The solar panels are operating at optimal parameters when they are at the perfect right angle to the

sun.
Unfortunately this is accomplished only if solar panels are rotated by the sun. This is the purpose of this diy
solar tracker system or if you have an Arduino board then you can build this one that uses a servo.

The solar tracker circuit uses a window comparator to maintain the motor in a idle state as long as the two
LDRs are under the same illumination level. In this case, half the voltage is applied to the noninverting input of
A1 and to the inverting input of A1.

Solar Tracker Circuit Schematic

simple diy solar tracker system schematic

solar tracking components

T1, T3 = BD239, BD139

T2, T4 = BD240, BD140
A1, A2 = 1/2 of LM324
Diodes = 1N4001

When the sun position is changing so does the illumination level on the LDRs and the input voltage for the
window comparator is no longer half of the supply voltage thereby the output of the comparator generates
informations for the motor that rotates the panels for tracking the sun.
diy sun tracking sensor

diy sun tracking sensor

P1 and P2 are adjusted in such way that the motor stands still when the LDRs get the same amount of solar
light. If less light reaches LDR2 than LDR1, the voltage in point A increases to more than half of the power
supply voltage. As a result the output of A1 is HIGH and T1 and T4 transistors conduct. In this situation the
motor is starting.
If the angle of the solar light is changing again and the voltage in point A decreases at less than power supply
voltage, the output of A2 goes HIGH and T3 and T2 transistors conduct. As a result the motor is rotating in
opposite direction.
For solar panels control is best to use small motors with a suitable voltage and a maximum working current of
300 mA. This solar tracker system is used for tracking the sun only in one plane, the horizontal one. If you want
to track the solar light in the vertical plane you need to build a separate sun tracker circuit.
Analog Solar Panel Tracker Circuit by Bien Fallaria

analog solar tracker circuit schematic by Bien

This is a simple and practical analog solar panel tracker circuit. Using four LDR (light dependent resistor) as a
sensor in detecting the light source arranged as illustrated. When the light hit the LDR in a certain position, it
will activate the circuit and trigger the relay to turn the slewing motor in the right direction until the sensor is
fully shaded under its cover stopping the motor to its rest condition.

LM339 Solar Tracker Circuit

The LED arrangement in the LM339 circuit below uses two rows of three LEDs with each LED connected in
parallel, the two rows are connected in parallel but reversed polarity. The sensor array is made with three west
LEDs and three east LEDs. A 1meg resistor and a 10n ceramic capacitor (103z) are also in parallel with the
sensor. The sensor LEDs provide input voltage for two comparators on the LM339 chip with the variable
resistor R2 providing a "dead zone" or sensitivity adjustment. Each comparator output is fed into a transistor
Darlington pair which in turn drives the DC motor. The rail voltages are provided by two batteries connected in
series with the center tap providing the ground reference. We have tested this circuit with 2 single cell lithiumion batteries providing +/- 4.2 volts and two 12 volt lead batteries, the LM339 is rated for input voltages from
+/- 2 volts to +/- 18 volts.
This circuit is the result of the design efforts of Mike Mladejovsky, PhD EE. who helped us solve issues with
the solar tracker #3 circuit via the Electronics Tech Online Forum which we highly recommend to anyone
needing help understanding electronic circuits.

LM339 Solar Tracker Circuit Parts List

Many of the components in the following parts list can be substituted with equivalent components such as using
a AN6912 comparator instead of a LM339. We use 5mm clear green super bright LEDs with a 40deg viewing
angle but any clear lens LED should work for the sensor. 1/4 or 1/2 watt resistors are adequate, fuses should be
placed on each rail and a DPDT switch can be used also.

U1/U2 - LM339 quad comarator

Q1 - TIP42C Power Transistor
Q2 - TIP41C Power Transistor
Q3 - 2N3906 Transistor
Q4 - 2N3904 Transistor
R1 - 1meg ohm
R2 - 1k ohm trim pot
R3 - 10k ohm
R4 - 10k ohm
R5 - 10k ohm
R6 - 4.7k ohm
R7 - 2.7k ohm
C1 - 10n ceramic capacitor
M - DC motor up to 1amp
LEDs - 5mm 563nm Hi Green Water Clear

LM339 Solar Tracker PCB

Below is the printed circuit board artwork for the LM339 circuit. The board is 4.0cm x 4.0cm as measured by
the hash marks. The traces are 1mm which should allow you to etch the board using the lazer printer method.
On the artwork "B" indicates the battery connections, "M" is the DC motor connections and the LED
connections are at the top left. The red dots indicate connections to the positive +12volt rail, the green dots are
the -12volt rail connections and the yellow dots are the virtual ground.
Resize this image to aprox 8cm width and maintain the aspect ratio and you should get the proper size printout
depending on your printer. Check the width of the bar at the bottom and right after printing it should be exactly
37mm.

Below is an updated version of the PCB. We have reversed the orientation of the power transistor Q1, changed
the pad layout for the potentiometer and enlarged the pads for the all the external connections, the power
transistors and the potentiometer.