Solar Tracker

[marleona]

tanong ko lang po? Ano ang mas efficient in terms sa pag harness ng solar energy ung panel na may solar tracker o ung malaki ang surface area ng PV panel? tnx!!!

[zer0w1ng]

Ang with tracker ang efficient kapag compared to plane ang solar panel for morning at afternoon ay inclined ang beams. 

Pero kung marami kang panels, you could make a curved collector.
So kung morning at afternoon, direct rin ang rays nung sun.

[marleona]

Ang with tracker ang efficient kapag compared to plane ang solar panel for morning at afternoon ay inclined ang beams. 

Pero kung marami kang panels, you could make a curved collector.
So kung morning at afternoon, direct rin ang rays nung sun.

maraming salamat sa tulong heheheeh,nalinaw na rin kung ano ang mas efficient. kaso kapag maraming panels magastos baka hindi kayanin hehehe . may madadagdag pa ba kayong suggestions.

[insomartin]

it might ad 5-10 percent try adding an extra mirror so that light is pointed sa pv panels. i don't know kung pwede ito but i 'think' that should work thou. kasi may nabibili na pinapatong sa solar panels to gain extra watts.

[marleona]

may additional din po akong tanong para sa solar tracker. Paano po maintegrate ung solar tracker sa solar pane? May idea po ba kayo kung ano pwede naming gamitin na circuit, o di kaya opinion para mag track ung solar panel???

[rdpzycho]

ginagamitan 'yun ng motor at info tungkol doon sa location. may mga PV cells din na madaling masira kapag hindi naka-direct sa kanya 'yung ilaw.

[zer0w1ng]

For us in the tropics, solar tracking is easy because we don't have big variations of sun up and sun down in any time of the year.
Even just mechanical solutions could be made.
Just position the panels facing east in the morning and west in the afternoon and returning back to the east during morning. 
Just do a 12 hour reversible motor switching and its done.

[n0th1n6]

Pwede rin ba sir yung approach na ala line following robot yung sensor. 2 photo transistor na properly positioned sa east at west side ng panel tapos pag pareho ang light nila naka brake yung motor. Pag naging mas maliwanag sa kabila andar ng konti yung motor papunta dun hanggang sa magpareho uli yung light magkabilang side. Medyo lagyan na lang ng konting allowance para di naman matrigger ng kokonting variation sa light (hal. me napadaang ibon)

[zer0w1ng]

May problema kung auto-seek with intensity feedback kung maging cloudy.  The tracker could go haywire moving west to east to west again.
The simplest is to just do a 12 hour motor speed control.

[n0th1n6]

May problema kung auto-seek with intensity feedback kung maging cloudy.  The tracker could go haywire moving west to east to west again.
The simplest is to just do a 12 hour motor speed control.

I see. Can it be designed so that an additional wide angle sensor (or array of sensors) monitors the entire surroundings to see if the current amount of light is enough to produce some voltage if not then don't bother tracking the sun? If an array of 3 sensors are used, can we also monitor the difference in the amount of light it picks up, if very little is seen then idle the tracker.

Just thinking out loud

[zer0w1ng]

Pwede siguro with some intelligence in the software.

Pero mas OK and uncomplicated kung TIME based kasi *predictable* na ang movement ng araw even in all days of the year and in different locations.

Motor position could be made using rotary encoders.

[n0th1n6]

I see, just exploring the possibilities sir. Yun pong sinasabi mo ay mas simple ang cost effective kasi di na kelangan ng sensor.

+1

[zer0w1ng]

Thanks for the point .

I was thinking also that servo motors could be used as tracker.
180 degrees and reversible. Easily controlled by adjusting only the pulse width.
This just need a lookup table for PWM width versus the time/angle of the sun.

[n0th1n6]

Iniisip ko stepper para di na kelangan encoder, # of steps vs time/angle.

[zer0w1ng]

Pwede rin stepper.
Pero you have to make sure of the torque is enough.
Else pweding mag-miss ng step and will not be aligned.

Pwede ring auto-recalibrate with a home switch, so everyday ma-correct ang missed steps.

[n0th1n6]

Ok, got it sir. San na kaya si TS?

[marleona]

may mga cirucit po ba kayo pwedeng mapakita dito kung pano gawin ung solar tracker nung lahat po ng sinabi niyo katulad ng 12 hour motor speed control etc... tnx!