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mshen11 | 08-01-2009 06:52 PM
solar tracker (tnandy and others) i know this isnt the best place for technical questions but lets spice this place up... i was looking into solar panel trackers because it is said it increases your wattage by up to 20% (double trackers to 40%). then i looked at the price.... [it was 2.5k-6k+] to add insult to injury reviews said most of them dont work (because it takes power to run them) i noticed you had one. i was wondering if you can tell me a bit about them and the price (if you dont mind). in your research have you found one that works and is sub 1k and can handle 6-12 panels?

Tn...Andy | 08-01-2009 10:10 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) I didn't do any research, other than I got some general figures that said about 30% increase on a single axis ( east-west ) tracker and about another 8% on a dual axis ( throw in the seasonal tilt ). I've found the figure to be pretty close on my single axis compared to what fixed mount are supposed to produce here......mine looks like it will come in at 25-30% for the year base on 7 months production so far. By the way, we just crossed 2,000 kwhrs of solar production ! :biggrin: And this month, the electric company will owe me money ! I built my own trackers, (OK...I confess....I made RichG help me one day when he was here....price of supper..... ) have about 600 bucks in each mount, I have 10--175waatt panels on one now and 8 on the other ( started with 6 each ) .....mine took some minor welding skill to build ( I'm a CFW....certified farm welder....."if it doesn't have to leave the farm and get out on the highway, it will probably hold together"....ahahahaaa )....nothing you couldn't pick up in a few hours practice with a wire welder. (Miller MIG).....it's a pretty simple design....just a frame that tilts on a shaft running thru a couple of bearings bolted to a hunk of wide channel at the top of a pole, the channel welded at a fixed 37 degree angle ( about latitude for here ) so the frame tetter-totters east/west at that slope angle. Then welded 8' pcs of electrical Unistrut channel to the frame at a right angle to mount the panels on...8' would handle 3 panels laid out "landscape" style....so I had a row of 3 on each side of the frame....balanced nice.....one finger would tilt the frame east/west. Then used a 36" 30vdc linear actuator attached to the pole and the frame to power the east/west motion.....a computer board from Theanaloguy.com controls the motor on the actuator.....it tracks the sun real nice all day, then resets east at night for the next morning, and repeats.....the actuators "jog" a little about every 5-10 minute from east to west all day, keeping the panels perpendicular to the sun ( which is why you get the increased power ) I read a lot of places say "trackers are too expensive, don't work, just buy extra panels ".....well, I'll tell ya.....which may be true IF you buy a tracker at retail....but DIY, and I'm WAY ahead of buying more panels.....I figure it would take 1800-2000 bucks more in panels to equal what I do with a tracker....and then there's the "coolness" factor.....ahahhaaaaaa.....when somebody looks at them and suddenly they move....and they turn and say "THOSE MOVE with the sun ?? "...the look on their faces is a Kodak moment......ahahaaaaaa By the way.....I'm no longer posting at that solar site.....got tired of the "High Holy Priests of Electrical Professionals with Bugs-up-their-asses" that seem to think nobody without a PE-EE can possibly connect a PV system.....so don't look for me there anymore. I really don't need someone to tell me I can't do what I've already done, thanks..... RichG holding the rack while I tighten the bolts and scratch....ahahaa http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...2_p125298.jpeg Racks bolted to the two poles. http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...2_p125299.jpeg Original 12 panels mounted on racks.....greenhouse completed....solar power room on the left end of greenhouse.....my two main 'helpers' http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...2_p125301.jpeg Close up of the back of an array.....looks like something off the space station, huh ?....ahahaaaa http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...2_p125300.jpeg Motor end of the linear actuator http://www.digistash.com/data/026a39...2_p125302.jpeg

TTAZZMAN | 08-02-2009 01:20 AM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Andy, has your panel supports been through a wind storm yet? im looking to build me some supports this winter my main concern here is wind.

steyr_m | 08-02-2009 01:26 AM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Nuts and Volt is featuring a do-it-yourself project in the latest issue http://www.nutsvolts.com/

mshen11 | 08-02-2009 08:13 AM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) :( its too bad. wish you reconsider because you chipped in a lot of useful info for me. now i have to get you here (more typing) the holier than thou has made many good people left. youre not the first and am sure youre not the last back to tracker: so you dont have a photosensor on your tracker and you rely on data. i assume you have to reset it for summer and winter because it is different? how often does it move? thanks for the pics. i am confident to say it is too complex for me (the actuator and hooking up the computer component - im sure i can probably do the pole and mount with detailed instructions) anyone have the nuts and bolts article for solar tracker? im not a member so i cant see it.

gunDriller | 08-02-2009 08:25 AM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by steyr_m (Post 1847701) Nuts and Volt is featuring a do-it-yourself project in the latest issue http://www.nutsvolts.com/
love that magazine. it's one of the few 'institutions' that has 'survived the times', still around after all these years.

