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W. M. Dahalan et al.
14.1 Introduction
Nowadays electrical boats have been used for certain industries due to their economic
concept by not polluting the environment especially in the tourism industry. Electrical boats use batteries as their main power supply. The battery needs to be charged
regularly to ensure continuous power supply. However, to increase the power electrical supply for the boat, the battery actually needs another support or supply so the
boat can work for a longer time period. To solve this problem, the best supply that
supports the battery is solar irradiation. Solar irradiation can be considered as one of
the economical, renewable, and free sources of energy supply that can support the
battery.
Since the solar set is inexpensive and affordable, it can be considered as the best
alternative. However, if the solar panel is fixed or static to one position, it will not be
able to absorb the maximum input from the sun. To increase the efficiency of solar
absorption, the solar tracker has been developed by which it moves the solar panel
toward the position of the sun. Some research and journals mentioned that a solar
tracker can increase the efficiency of the solar panel about 20–40%.
There are many techniques and concepts used to build solar trackers. The different
techniques and concepts made will produce different results. The method used in this
study is based on a servo motor and the light-dependent resistor as the technique to
move the solar tracker. Usually, a servo motor is used in remote-controlled boats.
The servo motor is known as one of the high torque motors that will spin the motor
smooth and fast and this will give a huge advantage in remote control boats. The
light-dependent resistor will be used as the solar sensor. The four-quadrant sensor
system techniques are used to catch every angle of the sunlight. For the operation
of the solar tracker, the Arduino UNO will be used. Arduino is one of the newest
technologies that can be programmed to work on it. With this concept idea, it can
produce a quality solar tracker for hybrid electrical boats.
The previous work [1] conducted a research on how to improve the power saving
by using a solar tracker. In their study, they used several methods to build their
solar tracker. Firstly, for the microcontroller, analog comparator (AC), analog to
digital converter (ADC), universal synchronous asynchronous receiver transmitter
(USART), and timer were used. In order to control the direction of the solar panel,
some microcontrollers are using pulse width modulation (PWM).
Another researcher [2] in his journal title solar tracking system did a research
on how the solar tracker improves the efficiency of the output of solar panels. The
research discussed about the process to make the solar panel from DC power supply
to a light-sensing circuit. The tracker then controls and finishes at the stepper control
that moves the solar panel.
In the project [3], the researcher presented a solar tracking system by carrying out
an experiment to show a comparison between a dual-axis solar tracker and a fixed
solar panel. In this project, the equipment used was a battery, charge controller, LDR,
stepper motor, and DC motor. Meanwhile, researcher in [4] has used two methods
on their methodology which are the open-loop control technique and close-loop
W. M. Dahalan et al.
14.1 Introduction
Nowadays electrical boats have been used for certain industries due to their economic
concept by not polluting the environment especially in the tourism industry. Electrical boats use batteries as their main power supply. The battery needs to be charged
regularly to ensure continuous power supply. However, to increase the power electrical supply for the boat, the battery actually needs another support or supply so the
boat can work for a longer time period. To solve this problem, the best supply that
supports the battery is solar irradiation. Solar irradiation can be considered as one of
the economical, renewable, and free sources of energy supply that can support the
battery.
Since the solar set is inexpensive and affordable, it can be considered as the best
alternative. However, if the solar panel is fixed or static to one position, it will not be
able to absorb the maximum input from the sun. To increase the efficiency of solar
absorption, the solar tracker has been developed by which it moves the solar panel
toward the position of the sun. Some research and journals mentioned that a solar
tracker can increase the efficiency of the solar panel about 20–40%.
There are many techniques and concepts used to build solar trackers. The different
techniques and concepts made will produce different results. The method used in this
study is based on a servo motor and the light-dependent resistor as the technique to
move the solar tracker. Usually, a servo motor is used in remote-controlled boats.
The servo motor is known as one of the high torque motors that will spin the motor
smooth and fast and this will give a huge advantage in remote control boats. The
light-dependent resistor will be used as the solar sensor. The four-quadrant sensor
system techniques are used to catch every angle of the sunlight. For the operation
of the solar tracker, the Arduino UNO will be used. Arduino is one of the newest
technologies that can be programmed to work on it. With this concept idea, it can
produce a quality solar tracker for hybrid electrical boats.
The previous work [1] conducted a research on how to improve the power saving
by using a solar tracker. In their study, they used several methods to build their
solar tracker. Firstly, for the microcontroller, analog comparator (AC), analog to
digital converter (ADC), universal synchronous asynchronous receiver transmitter
(USART), and timer were used. In order to control the direction of the solar panel,
some microcontrollers are using pulse width modulation (PWM).
Another researcher [2] in his journal title solar tracking system did a research
on how the solar tracker improves the efficiency of the output of solar panels. The
research discussed about the process to make the solar panel from DC power supply
to a light-sensing circuit. The tracker then controls and finishes at the stepper control
that moves the solar panel.
In the project [3], the researcher presented a solar tracking system by carrying out
an experiment to show a comparison between a dual-axis solar tracker and a fixed
solar panel. In this project, the equipment used was a battery, charge controller, LDR,
stepper motor, and DC motor. Meanwhile, researcher in [4] has used two methods
on their methodology which are the open-loop control technique and close-loop