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Solar
Tracking - How We Made A Solar Tracker
Click here to
view the solar tracking video
or
Watch
it on YouTube
 A set of plans is
available. They are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and can be viewed and
saved right from this site. Just click on the link below and hit the save
button. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the plans.
We are making these plans
available to everyone without charge on one condition.
If you download the plans
and use them to make your own solar tracker, please make a donation for
our efforts. We would like to continue making this site available to
everyone. Your donation will help do so.
Click
here to view the PDF file
I have always thought about using solar
tracking for a solar panel. Commercial solar trackers are somewhat expensive but do extend
the time that a solar panel receives solar energy. I have not
purchased any yet but decided to make a small scale solar tracker that I use with
our solar cooler.
The solar tracker uses a TV antenna rotator attached to a
2 inch pipe that is mounted on the ground. A photovoltaic solar panel is also
attached to the 2 inch pipe. Since the rotator can be controlled by a
remote control, I found a programmable one that I use to
position the rotator to face the solar panel toward the sun at different times during the day.
Even though it can’t actually track on its own the way the commercial
versions do, I can easily program it to follow the sun’s path.
Please visit the Living
On Solar Blog to talk about or ask questions about solar tracking.
The video runs for 3 minutes and 17 seconds
and shows how we use solar tracking.
We hope that you enjoy the video.
Please watch our other solar videos elsewhere on this site.
Click here to
view the solar tracking video
or
Watch
it on YouTube
Solar Tracking Links
This section is for
specific links to sites that have information about solar tracking. If you
know of any good sites, please let us know. We will check it out and post
a link.
RED
ROCK ENERGY This is a great site full of info about heliostats
and solar tracking. They make and sell electronic solar trackers.
SIA
Electric - A group of enthusiasts from Romania with many products
including an inexpensive solar tracker. You might need to use a language
translator.
Solar Tracking News
- Tucson
Electric Power Plans 6-Megawatt SunPower C7 Tracker System
- (NASDAQ: SPWR) to incorporate six megawatts of its new C7 Tracker
technology into a planned facility that will also include two
megawatts of SunPower's T5 Solar Roof Tile technology. The
SunPower C7 Tracker is a solar photovoltaic tracking
system that ...
- Robot-run
solar tracking could tilt power up, costs down
- Everyone knows that big solar arrays that can track
the sun will deliver more power than fixed-tilt systems. The
perennial question has been how best to accomplish the tracking.
Now, with $6.5 million in new venture capital investment, a Silicon
Valley ...
- GM
Installing Solar Tracking EV Station
- The patent pending, dual synchronous EnvisionTrak solar
tracking system allows the array to capture 25 percent more
solar power than a conventional fixed solar canopy. The structure
will produce up to 30,000 kilowatt hours a year and provide enough ...
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