Publications

Abstract : With the increasing number of remotely accessible laboratories, technical education is reaching student communities in more versatile and flexile ways. This work describes the design and implementation of a remotely operable, single-axis photovoltaic tracking system with two degree resolution through an online, real-time, Virtual Laboratories environment. The tracking system is shown to accurately calculate the sun's position and orient the attached photovoltaic (PV) module to face the sun either directly or at an angle of incidence selected by the user. The laboratory experiment covers topics such as the efficiency of the PV panel, the angle of incidence and how these specific variables contribute to the power extracted from the panel. In particular, the remote experiment teaches how to calculate cosine losses, which are of fundamental importance to the efficient and cost effective implementation of solar installations, and the calculation of the variation in power production as a function of the angle of incidence. The graphical user interface (GUI) allows users to experimentally determine the angle at which the maximum power is generated. The novelty of this work includes teaching power extraction from renewable, solar photovoltaic energy sources without confining the students or instrumentation to classroom walls or physical laboratories.