My simple solar tracker

1066
1066 Registered Users Posts: 1
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Hi - I'm a new guy here and really only just scratching the surface with this solar stuff, I have a lot to learn.

I just though you might like to see my effort to make a simple solar tracker. As I'm sure you are all well aware, a simple single axis tracker can increase the efficiency of a panel by more than 30%.
This was just lashed together out of wood to see if the idea would be practical. - It works a treat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T-uCl0jrG4
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: My simple solar tracker

    welcome to the forum.
    yes, something like that will work in theory, but for huge systems needing to be turned it would not suffice to use small pvs to power a small motor for turning. it could however be used to activate a relay to allow the power of battery voltage or even the convenience of household ac voltage to activate a larger motor. it did move the gallon of antifreeze fairly well, but when faced with the weight of 6 or more pvs this would need some umph to move it. another consideration would be the stresses that wind would have on the array position as a powerfull motor is going top be needed to move against a wind and it should have a method of locking in place until which time the tracker is activated otherwise it could burn out the motor.
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