Implementation of the Movable Photovoltaic Array to Increase Output Power of the Solar Cells

Photovoltaic converters are important converters for the application of renewable energy sources because of the direct conversion of solar energy to electric energy. They have some advantages such as low weight and feasibility of small scales, but they are more expensive compared to other types of energy converters. Therefore, it is important to absorb the maximum solar energy in order to increase the efficiency of the energy converter. Because of the daytime motion of the sun, sunlight always radiates indirectly on solar arrays and some part of the light is reflected from the surface of the solar cells where incomplete absorption of the solar energy occurs. Using the movable solar array or solar tracker is one method to increase the output electric energy of photovoltaic converters. This can be done in such a way that the photovoltaic arrays follow the sun continuously in daytime and sunlight can be radiated to solar cells directly where maximum electric energy can be generated. This paper discusses the implementation of the movable array in photovoltaic converter and its effect on increasing the output power characteristics compared to the fixed array with the same nominal power. Finally the test results are shown and discussed in the paper.