[hetspookjee]

I can imagine that this kind of research is done once 15 years ago, as I remember that too, but perhaps with the recent advance of technology might actually not be true anymore. I don’t have sources but in general some types of things get reiterated so long that time overtook it

[wongarsu]

As GP argued, the movement can be entirely precomputed, and even if it isn't "move the panel to face the brightest spot" is trivial to solve with simple components. The only real advances I can imagine to make this profitable would be better motors that are cheaper and use less energy, or new types of solar panels that are more directional (e.g. a solar concentrator setup where you move mirrors to hit a smaller collector).

The latter exist but don't seem more profitable (in the case of PV panels because of lifetime problems due to more heat), and while we have gotten a bit better with motors I don't think there even is a lot of headroom to gain much efficiency.