Solar tracker- looking for dual axis frame design ideas

WebPower · December 2021

Does anyone have any pictures of a small solar tracker frame for ground pole mount? Or a manually adjustable dual axis one? I've done a search on the forum and don't really see anything recent. I know it doesn't usually pay to do a tracker, but hey, I've got the drive and wherewithal to do it. Kind of a hobby thing, just like the wind turbine connected to an IQ7. Not cost effective but what would it take to do it kind of thing. I want to hook a tracker up to power the wind turbine support circuit and where it's located I think a tracker would make a big difference in solar production. I'm only going to have a couple of relatively small panels mounted on it.

My goal is to have a raspberry pi or other simple controller do it. A couple of options are out there so the electrics are not the issue, but the mechanical for the frame movement.

any ideas welcome.

thanks. pat.

clockmanfran · December 2021

These folk in the USA do a good drive circuit that drives Satellite actuators. 2 off his circuit drives 2 of my 3 double axis 2Kw trackers.

Search his site for lots of Tracker designs.

LED3X Solar Tracker Assembly (redrok.com)

Here are mine getting new circuits and 4 year maintenance.
Servicing and repair 3off 2kW PV Trackers. (fieldlines.com)

MichaelK · December 2021

Here's mine. Adjustable for both azmuth and inclination.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/rb/ecr9e6df3cxx.jpg

Ralph Day · December 2021

I have 4 x 180 watt panels tracking (Analogue Guy) based on an old 10foot satellite dish system. Only 1 axis, but easy to change the inclination seasonally. The actuator arm is 36v motor, but I only use 12v because it's already there. Slow movement, like you want.

geosierranevada · December 2021

Here are mine.

George

WebPower · December 2021

George and Ralph- got any pictures of the back so i can see the mechanicals?
Thanks. Pat
And Merry Christmas!

Ralph Day · December 2021

Rainy xmas morning, but here's the back of my old 10 foot satellite tracking setup. From warmly and dryly inside.
Long threaded rod below actuator arm is azimuth adjustment.

WebPower · December 2021

thanks Ralph! That really helps!

Pat

geosierranevada · December 2021

Here are some of the back and frame sorry it took so long. George

Ralph Day · December 2021

Hi Geo. How high is your XL1 in the air? Mine's at 80 feet, schedule 40 pipe from my old SWWP H80 that blew apart in 2014 xmas eve. It provides about 650-700 kwhrs of power per year...20-25% of my renewable energy for a year. The nice homeowners insurance company replaced it with the Bergey.

One thing about the XL1 is the blade tip flutter, or known around here as "the farts of the gods". We have a Midnitesolar Clipper and if there's fluttering happening at bedtime, we clip overnight. Sleep not possible when the winds are over 65km/hr (about 35mph) in gusts.

geosierranevada · December 2021

Ralph.
It's 60 ft up with sch 80 pipe. The XL1 is far enough from our insulated house that we never hear it. Plowed snow today, not as easy as it was 20 years ago. George

Ralph Day · January 2022

Wow, you must have some well insulated house! My turbine is about 400 feet from the house, the facing side is mostly glass, so we get the full benefit of the fotg.

WebPower · January 2023

I'm still working on the tracker. I have the up down actuator installed. But still trying to figure out best rotation method. Haven't done the raspberry pi programming yet, but have a rough idea in my head. So stay tuned. Its a bit of a contraption right now. Making it out of stuff I have or find cheap. I'm sure folks will look at it and laugh. I'm an EE so I'm just a rank amateur at it. :-)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/3n/a601rz123s5t.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/y7/vlrus6xhd24c.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/y8/otzy2rpvnbv6.jpg

Ralph Day · January 2023

I have a single axis tracker from this supplier and it works great. Price was about $100
Looks a little shady on those panels. How long does that go on in the day?

http://theanalogguy.com/

Ralph Day · January 2023

Whoops!n His prices have gone up since I bought.

t00ls · February 2023

you can get a controller for a tracker from the analog guy...its like the one I use. they work really good...I have pictures of my tracker on the form
my actuator is a maxi ballscrew from Venture MFG CO the have a section for solar trackers...but I needed a heavy duty actuator

https://www.venturemfgco.com/maxi-ball-screw-actuator/

https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/13744/solar-tracker-finished

http://www.theanalogguy.com

WebPower · April 2023

Instead of doing the raspberry pi route, I bought the SBESolar Tech MK3.1 to see how it works. As long as I don't have wire issues it seems like it's working OK. Right now it does a bit of back and forth when it gets shaded and there's wind. I have too much play in the linkage setup. I'm still fiddling with the setup. It faired ok in this last windstorm. I didn't move it to flat, I just let it track normally. Where I have the panels is very shaded mid-day. So the tracking is making a big difference on output. Right now it's only horizontal tracking. I'm using actuators that are not outdoor rated. Cheap 12vdc furniture ones that have built in limit switches. I might put a shroud over the motors. These panels feed into the IQ7 shared with the wind turbine. The modifications to the turbine circuit may now result in too much power presented to the IQ7. It's all a work in progress that should be finalized by the summer I hope. The picture shows the mix of junk I'm using to figure it out and get the mounting and actuator travel right. The little dome on lower right of rack is the tracker.

