ETHER: An Adaptive Solar Tracking System

Mohammad Raed; Mohammad Matar

ETHER: An Adaptive Solar Tracking System

dc.contributor.author	Mohammad Raed
dc.contributor.author	Mohammad Matar
dc.date.accessioned	2026-02-15T09:20:27Z
dc.date.available	2026-02-15T09:20:27Z
dc.date.issued	2026
dc.description.abstract	The growing global demand for renewable energy has emphasized the critical need for maxi- mizing solar energy system efficiency. This project presents the design and implementation of an intelligent dual-axis solar tracking system that integrates embedded control, wireless con- nectivity, and FPGA-based hardware acceleration to enhance tracking precision and system responsiveness. The system architecture comprises three main components working in coordination: an Arduino microcontroller implementing a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller to drive servo motors for precise panel orientation, an ESP32 module providing wireless connectiv- ity for system monitoring and dashboard applications, and a DE1-SoC FPGA board executing a Kalman filter algorithm for predictive control. The Arduino calculates solar position using built-in algorithms and communicates with the FPGA via UART protocol to transmit sensor data and receive filtered position estimates. The FPGA implementation utilizes DSP slices to accelerate the mathematical computations of the Kalman filter, providing real-time predictive adjustments that compensate for measurement delays and noise in the control system. The developed system successfully demonstrates improved tracking accuracy through the integration of predictive filtering with embedded PID control. The FPGA-accelerated Kalman filter effectively reduces positioning errors and system oscillations, while the wireless moni- toring capability enables real-time performance assessment. Environmental sensors provide contextual data for comprehensive system evaluation. This work demonstrates how hardware-software co-design enhances renewable energy sys- tems through improved precision, adaptability, and computational efficiency. The integration of predictive control with FPGA acceleration represents a novel approach to solar tracking that advances beyond traditional microcontroller-only solutions, offering significant potential for both educational applications and small-scale renewable energy implementations. Keywords: FPGA, SoC, Kalman Filter, PID Control, Solar Tracking, Embedded Sys- tems, Renewable Energy, Internet of Things, DE1-SoC, Arduino, ESP32
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11888/20843
dc.supervisor	Dr. Suleiman Abu Kharmeh
dc.title	ETHER: An Adaptive Solar Tracking System