Development of Self-Operating Solar Energy Potential Measuring Devices using Simple Microcontroller Setup

Renewable energy known as green energy production had been rapidly developed to replace fossil fuel generators. Solar energy is one of the most utilized renewable energy because it can be obtained almost everywhere on earth. Solar energy is an unlimited energy source and it can be harvest in the safest way compared to other renewable energy source. Since the development of the photovoltaic system requires a lot of investment, preliminary testing had been carried out to uncover the solar energy potential based on the specific locations including the development of a solar energy potential measuring system. This paper presents the development of self-operating solar energy potential measuring system by using an ATmega 328P microcontroller-based setup. The system not only can measure the solar energy potential but using solar energy generates with its solar panel to operates the whole system. Based on the results, the system developed had successfully operated and measures the solar energy value at three different locations under different weather conditions.