I just saw a write up for an Arduino controlled DIY solar tracker. What about folks that dont know how to code an Arduino program? What about folks that dont even know what an Arduino is? (Its a cool little multipurpose computer with add on modules you can plug together and program to do all sorts of things). I have an idea for a simple solar tracker that requires no computer. Mount your solar panel on gimbals (like swivel mounts) with servo motors to tilt the solar panel in any direction. A basic digital timer would signal the motors to line up the panel in the morning, facing the east and all through the day it would periodically signal the servos to move the panel again from east to west, to ensure that the panel was roughly following the sun (in case it gets cloudy and our little solar tracking device didnt engage). Our solar tracking device is a box mounted on the side of the solar panel. Inside the little box are eight photo cells in a circle. Each one is an electric eye that activates (switches on) when light shines directly on it. There is a small hole in the top of the box. Whenever the sun shines it would shine through the hole into the circle of photocells. If the clockwork timer was not lined up accurately the moving light of the sun through the pinhole would touch one of the photocells and its corresponding servo would adjust the position of the panel to accurately align it with the focal point of the sun. Once aligned, the sun pinhole spot would be in the center of the photocells and the servo motors would stop moving the panel until the sun moved again or the timer got out of adjustment with the sun, causing the sun spot to touch a photocell again and move the panel into alignment. After sunset, the clock timer would reposition the panel toward the east awaiting the dawn. Whadya think?
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:20:18 +0000
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