An electronic embedded system controlled one axis automatic solar tracking system is designed and developed for parabolic trough collector employed for hot water generation. The electronic circuit diagram with detailed description and performance of the tracking system are presented. The position of Sun is successfully detected using light dependent resistors, with an accuracy of 0.1°. The accuracy is much greater than the required 0.5°, which is determined from the collector acceptance angle test. The tracking mechanism maximum error is found to be 0.18°. The tracking mechanism has proved to be sufficiently accurate for the present solar energy application i.e. hot water generation. Extensive testing of the parabolic trough solar collector hot water generation system proved that the tracking mechanism is very effective.
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