Comparative analysis of dual and single axis solar tracking system considering cloud cover

Abstract

The objective of this work is to carry out a comparative performance analysis of three types of solar tracking systems, fixed, single and dual axis, in the context of Bangladesh in order to determine their suitability and cost-effectiveness for different applications. Total incident solar energy on the photovoltaic panel of same size for the three different systems has been determined for the twelve months, first without and then with considering the effect of cloud cover. The findings show that there is no significant difference in energy yield between single axis and dual axis tracker. The percent difference in total incident energy in one whole year between the single and dual axis tracker systems is found to be about 3.96% without considering the effect of cloud which further reduces to 3.44% when the effect of cloud cover is taken into consideration.