VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2014)

Philipp. Sci. Lett. 2014 7 (1) 7-12
available online: January 25, 2014

*Corresponding author
Email Address: alvin.chua@dlsu.edu.ph
Received: May 9, 2013
Revised: October 3, 2013
Accepted: October 4, 2013

ARTICLE

Enhanced energy conversion performance of Philippine photovoltaic panels through tilt angle adjustments: A mechatronics approach

Fidel Diaz, Jerrold Ngo, Maximillian Pascual, Albert Planes, and Alvin Chua*

Mechatronics Research Laboratory
Mechanical Engineering Department
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines 

This study focuses on improving the energy conversion performance of photovoltaic panels in the Philippines with monthly and quarterly tilt angle adjustments. The study employs a mechatronic approach to verify the performance of PV systems. A mathematicalmodel is used to estimate the daily extraterrestrial radiation received by a unit area in order to generate the optimal PV tilt angles in the Philippines. The simulation results proves that it is worth changing the tilt angle of a PV panel facing true south on a monthly and quarterly basis in order to achieve significant irradiance gains over panels fixed at the computed optimal year tilt. Experimental results show that energy gains of up to 10% over a year period could be achieved using this technique.