Power Hour-An IoT Based Energy Efficient Solar Tracking System

India is the third largest producer and consumer of electricity. Electricity is generated from different sources like nuclear, hydro, thermal power plant etc. In spite of this power generation there is a shortage of electricity. There is a search for alternate source of electricity to match the shortage of electricity Fossil fuels will be exhausted over a period and there is a need for alternate source of energy. Solar energy, the natural source predominantly available has been used in many traditional technologies over the centuries and has been widely used in the absence of other energy supplies. The solar tracking system is the most effective technology attached with solar panels to improve the efficiency of solar panels by tracking and following the sun's movement. Solar panels can align themselves in the direction of the sunlight to harvest more energy from sunlight. An automatic solar tracker helps by allowing the solar panel to automatically shift with sunlight. An IoT based energy efficient solar tracker senses the sun’s position and moves accordingly. The system is developed with two-axis solar-tracking using Arduino Uno as main controller. The power gain and system power consumption are compared with a static and continuous dual axis solar tracking system. It is found that power gain of hybrid dual axis solar tracking system is almost equal to continuous dual axis solar tracking system, whereas the power saved in system operation by the hybrid tracker is 44.44% compared to the continuous tracking system.