Project Journals > RossW
Solar Trackers
rossw:
Had small amounts of solar for a while, but couldn't really afford a lot more. Then the price of propane went up 30% in one hit, and the short term pain of solar didn't seem so bad. So I brought in a bunch. Commercial trackers were stupid expensive, so I figured I'd try my hand at making one myself.
One turned into several :)
The first one was a quicky, only seasonal adjustment. I'll make a separate thread for that one.
The next three were made from relatively inexpensive and easy to get materials.
I couldn't get thickwall U channel the size I wanted (a little larger ID than the square posts OD), so I got square RHS and cut one side off to make my own. (Had to make 3, just the first one done here)
The first one I welded end caps on, but the next two I did differently. The hole was a comfortable (loose) fit for the shaft material I'd chosen (3/4" steel)
Measured and marked the angles for maximum and minimum (summer/winter), and checking that the turnbuckle had the range required for adjustment.
Apart from the shaft, that worked out ok, but I wasn't entirely happy with the way it worked out.
Didn't have a die the size I needed, so cut threads in each end of each shaft in the lathe.
I machined up the "bearing blocks" from a chunk of 1214 steel. These are made 2-up. I cut each in half later.
When assembled, looks like this
Here's the first one with the frame attached. (Seasonal-only array in the background)
And fully populated, ready to start contributing power
A couple of things that were not quite so obvious along the way. It was going to be hard to hold the shaft without damaging it, while I did up the nyloc nuts. So I milled two flats on each shaft for an open-ended spanner to hold it.
Hadn't finished setting everything up square when I took the picture, but gives an overview.
wilfor03:
Boy, RossW, that mount looks a lot better than the "store-boughten" ones! Seriously, damned fine machining there.
Makes my little C-band adapted mount look like a roller skate compared to your Cadillac! :-[
My next "rack" will be more fashioned like yours if ya don't mind?
Got a quick question for ya? Do you run several mounts off of one Tracker Board PCB or do you run each on their own?
Great work, and really enjoyed the pictures........
Bill
ChrisOlson:
Nice trackers. Your homebrew ones are better than the store bought ones anyway.
--
Chris
Wolvenar:
Very nice Ross, I am seriously jealous
rossw:
--- Quote from: wilfor03 on January 13, 2012, 08:55:29 am ---Boy, RossW, that mount looks a lot better than the "store-boughten" ones! Seriously, damned fine machining there.
Makes my little C-band adapted mount look like a roller skate compared to your Cadillac! :-[
My next "rack" will be more fashioned like yours if ya don't mind?
Got a quick question for ya? Do you run several mounts off of one Tracker Board PCB or do you run each on their own?
Great work, and really enjoyed the pictures........
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the kind words.
I don't have a mill, but I used my lathe to do it. I've got a bunch of extra photos showing how I fabricated the bits. If you want, I can post additional pictures?
It was my intention to build trackers for each. I built the first prototype (will write another thread on that too), and it worked, but then I got busy again and work stalled. Since my home is full of home-automation stuff (perhaps that's another project?), I simply set up two more outputs and drive all the arrays together. So far it has worked really well.
* Starting at sunrise, the panels drive west for a couple of seconds about every 15-20 mins, depends on the length of the day.
* Half an hour after sunset, the panels drive to a park position
* Half an hour before sunrise, the panels drive fully east ready for sunrise.
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