Simulation of solar panel orientation system based on fuzzy logic in SimInTech visual simulation environment

Obtaining electricity from renewable energy sources is primarily due to the exhaustion of traditional natural energy sources, such as coal, oil, gas. Today it is a promising area of development. The adverse impact on the environment of the use of traditional energy technologies is well known and scientifically proven. The use of traditional technologies inevitably leads to climate change, so the topic of the transition from traditional to alternative energy sources is undoubtedly relevant. Using of solar power plants with photovoltaic modules recently has gained relevance. However, the efficiency of such installations depends largely on their correct orientation to the Sun: the more precisely the system is installed, the more energy it will be able to convert. This article presents the results of the development of a simulation model of the solar panel orientation control system. To maximize the production of solar energy, the control system with tracking the Sun is built using fuzzy logic: fuzzy rules are formulated to control the positions of the object relative to the vertical and horizontal planes. The use of fuzzy logic is based on the product model of knowledge, which implies the use of linguistic variables to avoid the limitations inherent in classical product rules. The use of fuzzy control allows to correct the movement of the panel in the shortest time in the autonomous mode, thus reducing the arising power losses. Russian SimInTech dynamic simulation environment for technical systems is used as the system development environment. Simulation model is represented by several subprojects, united in a single database. The system model is implemented using standard blocks and a set of submodels, as well as a programming unit. The result of the work can be tracked in the 3D module of the built-in visual editor, which allows you to display the interaction of three-dimensional models objectively. In order to simplify and more finely implement the work of the project, a system of loading data, sunrise and sunset points, from an external Excel file was used.