The focus of this thesis was to employ the use of two widely used types of photovoltaic (PV) modules namely monocrystalline and polycrystalline in a tracking system to determine which produces the greater output and compare these results to those reached by my predecessor, Michael O. Case[Case, 2003]. Several factors affect the overall productivity of a solar system. These include but are not limited to, time of day, time of year, latitude and atmospheric conditions, all of which were dealt with throughout this thesis. The thesis began with the design and assembly of a solar tracking system. This system was used to collect data using monocrystalline and polycrystalline modules in various configurations. The configurations were stationary zero degrees, stationary forty degrees and solar tracking at forty degrees. Once data was acquired, it was entered in to the statistical software "Design Expert V6.0". Statistical analysis was then performed to determine the effect the chosen factors had on the power output of the two types of modules in terms of which type provides greater output and in what configuration. It was determined that the monocrystalline module produces greater power output than its polycrystalline counterpart. A final experiment was set up to determine the mode that produces the greatest power output. The results from the experiment revealed that monocrystalline modules deliver greater power in a tracking configuration. However, it may be necessary to consider the effects of temperature depending on application of these modules. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Industrial Engineering in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2006. / Date of Defense: October 15, 2006. / Solar Tracking, Crystalline Photovoltaic, PV / Includes bibliographical references. / Yaw A. Owusu, Professor Directing Thesis; James Simpson, Committee Member; Carl A. Moore, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_168345 |
| Contributors | Anthony, Thomas P. (authoraut), Owusu, Yaw A. (professor directing thesis), Simpson, James (committee member), Moore, Carl A. (committee member), Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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