Smart Solar Panel Tracking and Monitoring System Using Arduino and Visual Basic

Abstract

The growing demand for electrical energy has encouraged the development of renewable energy technologies, particularly solar energy, which is sustainable and abundantly available in tropical regions such as Indonesia. However, conventional solar panels are usually installed in a fixed position, causing suboptimal absorption of sunlight throughout the day. To overcome this limitation, a solar tracking and monitoring system was developed to automatically adjust the position of the solar panels so that they remain perpendicular to the direction of sunlight. This study designed and implemented a Visual Basic-based solar panel tracking monitoring system using an Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller, MPU6050 gyroscope sensor, and the Kalman filter algorithm to stabilize and correct sensor data. The system monitors solar panel orientation, voltage output, light intensity, and temperature in real time through a Visual Basic interface. Experimental results show that the use of the solar tracking system increased the average output voltage by 3.31% and improved solar irradiance reception by up to 16.18% compared to a fixed panel system. The findings demonstrate that the integration of Arduino-based control with Visual Basic monitoring software can enhance the efficiency of solar energy conversion and provide a reliable platform for real-time observation and control of solar panel movement.

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