This paper presents a thorough review of state-of-the-art research and literature in the field of photovoltaic tracking systems for the production of electrical energy. A review of the literature is performed mainly for the field of solar photovoltaic tracking systems, which gives this paper the necessary foundation. Solar systems can be roughly divided into three fields: the generation of thermal energy (solar collectors), the generation of electrical energy (photovoltaic systems), and the generation of electrical energy/thermal energy (hybrid systems). The development of photovoltaic systems began in the mid-19th century, followed shortly by research in the field of tracking systems. With the development of tracking systems, different types of tracking systems, drives, designs, and tracking strategies were also defined. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of photovoltaic tracking systems, as well as the latest studies that have been done in recent years. The review will be supplemented with a factual presentation of the tracking systems used at the Institute of Energy Technology of the University of Maribor.

This paper presents a new simplified method for analyzing the availability of photovoltaic potential on roofs. Photovoltaic systems on roofs are widespread as they represent a sustainable and safe investment and, therefore, a means of energy self-sufficiency. With the growth of photovoltaic systems, it is also crucial to correctly evaluate their global efficiency. Thus, this paper presents a comparison between known methods for estimating the photovoltaic potential (as physical, geographic and technical contributions) on a roof and proposes a new simplified method, that takes into account the economic potential of a building that already has installed a photovoltaic system. The measured values of generated electricity of the photovoltaic system were compared with calculated photovoltaic potential. In general, the annual physical, geographic, technical and economic potentials were 1273.7, 1253.8, 14.2 MWh, and 279.1 Wh, respectively. The analysis of all four potentials is essential for further understanding of the sustainable and safe investment in photovoltaic systems.

This paper deals with rotary and linear synchronous reluctance machines and synchronous permanent magnet machines. It proposes a general method appropriate for determining the two-axis dynamic models of these machines, where the effects of slotting, mutual interaction between the slots and permanent magnets, saturation, cross-saturation, and—in the case of linear machines—the end effects, are considered. The iron core is considered to be conservative, without any losses. The proposed method contains two steps. In the first step, the dynamic model state variables are selected. They are required to determine the model structure in an arbitrarily chosen reference frame. In the second step, the model parameters, described as state variable dependent functions, are determined. In this way, the magnetically nonlinear behavior of the machine is accounted for. The relations among the Fourier coefficients of flux linkages and electromagnetic torque/thrust are presented for the models written in dq reference frame. The paper presents some of the experimental methods appropriate for determining parameters of the discussed dynamic models, which is supported by experimental results.