Smart Tracking to Increase the Efficiency of the Middlebury College Solar Farm

Active tracking of the Sun is used in many photovoltaic arrays to increase power output. This project investigates the efficiency of a "smart tracking" method in directing dual-axis arrays like those at the Middlebury College... [ view full abstract ]

Active tracking of the Sun is used in many photovoltaic arrays to increase power output. This project investigates the efficiency of a "smart tracking" method in directing dual-axis arrays like those at the Middlebury College solar farm. Using solar irradiance as a proxy for power, I compare the effectiveness of a novel method of solar tracking introduced by Misha Gerschel versus the current GPS-based method. The irradiance data for eight days have shown that the smart tracking method resulted in a 12% gain in incident irradiance over the current method. For a system like the Middlebury College solar farm, this would produce 14.7 kWh extra over a seven hour daylight period in November.