Optimization of Solar System for Rural Electrification in as Suwadirah (Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Rural electrification is essential as most villages worldwide are faced with the challenge of a lack of electricity. These villages use other sources of energy, such as petroleum and coal, which are fossil fuels. These fossil fuels lead to a lot of CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. Environmentalists and governments have thus encouraged households to use renewable energy since it leads to less pollution and emissions, thus reducing global warming effects. In rural regions, solar energy has been marketed as a reliable source of power. In this paper, we proposed solar tracking devices that use microcontrollers, LDRs, and stepper motors effectively capture power maximally from sunlight. This leads to 35% in power generated annually compared to a fixed solar panel. For the sake of the charging battery, maximum power point tracking is also used to maintain a consistent voltage. An online simulator is used to simulate the dual-axis solar tracker, but the simulator lacks a plug adapter which necessitated the need to move to Arduino. This was required to power the motor through the adapter and connect 100 µf capacitors to protect the stepper motor driver from spikes.