article · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering
High equipment costs frequently restrict the adoption of solar tracking systems in renewable energy projects. To address this barrier, a simple and affordable single-axis tracking mechanism was designed for a parabolic concentrator that supports a tubular solar still for water purification. The system operates using two light-dependent resistors separated by a shielding sheet. As the sun moves, exposure of an unshielded resistor triggers a motor to realign the collector until both sensors are shaded again, keeping the device aligned with the sun. An evaluation of five design categories identified configurations that improved freshwater output while cutting expenses. The most economical tracking setup reduced system costs by 34.6 percent compared to the highest-cost variant. Overall, the design achieved water production costs as low as 0.0074 dollars per litre, representing a substantial cost decrease against comparable published systems.
Clean drinking water remains difficult to access in remote regions lacking modern utility infrastructure. Conventional solar tracking technologies that enhance solar water distillation are often too expensive for these settings. By introducing an effective, low-cost tracking mechanism made from simple electronic components, this approach lowers the cost of solar water purification and makes standalone freshwater production more viable for underserved communities.
The design is tailored for water purification hardware manufacturers and development programmes serving rural, off-grid communities. Operating as a self-reliant unit, the tubular solar still system produces water at a documented cost of 0.0074 dollars per litre. Based on the tested hardware configurations and comparative performance assessments, the technology represents an applied and tested prototype that requires field piloting before direct commercial deployment in isolated settlements.
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Abstract The high cost of the solar tracking systems is the major obstacle facing the growth of the solar harvesting technology. Therefore, reducing the solar tracking cost is necessary for developing this important energy sector. This study developed a simple and low-cost solar tracking system for parabolic concentrator (PCST) assisting tubular solar still (TSS). A single-axis solar tracking mechanism is developed based on two small light-dependent resistors (LDRs) shielded by a blank sheet which keeps the two cells shielded from sunlight. When the sunlight moves, one of the two LDRs will gain some light activating a switch to turn on the driving motor moving the system in the opposite direction till the LDR shielded again. By this simple mechanism, the two LDRs are shielded from sunlight all the time and consequently, the solar collector is always facing the sunlight. A simple parametric study is also conducted for an efficient PCST-TSS device with higher freshwater productivity. The performance of the most promising five design categories is compared. Results showed that the lowest cost tracking system was 34.6% lower than the highest one. Moreover, the lowest CPL was $0.0074/L which is 43.1% lower than the highest CPL category. Moreover, a comparison with other studies showed high potential for the present significant reduction in the cost which ranges between 43.1% and 87% compared with the recent related studies. The developed device is fully self-reliance and suitable for rural and isolated communities having limited infrastructure.
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DOI: 10.1115/1.4054232
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