Solar Panel Tracker
which solar tracker to use?
hey all…im currently doing a project which is to fit a solar tracker on a reflective material which will then follow the sun’s path throughout the day constantly reflecting it onto the solar panel. any suggestions on which type of solar tracker to get?
You need a ‘heliostat’. I.e. Helios = Sun, Stat = stationary. Googling will give many results for systems which track the brightest intensity in the sky and point to it.
HOWEVER – from your description, you need a control for a reflective mirror. This is not so easy, since now not only must the device point to the sun, but also ensure that the reflection stays firmly focused on your Solar Panel.
Such a solution is cheaper/ easier mechanically, since the PV panels themselves do not have to move, however the mirror in such a case does NOT point directly to the sun, and must in fact be at an angle to it.
This reduces the effective ‘collecting’ power in 2 ways – the effective area of the “face” of the collecting mirror gets reduced due to the angle, and losses in reflection.
Secondly – the total sq ft of space required for this system is much larger than th PV panels themselves, hence reducing the overall sunlight collected per real estate used.
Lastly – the control electronics needed are more complex, since we have added a dimension of complexity due to the mirror needing to aim at 2 objects – Sun AND PV panels.
But it can be done !
HAM Radio – Solar Panel Tracker UPDATES SHTF
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