right product difficult and requires the development of a fast, accurate and easy setup that can be implemented to test available samples and select the cost effective, efficient, and reliable product for implementation. An automated test setup for PV panels using LabVIEW and several microcontroller-based embedded systems were designed, tested, and implemented. This PV testing system was fully automated, where the only human intervention required was the instalment of PV panel and set up of required testing conditions. The designed and implemented system was characterized by high performance standard with accuracy, precision, and resolution that is good enough to practically test any PV panel of the 12 V and 24 V ratings. In this paper, several simulations run and manually performed testing for PV panels were done to verify the automatically obtained results and those were found to be of good conformity (-3% difference with simulation results, 0.01% with manually taken results).