Sun Tracking Solar Panels and Auto Watering of Farm Lands - Extended Work

Er. Faruk Bin Poyen, Dr.Apurba Ghosh, Dr.Palash Kund

Moisture sensor, solar panels, Ardiuno microcontroller, DC servo motor.

Appropriate methods are important when it comes to irrigation to ensure maximized yield from the field. Most often it is found that water is not managed scientifically in Indian working environment when it comes to farming leading to a huge wastage of this precious resource. Again sunlight which holds enormous potential cannot be properly utilized due to lack of technology and design. The design we have made presented in this work takes care of both these aspects. Firstly we framed a design where the solar panels will rotate about their axes positioning themselves in alignment with sunbeams so that the panels are exposed to more sunlight increasing manifold the power outputs. The second part of this model comprises a sensor network meant to measure the moisture level of soil employing gypsum as the sensor. The sensor network senses the moisture content, sends it to a controller where a decision is made about water requirement of the field. If found affirmative, it runs a motor. Now the enterprising part of this model is that both rotation of panels and running of motor will be driven by the power generated by the solar panels. Here it requires very efficient design requirements and rigorous analytical calculation to make this ensemble work. The results obtained from the prototype model show great congruence with the expected results. The prototype is ready and the next step lies in actual erection of such systems in real life farms and see it does it fare in actual scenario. Thus the effectiveness of the model is established experimentally.

10.22161/ijaers/310.27