Tn...Andy | 08-02-2009 08:40 AM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by mshen11 (Post 1847858) :( its too bad. wish you reconsider because you chipped in a lot of useful info for me. now i have to get you here (more typing) the holier than thou has made many good people left. youre not the first and am sure youre not the last
Life's too short to mess with fools who already know it all. I'll be the first to admit I don't know it all, and most of my education has come the hard way.... but I do know a little....and when someone ( and more than just one on that site ) tells me I "can't possibly install my own PV system because it requires "professional" design and installation", and I KNOW that is not the case, I have to wonder about the quality of the rest of what they say....and did I mention....life's too short to mess with fools. Quote:
Originally Posted by mshen11 (Post 1847858) back to tracker: so you dont have a photosensor on your tracker and you rely on data. i assume you have to reset it for summer and winter because it is different? how often does it move?
Nope......it DOES have a built in sensor, and does the tracking using that. It is a DIRT SIMPLE.....you bolt on the sensor at the top of your array, run the supplied wire down to the circuit board, screw to the terminals provided, then run your motor leads to the terminals provide, hook up your DC to the terminals provided, and it runs. Here's the board I use And he is not the ONLY one on the web.....but I tried a couple others ( Red Rock, for example....avoid his unless you are an electronics guy like him....it's a Model T compared to analoguy's ) and found this one to be the most reliable and trouble free and simple to use. I even figured out a trick ( with Randy Matt's help...Kudos to him ) on how to run multiple arrays from one control unit using some simple, locally bought relays....and now run both my trackers from one control board.

mshen11 | 08-03-2009 01:52 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) how about the motor - what did you use for that? im surprised at the price. so how much would you say including material did your solar tracker cost (board, frame, motor - what else do you need)? also does the pole need to be specially mounted? as long as it is secure right? or did you pour concrete and set the pole in concrete?

steyr_m | 08-03-2009 02:05 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by gunDriller (Post 1847863) love that magazine. it's one of the few 'institutions' that has 'survived the times', still around after all these years.
Yeah, me too. I'm a five year long subscriber now.... Lots of useful and fun projects...

Tn...Andy | 08-03-2009 02:25 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) About 600 bucks per tracker.... Tracker controller: 150 bucks ea ( I bought two originally, but found one will work if you buy a couple of 10 buck relays and run the motors thru them....you could control several arrays that way ) Tracker motor: 150 bucks each The motor is a 36" linear actuator....."Super Jack" brand.....they run about 150 bucks/ea depending on your source.....they were used on the older C band sat dishes. http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/S...k-Actuator.htm The pole is set in a block of 4x4x4' poured concrete.....and yes, you need that. 200 bucks for 2 cubic yards of concrete delivered ( each pole ) 100 bucks or so worth of steel each mount....I had some of it, some came from scrapyard, some I bought new.....

Tn...Andy | 08-03-2009 02:29 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by TTAZZMAN (Post 1847692) Andy, has your panel supports been through a wind storm yet? im looking to build me some supports this winter my main concern here is wind.
Tazz, wind isn't an issue here.....we are tucked in against the east side of the mountain, and just don't get much wind....hits the west side of the mountain and bounces over us. IF I was going to build this for a wind prone area, I'd probably add a couple of long, gas filled, steering damper type shocks to help with that...and maybe beef up the frame some.........but isn't an issue here.

mshen11 | 08-03-2009 04:11 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) so this setup isnt somethign i can attach to a small deck. what is the max weight on one of the trackers? 6 x 40 pounds?

TTAZZMAN | 08-03-2009 06:13 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by Tn...Andy (Post 1849950) Tazz, wind isn't an issue here.....we are tucked in against the east side of the mountain, and just don't get much wind....hits the west side of the mountain and bounces over us. IF I was going to build this for a wind prone area, I'd probably add a couple of long, gas filled, steering damper type shocks to help with that...and maybe beef up the frame some.........but isn't an issue here.
Neighbor came by ...needed me to backhoe him some holes for concrete for a solar array and windmill.....im gona keep a eye on his learn from his mistakes :)

Tn...Andy | 08-03-2009 07:00 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) One of the BEST ways to learn, Tazz .....minimum investment ! :biggrin:

Tn...Andy | 08-03-2009 07:10 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Quote:
Originally Posted by mshen11 (Post 1850100) so this setup isnt somethign i can attach to a small deck. what is the max weight on one of the trackers? 6 x 40 pounds?
6x40 pounds ? You mean 6 times the weight of one panel ? Yes.................plus the Unistrut racking, the "H" frame, the steel shaft, the wide U channel, the pole, the actuator, and so on.....no, I didn't weigh it, but my guess is somewhere in the 700 lb range altogether.......not counting 2 cubic yards of concrete to hold it in place.....another 3-4 tons. No, THIS setup isn't something you could attach to a small deck.....the "sail" area alone of just 6 panels is working on 100sqft.....you not only have to have something to support the weight, but MORE important, resist the ability of this thing to fly in the wind ( those tons of concrete ) tearing high dollar panels all to pieces and damage/injury to whatever they finally land on.....

____hoot____ | 08-03-2009 10:38 PM
Re: solar tracker (tnandy and others) Thanks Much! Andy and all. I have a suggestion for future home builds of tracking systems. Start with the pole and steel mount for a old C band dish. Plenty strong, with good bearings and all kinds of neat tilt ajustments already built in! The last 10 foot aluminum mesh dish I took down and took to the scrap yard I got 15$ for the dish and 85 cents for the steel mount and 7 foot long stub of 3 1/2" OD scheadual 40 pipe[a lousy penny a pound for the steel]. This is what Andy's motors are made for and they bolt right on! Ten foot satellite dishes have about 75-80 square feet of area[ pi r squared]. We would usually put in a yard of concrete on a solid fiberglass ten footer and around 1000 pounds on a 10 foot mesh. Depth of your footing also determines your stability, we tried to get four feet.

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