A Sliding Mode Control for a Sensorless Tracker: Application on a Photovoltaic System

TL;DR

This paper presents a sensorless dual-axis photovoltaic sun tracker using sliding mode control and observer techniques, significantly enhancing energy output without relying on velocity sensors.

Contribution

It introduces a sensorless control method for a 2-DOF sun tracker using sliding mode control and observer, improving robustness and energy efficiency.

Findings

Power production increased by over 40%.

Effective sensorless tracking achieved with sliding mode techniques.

Robustness against measurement disturbances demonstrated.

Abstract

The photovoltaic sun tracker allows us to increase the energy production. The sun tracker considered in this study has two degrees of freedom (2-DOF) and especially specified by the lack of sensors. In this way, the tracker will have as a set point the sun position at every second during the day for a period of five years. After sunset, the tracker goes back to the initial position (which of sunrise). The sliding mode control (SMC) will be applied to ensure at best the tracking mechanism and, in another hand, the sliding mode observer will replace the velocity sensor which suffers from a lot of measurement disturbances. Experimental measurements show that this autonomic dual axis Sun Tracker increases the power production by over 40%.