INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRENDS IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303

Automatic Tracking Solar-powered Panel for Paddy

Field Environment by Vertical Farming
Prabisha Jill.V1 Jerita Preethi.M2 M.Valarmathi
UG scholar/BE-ECE AP/ECE
Christ The King Engineering College Christ The King Engineering College
prabishajill@gmail.com valarmathi14.m@gmail.com

Abstract—In order to realize the collection, management, visualization and uploading of real-time information in the
paddy field, an information monitoring node based on automatic tracking solar-powered panel is presented in this paper.
Initially, the node consists of information collecting sensors, Arduino, LCD, GSM module, automatic tracking solar-
powered module and monitoring interface. Secondly, data gathered from sensors can be displayed on the LCD and sent to
the mobile phones. The mobile phones are used for examination and analysis. Finally, in test time data’s are gathered
every ten minutes. At non-test time, the system works in low-power mode to achieve rational use of electric energy. All the
gathered parameter values are displayed in the LCD.when the values exceed the normal rates, an alert message will be
sent to the farmer’s mobile through a GSM module. The results of this project can achieve an accurate transmission and
display of data.

Index Terms— Sensor, GSM, LCD, Solar power.

I . INTRODUCTION make it possible to rotate solar panels following the sun to

achieve the maximum efficiency. The results of experiment

R ICE is one of the most important food crops around

the world [1-3], although its planting area is less than
30% of the total area of grain crops, and the yield is
indicate that the node can achieve an accurate transmission of
data and the power supply system can meet the demand of
power.
close to 40% of the total grain output [4]. Rice is the
grain crop that needs more water [5]. It is pivotal to control the II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
water level accurately according to the water requirements rule
of rice in different stages, and it can also greatly reduce the
waste of water resource, irrigation costs, and make the A. Integral Structure Design
cultivation in paddy field more scientific. In recent years, The node consists of three parts: information collection of
because of hysteresis quality and lack of accuracy, paddy field (includes display of LCD), solar power supply
environmental factors such as soil irrigation and illumination system. Based on this hardware platform for sensors node, we
intensity cannot get timely and scientific management, which have achieved the functions of collection, management,
can lead to obstruction to the growth of rice and makes display, information fusion and transmission, and they are the
diseases and pests more and more serious [6-9]. Therefore, basic composition of system. Solar panel with automatic
acquisition and timely delivery of the information of paddy seeking light is adopted in the design of solar power supply
field have become a basic link to ensure the quality of rice system, which can provide reliable power supply to the whole
growing environment [10]. The research of fast-acquisition system. The solar panel and battery are both connected to
technique of paddy field data is an effective way to improve controller, when there is light, solar panel charges the battery
the precision of agriculture [11-14]. How to collect and through controller.
transmit these data accurately and rapidly is an important topic
in the field of agricultural production.
To solve these problems mentioned above, in this
paper, a wireless sensor-monitoring node is presented for
paddy field environment. In this monitoring node, the more
parameters such as temperature, water level, and light intensity
are collected from the paddy field environment. After the
processing the collected information are transmitted to mobile
through GSM module. Moreover, in this node, real-time data
are displayed by LCD in collection part. In addition, the
application of automatic rotation function of solar panels can

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRENDS IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303

Smart vertical farming

BLOCK DIAGRAM

SOLAR BATTERY

PANEL
LCD

ARDUINO PUMP
GSM

(a)ARDUINO
TEMPER
WATER ATURE
LEVEL 2) Sensors
SENSOR SENS There are five types of sensors in this node: temperature,
OR soil moisture content, illumination intensity and water level.
HUMIDITY

TEMPERATURE SENSOR
When the voltage increases then the temperature also
MOTOR rises. Contact sensors include thermocouples and thermistors
LDR that touch the object they are to measure , and non contact
Sensors measure the thermal radiation a heat source releases
to determine its temperature.

B. Hardware
1) Arduino
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the
ATmega328. It has 14 digital Input/output pins (of which 6
can be used as PWM outputs) 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP
header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to
support the microcontroller connect it to a computer with a DS18B20 temperature sensor adopts the unique single-wire
USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to interface mode, when it is connected to microcontroller, there
get started. is only one single-wire architrave to realize both-way
communication between microcontroller and DS18B20
temperature sensor; two light intensity sensors are hooked up
to the same I2C bus, they read data in turn circularly, and
decide the direction of solar panel to rotate to according to the
data gathered from both of the two sensors.