WebPower · April 2023

I've bought another one of the MK3s. It's doing the vertical tracking. It works right, tracking the sun during the day and at night returns back to the starting point. During most cloudy days, it rotates to horizontal flat. If rainy, it usually doesn't move from morning vertical. Today, it got sunny in the afternoon. when it did, the system did NOT adjust to the sun. I think it was because the sun was past the panels so neither of the MK3s had an appreciable difference in sunlight hitting the photoeyes.

Its a real hodge podge of an installation. Not the ideal. I'd really like to have a slew drive for the horizontal movement. The 18" actuator I have can only move the setup to near 180 degrees. During the summer, its over 210 or so to fully track. The vertical movement is/was easy with a 12 inch actuator moving all that is needed since you only need about 90 degrees. I'm now looking for a cheap slew drive that can do it. Just haven't found the appropriate one yet, and only looked a little so far.

I'll put pictures up tomorrow of the contraption.

WebPower · May 2023

Here's the contraption. Proof of concept, really, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! I have to move it and will then make the wiring more permanent, install manual switches to move all four directions as well as maybe get it rotating more than 180 degrees. Oh, and regards to it not rotating yesterday when the sun came out, I think it was because a wire was loose on the power supply and it wasn't running. The LEDs on the MK3s are not very bright and in the daytime you can't really see them.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/h3/9cysasrvk5j8.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/zi/9qdgs2nzjcey.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/eh/zrnidsqcibr8.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6024911/uploads/editor/w1/ht8ma2638iit.jpg

BB. · May 2023

You seem to have a fair amount of trees in the area... Is your array relatively "shade free" during most of the day?

Also, watch the sharp holes/metal corners, etc.. with your wiring... It looks like you may have some cuts in the outer insulation.

-Bill

WebPower · May 2023

shade free, yeah, dream on...

proof of concept means lots of sharp edges, wire nuts and total lack of finesse as well as lots of cuts on the inner insulation - But hey, it works. It has to be moved and then I'll do the permanent wiring. My IQ7 went into ground fault the other day- right when it was windy. Not good. It was rainy for over a day so I probably got some moisture incursion into one of the connectors. And I'm not happy with the less than 180 degrees of travel and can't think of a contraption getting more than that using actuators. So I'm looking at slewing drives now but don't need a real heavy duty one. Updates to follow as I make progress.

Dave Angelini · May 2023

You have searched here on the forum right?

WebPower · May 2023

I looked some, but everything I saw was for large scale, larger panels. I've only got 2-100 watt panels that I'm tracking. So I don't need beefy setups.

BB. · May 2023

If you can get 2 more panels... You can point 2x to the South East, and the other 2x to the South West. "Virtual" tracker.

Might be cheaper than the tracking hardware.

-Bill

Marc Kurth · May 2023

BB. said:

If you can get 2 more panels... You can point 2x to the South East, and the other 2x to the South West. "Virtual" tracker.
Might be cheaper than the tracking hardware.
-Bill

This approach has become very popular among my customer base. It was totally cost-prohibitive when PV modules were far more expensive.

Dave Angelini · May 2023

I do not get the OP here, why would you waste time on this with 9KW of solar on the grid, when it is so easy to virtual track?
As Elon says, Things are getting weird and getting weird fast.

WebPower · May 2023

Like I said. I'm just playing around with it. Seeing what you have to do to make it work yourself without buying a pre-made one that's made for multiple big panels. Kind of like my effort with the wind turbine enphase interface. Where I am the wind doesn't make a turbine cost effective but I'm doing it to see if it can be done.

Bill does have a point about virtual tracking. I might look at splitting the panels to two different orientations. Once I get The tracking right maybe I'll compare power output with virtual production to see the difference. I think in my case because of the tree situation tracking production will be quite a bit better than static. But still at a cost that's not worth doing vs adding another panel or two to a system. Just because you say it's not worth it on this forum, a lot of times you have to give them an actual case that shows why they shouldn't bother.

I think of these experiments as a hobby, nothing I'm going to make money or break even on. Im just keepng
my brain cells from dying off!

Dave Angelini · May 2023

Go for it ! I can have an opinion just as anyone else can here. Kind of the good cop / bad cop.

The actual case of why it is not worth to play around with small tracking is the damage the weather can do. Not going into how the professionals have already solved weather damage in large scale tracking.

Virtual tracking is the way to go. An east array, a west array, and a south array.
All arrays go south during winter. Been doing this offgrid for 100's of people since solar went below 5$ a watt.

Do it for the brain fine, more bang in exercise, diet, and supplements, but go for it!

WebPower · May 2023

There you guys go, planting another seed. Glad my wife doesn't read this forum. haha! I only have 2 panels so I'd have to get another for the true virtual setup. I have the capacity when there isn't any wind. Its when its windy in the winter time that I might overdo it with power to the inverter. Food for thought. And since I've got the exercise and diet under control (word to the wise - just don't pull a hamstring when you get old), so the brain is the only thing needing care and feeding.

Pat

Solar tracker- looking for dual axis frame design ideas

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