Research Article Energy Efficient Hybrid Dual Axis Solar Tracking System Rashid Ahammed Ferdaus, 1 Mahir Asif Mohammed, 1 Sanzidur Rahman, 1 Sayedus Salehin, 2 and Mohammad Abdul Mannan 1 1 Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh, Road 14, Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh 2 Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Board Bazar, Gazipur 1704, Bangladesh Correspondence should be addressed to Rashid Ahammed Ferdaus; rashidferdaus@yahoo.com Received 16 April 2014; Accepted 16 June 2014; Published 8 July 2014 Academic Editor: Jayanta Deb Mondol Copyright © 2014 Rashid Ahammed Ferdaus et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. his paper describes the design and implementation of an energy eicient solar tracking system from a normal mechanical single axis to a hybrid dual axis. For optimizing the solar tracking mechanism electromechanical systems were evolved through implementation of diferent evolutional algorithms and methodologies. To present the tracker, a hybrid dual-axis solar tracking system is designed, built, and tested based on both the solar map and light sensor based continuous tracking mechanism. hese light sensors also compare the darkness and cloudy and sunny conditions assisting daily tracking. he designed tracker can track sun’s apparent position at diferent months and seasons; thereby the electrical controlling device requires a real time clock device for guiding the tracking system in seeking solar position for the seasonal motion. So the combination of both of these tracking mechanisms made the designed tracker a hybrid one. he power gain and system power consumption are compared with a static and continuous dual axis solar tracking system. It is found that power gain of hybrid dual axis solar tracking system is almost equal to continuous dual axis solar tracking system, whereas the power saved in system operation by the hybrid tracker is 44.44% compared to the continuous tracking system. 1. Introduction During the last few years the renewable energy sources like solar energy have gained much importance in all over the world. Diferent types of renewable or green energy resources like hydropower, wind power, and biomass energy are currently being utilized for the supply of energy demand. Among the conventional renewable energy sources, solar energy is the most essential and prerequisite resource of sustainable energy [1, 2]. Solar energy refers to the conversion of the sun’s rays into useful forms of energy, such as electricity or heat. A photovol- taic cell, commonly called a solar cell or PV, is the technology used to convert solar energy directly into electrical power. he physics of the PV cell (solar cell) is very similar to the classical p-n junction diode. Sunlight is composed of photons or particles of solar energy. Semiconductor materials within the PV cell absorb sunlight which knocks electrons from their atoms, allowing electrons to low through the material to produce electricity [3, 4]. Because of its cleanliness, ubiquity, abundance, and sustainability, solar energy has become well recognized and widely utilized [5]. Diferent researches estimate that covering 0.16% of the land on earth with 10% eicient solar conversion systems would provide 20 TW of power, nearly twice the world’s con- sumption rate of fossil energy [6]. his proves the potential of solar energy which in turn points out the necessity of tracking mechanism in solar systems. he tracking mechanism is an electromechanical system that ensures solar radiation is always perpendicular to the surface of the photovoltaic cells (solar cells) which maximizes energy harnessing [7]. Over the years, researchers have developed smart solar trackers for maximizing the amount of energy generation. Before the introduction of solar tracking methods, static solar panels were positioned with a reasonable tilted angle based on the latitude of the location. In this competitive world of Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Renewable Energy Volume 2014, Article ID 629717, 12 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/629717