Data and Conclusions

These curves represent the power produced by each solar panel fixture in watts for each time throughout the day. These curves help show how the power produced from fixed position solar panels compares to the power produced from SolarNAV at each time of day. The graph shows that the power production rate of SolarNAV is more constant throughout the day than the solar panel fixed south or southeast which represents the effectiveness of a moving rather than fixed solar panel.

This graph shows how the daily energy production of each solar panel fixture would theoretically compare if a 250 watt rather than 5 watt solar panel was used. The net energy production of SolarNAV becomes closer to its gross energy production because the energy consumed to power the system becomes a smaller proportion of the energy generated by the system. Since SolarNAV is in a resting state most of the day and only takes 3 seconds to move, the average energy consumed throughout the day remains relatively constant, so this graph shows the estimations for energy production if the same energy was consumed daily from the 250W panel as the 5W panel.

5 Watt Solar Panel Conclusions

During January in Colorado with a 5W solar panel, the SolarNAV system outproduced a fixed solar panel facing southeast in terms of net energy production and gross energy production. The SolarNAV system only outproduced a fixed solar panel facing south in terms of gross energy production. SolarNAV outproduced the solar panel facing south in the morning when the sun was further east and at the end of the day when the sun was further west. SolarNAV outproduced the solar panel facing southeast in the afternoon when the sun was further south and west. These results represent how SolarNAV is most effective when the sun is in a position opposite to the common direction of fixed position solar panels.

250 Watt Solar Panel Estimations

Estimations from testing during January in Colorado show that using a 250W panel would result in the SolarNAV system outproducing fixed panels in any direction. This is because the amount of power consumed by SolarNAV becomes a smaller proportion of the total amount of energy produced by SolarNAV. Regardless of the solar panel used, the system uses the same amount of resting energy for various microcontroller functions like timing and reading sensors. The energy used to move the solar panel would increase; however, the system is only consuming a greater amount of power for three seconds to move the panel, then it spends an hour in its resting state, consuming a constant amount of energy regardless of the size of solar panel. Therefore, estimations show that SolarNAV is most efficient when a higher watt solar panel is used.

Limitations

SolarNAV was tested in January in Colorado where the sun stays towards the south for the majority of the day due to the high latitude. This sun pattern works towards the favor of fixed solar panels facing south since the sun stays in a relatively similar position throughout the day. In sub-Saharan Africa near to the equator, the sun goes from one extreme side of the sky to the other in the course of a day. At the equator, the sun rises far to the east and sets far to the west, which means that the sun travels through a greater angle in the sky. Fixed solar panels would thus be more disadvantaged near the equator since they will be facing the opposite direction of the sun for part of the day. Therefore, SolarNAV would become more effective towards the equator in sub-Saharan Africa since the sun has a greater displacement throughout the day, meaning that a solar panel would have to move in order to face the sun throughout all hours of the day.