Solar Canopy with IoT-Based Single-Axis Solar Tracking System as a Solution for Utilizing Urban Open Parking Area

Indonesia’s solar energy potential has not been fully utilized due to limited land. Actually, Indonesia can build solar canopy to utilize open parking area, but, without a solar tracking system, the output power of solar canopy is still not worth the investment cost. Although a dual-axis solar tracking system has been developed, the complexity, additional investment costs, and effectiveness are not suitable for use in Indonesia. Because the other studies also state that schedule-based solar tracking system is more efficient than sensor-based solar tracking system, this research is conducted to make a model of solar canopy with IoT-based single-axis solar tracking system. The methodologies of this research are literature study, system planning, design planning, model making, model testing, analysis and evaluation, and report making. Based on this research, it can be concluded that the model can work well according to user’s time and location as well as application commands. Then, the output power of single-axis model is 41% greater than fixed model. Even though the single-axis model has a 6-month BEP difference, it is still superior for some reasons.