Small tracker project
 

I am building a scale model of a single axis Deger 8.5 Toptracker. I am an installer and we do a lot of trade shows and demonstrations so I wanted a working model so people would have something to look at. Here is the real one

http://www.degerenergie.de/fileadmin....5_30__1.1.pdf


I built it using 3/4 inch angle steel. The module I am going to use is a 30 watt poly panel. The control will be this off of Ebay

24V solid state solar tracker control board - eBay (item 300466127881 end time Apr-07-11 17:28:01 PDT)

Which will control a mini linear actuator

http://www.firgelli.com/pdf/L12_datasheet.pdf

I should get the actuator tommorrow. I will probably get it assembled next week and I can post some pictures of the finished product. The plan is to put a battery and AC inverter in the base and use it as a portable generator when we are working in a field.

Does anyone think this is something people would buy if we were to produce them?

Peter

I like the mount design and the controller board looks good too (kinda like a RedRock).
But I can't tell about the actuator.. Does it have limit switches built in?

If you do your demos indoors (no sun), then you will need a 120ac PS,
but if you do them outdoors, you should let the PV charge the mover battery.
Self-motivated.. More impressive.

I use a cheap 10w panel power my old tracker.
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-...r-project.html
I think the panel actually does about 5W, but the battery is always charged..

More progress pictures

A close-up of the sensor

The front with the sensor covered by an outdoor light fixture and the back. I am still waiting for the linear actuator to make it work. I need to finish it by saturday for a tradeshow so I ended up ordering a second actuator today and had it shipped UPS express because they guarantee next day shipping.

missed a picture!

See what I did, there is going to be a Candidate for the Green Party at the tradeshow I am taking it to so I made a tray for the battery out of an old Green Party sign! Eco-renovating at it's best

Nice job!
Do you have a good spot at home to mount it?

I got the tracker finished, got it working the night before the tradeshow. I managed to show it to the person at the show that we are trying to make the sale to.

I have got it out in my backyard right now sitting on the picknic table. It did turn to face the sun this morning so it does work. I am not sure how well or smoothly it tracks, I wll have to observe it for a while.

I will post pics

looking into something like this

Some pictures of how the actuator connects to the rack.

If someone wants to build one, I think it was fairly easy to do because all I did is scale down the dimensions from the full size unit Not all the dimensions are in the plan that I linked to in my first post, but probably enough to figure it out. I now have it set up with a small 12v charge controller so I will just let it sit there and charge batteries all day.

Peter

Then, you can use the excess power to charge up your IPad!! :)

Good job, it looks very professional..

YouTube - heynow999100's Channel

I posted a youtube video of it.