HUMIDITY SENSOR
Senses, measures and reports both air and moisture
temperature. Humidity sensors are far and wide.The single-
wire serial interface makes system integration quick and easy.
Its small size, low power consumption and up-to-20 meter
signal transmission. The component is 4-pin single row pin
package. . The single-wire serial interface makes system

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRENDS IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303
integration quick and easy. Its small size, low power
consumption and up-to-20 meter signal transmission making it
the best choice for various applications, including those
most demanding ones. The component is 4-pin single row pin
package. It is convenient to connect and special packages can
be provided according to users’ request.
WATER LEVEL SENSOR
Water level sensors are termed as the sensors used for
detecting water level. These sensors can also be defined as
transducers or as integrated systems with instrumentation and
control capabilities. example for the Hydrostatic pressure level
sensors are submersible or externally mounted pressure
sensors suitable for measuring the level of corrosive liquids in
deep tanks or water in reservoirs.
LDR (Light Dependent resistor):
A photo resistor or light-dependent resistor (LDR) or
photocell is a light-controlled variable resistor. The resistance
of a photo resistance of a photo resister decreases with
increasing incident light intensity.A photo resistor is made of a
high resistance semiconductor .A photo resistor can be applied
in light-sensitive detector circuits, and light-activated and dark-
activated switching circuits. A photo resistor is made of a high
resistance semiconductor. In the dark, a photo resistor can have
a resistance as high as a few mega ohms (MΩ), while in the
light, a photo resistor can have a resistance as low as a few
hundred ohms. If incident light on a photo resistor exceeds a
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certain frequency, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give
bound electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction
band. The resulting free electrons (and their hole partners)
conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance. The resistance
range and sensitivity of a photo resistor can substantially differ
among dissimilar devices. Moreover, unique photo resistors
may react substantially differently to photons within certain
wavelength bands.
3) GSM Module
SIM300 is a Tri-band GSM/GPRS solution in a compact
plug-in module. Featuring an industry-standard interface
SIM300 delivers GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz
performance for voice, SMS, Data, and Fax in a small form
factor and with low power consumption .The GSM system
uses TDMA to split a frequency into time slots .GSM is the
only type of cellular service available Using TDMA ,a narrow
band that is 30khz wide and 6.7 milliseconds long is split
time-wise into three time slots.TDMA has three times the
capacity of an analog system using the same number of
channels.
4) Automatic Tracking Solar Power Supply System
To maximize the efficiency of solar energy conversion, the
function of automatic tracking of solar panel is presented in
this design. Generally, the methods of fixed time assay and
coordinates have been widely used which have been
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRENDS IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303

implemented to realize the tracking. The advantage of fixed 17.2 44.1 0 0.0
time assay is simple circuit, and the disadvantage is the 17.4 43.5 12 0.0
different times of sunrise and sunset in different seasons. On
this occasion, the accuracy of node adjustment may reduce; 14.9 43.1 3655 0.0
the advantage of coordinate method is the higher accuracy of
19.5 100.0 8632 2.2
adjustment for system, but the circuit is too complex. Based on
the discussion above, automatic tracking method of solar 24.1 100.0 10479 0.6
panels based on numerical comparison of light intensity is
26.5 96.7 19987 0.0
presented in this design.
27.3 75.2 37330 0.0

D. Computational Results and Analysis

By graphic design, LCD screen does not work, if the real-
time data change, the delay time of LCD screen is about 1.5-
1.8s. Overall, the proposed design can achieve expected
requirements of accuracy for real-time display.
Display result of LCD is shown in Fig. 8. Title is at the top
(a) of screen, and other parts present from top to bottom are as
follows, temperature, intensity of illumination and level of
water. The numerical values are all within theoretical range
and the display of LCD is stable. There is no screen flicker.
The data make the screen looks more clear and intuitive.

`
(b)

Fig. . Sensors in different positions: (a) together at a certain angle and (b) in
separated parallel

C. Software
Fig. . The display result of LCD.
1) Software Structure
TABLE II E.Results and Analyses of simulation and hardware result
RESULT OF DATA ACQUISITION As shown in Fig.9,.is the result of simulation .The
PROTEUS 8 PROFESSIONAL software is used to simulate
Temperature Humidity Light Water and analysis the out put of the circuit.
(℃) (%) (Lux) level(cm)
27.6 63.9 38652 0.0

26.6 57.8 8651 0.0

26.3 50.4 1564 0.0

21.7 47.2 7 0.0

18.4 45.7 0 0.0

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TRENDS IN ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303

Fig :.simulation result

Vertical farming

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, Automatic Tracking Solar-powered Panel is

for paddy field environment by vertical farming. During
monitoring, data are collected every ten minute; data gathered
from sensors can be displayed on the LCD and sent to the
mobile phones. .when the values exceed the normal rates, an
alert message will be sent to the farmer’s mobile through a
Fig:Hardware result
GSM module. In addition, automatic rotation function of solar
panels is designed to achieve maximum efficiency in the
power system. These results indicate that proposed system can
achieve accurate transmission of data and power supply
system can meet the demand of power.

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VOLUME 30 ISSUE 1 – JUNE 2018 - ISSN: 2349 – 9303

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