Maximizing solar radiations of PV panels using artificial gorilla troops reinforced by experimental investigations

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this work is to maximize the solar radiations (SRs) by computing the optimal tilt angle (OTA) of photovoltaic (PV) panels by using gorilla troop algorithm (GTA) along with an experimental work that consists of three PV panels rated 100 W inclined at three different tilt angles (TAs). The three TAs are 28o, 30o, and 50o. These TAs are selected based on experience and after huge simulations and physical trials. The experimental data are recorded daily for a period of 181 days and the data showed that the TA of 28o is better than that at 50o and 30. The GTA computed the OTA as 28.445o which is in agree with that obtained from the experimental investigations that has a TA of 28o. The SR of the 28o TA is higher than that of the 50o TA by 59.3% and better than the TA of 30o by 4.5%. For the sake of comparison with the GTA with other 8 metaheuristic (MHTs) recent techniques are used to find the best OTA. Most of the 8 MHTs computed the OTA as 28.445o which is the same as computed from the GTA and matches that obtained from the experimental work has a value of 28o. The experimental recorded SR difference between the 28o TA and the 50o TA was 159.3% in only 181 days which signifies the importance of having correct TA for the PV tracker.