My Solar Project Completed

Slidegate · 10-26-11, 06:51 PM

Hi guys I'm new to this forum and I have just finished my project. I've been following Xringer and his project. Ive come up with an idea that uses old car parts for the tracker

Slidegate · 10-26-11, 06:55 PM

Here are some more pics

Daox · 10-26-11, 09:42 PM

Hello and welcome to the site. We'd love to hear more about your setup and how its working out for you.

Piwoslaw · 10-27-11, 12:20 AM

Yes, more info!!!!

Slidegate · 10-27-11, 01:51 PM

Well I started out making some homemade panels as kind of an experiment because I replaced the old windows in my house and had a bunch of storm windows left. I had 3 panels made. after my first one flopped ergo no encapsulate. I had them stationary initially feeding 2 batteries to my garage. I wanted this system to be an extreme emergency backup cause of maybe the inability to get gas for the generator. This system is off grid and I don't intend to connect to the grid since everything is mostly homemade and not UL approved. I then wanted to track the sun so I found 2 auto window motors and took the motor out of the second one and cut the worm gear of the armature and then coupled the 2 gear boxes together. I then got a starter gear and a flywheel. I bolted a front rotor to the fly wheel and put a spindle into a pipe and installed the bearings. I spring loaded the motor drive so that I can disconnect very easily. The thing runs so smooth and the torgue is so great I could not hold the frame from rotating. 180 degree rotation takes about 25 min. so when the sun is out there is no overshoot. Runs pretty accurate. I got the tracker circuit from MTM Scientific and dont have any problems with it. It has the 3 amp relays on the board but my motor only takes 1 amp. I put 2 sets of limits on the frame. One for the circuit board and one set directly for the motor circuit as a backup in case something failed on the circuit board. All the panels are fused with a disconnect. The batteries have 250 fuses on the pos posts with a 250 amp breaker going to the pure sine inverter. The charge controller is a 30 amp PWM. The control box has 30 amp fuses going to the batt. from the controller. I am using the load on my controller to power the tracking circuit and motor fused at 4 amp and I have a manual control switch fused at 3 amp for east and west so I dont have to go outside when the sun is not out. There is also a solar panel disconnect in the control box. I also have 3 more stationary panels facing south so on a bright sunny day I am cranking out 25 amps. Each panel puts out 19 volts and 67 watts in full sun. Here is also a pic of the battery compartment. If there are any specific questions feel free to ask.

Daox · 10-27-11, 02:07 PM

What're you using the power for besides a backup?

Slidegate · 10-27-11, 02:28 PM

I'm using the excess power to run my work bench in the cellar, TV, Drill press soldering station and recharging drill batteries and whatever I can run depending on the SOC of the batteries

ThomSjay · 10-28-11, 01:06 AM

Do you have any more pics of the motors-to-worm gear? I think I might be able to accomplish the same thing.
Thanks.

Slidegate · 10-28-11, 05:09 PM

OK here are the pics you asked for. The first picture shows the motor and the 2 gear boxes mounted 90 deg apart, the second picture shows the second gear box meshing with an idler gear with a starter gear brazed to it. The third shows the whole gear assy spring loaded to the flywheel. Real easy disconnect there. The fourth is a little fuzzy but it shows a coupler with set screws to connect the 2 together. The fifth shows the whole assy. You need to be able to do a little metal work to do the combo but it sure does work smooth. Hope this helps. Any more ? feel free to ask

Slidegate · 10-28-11, 05:21 PM

Here is also a link to a video on youtube of the whole system

Solar Tracker - YouTube

10-26-11, 06:51 PM	#1
Slidegate Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mercer, Pa. Posts: 19 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	My Solar Project Completed Hi guys I'm new to this forum and I have just finished my project. I've been following Xringer and his project. Ive come up with an idea that uses old car parts for the tracker Attached Thumbnails

10-26-11, 06:55 PM	#2
Slidegate Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mercer, Pa. Posts: 19 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Here are some more pics Attached Thumbnails

10-26-11, 09:42 PM	#3
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Hello and welcome to the site. We'd love to hear more about your setup and how its working out for you. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-27-11, 12:20 AM	#4
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 964 Thanks: 189 Thanked 111 Times in 87 Posts	Yes, more info!!!! __________________ Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.

10-27-11, 01:51 PM	#5
Slidegate Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mercer, Pa. Posts: 19 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Solar Tracker Well I started out making some homemade panels as kind of an experiment because I replaced the old windows in my house and had a bunch of storm windows left. I had 3 panels made. after my first one flopped ergo no encapsulate. I had them stationary initially feeding 2 batteries to my garage. I wanted this system to be an extreme emergency backup cause of maybe the inability to get gas for the generator. This system is off grid and I don't intend to connect to the grid since everything is mostly homemade and not UL approved. I then wanted to track the sun so I found 2 auto window motors and took the motor out of the second one and cut the worm gear of the armature and then coupled the 2 gear boxes together. I then got a starter gear and a flywheel. I bolted a front rotor to the fly wheel and put a spindle into a pipe and installed the bearings. I spring loaded the motor drive so that I can disconnect very easily. The thing runs so smooth and the torgue is so great I could not hold the frame from rotating. 180 degree rotation takes about 25 min. so when the sun is out there is no overshoot. Runs pretty accurate. I got the tracker circuit from MTM Scientific and dont have any problems with it. It has the 3 amp relays on the board but my motor only takes 1 amp. I put 2 sets of limits on the frame. One for the circuit board and one set directly for the motor circuit as a backup in case something failed on the circuit board. All the panels are fused with a disconnect. The batteries have 250 fuses on the pos posts with a 250 amp breaker going to the pure sine inverter. The charge controller is a 30 amp PWM. The control box has 30 amp fuses going to the batt. from the controller. I am using the load on my controller to power the tracking circuit and motor fused at 4 amp and I have a manual control switch fused at 3 amp for east and west so I dont have to go outside when the sun is not out. There is also a solar panel disconnect in the control box. I also have 3 more stationary panels facing south so on a bright sunny day I am cranking out 25 amps. Each panel puts out 19 volts and 67 watts in full sun. Here is also a pic of the battery compartment. If there are any specific questions feel free to ask. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Slidegate; 10-27-11 at 05:56 PM..

10-27-11, 02:07 PM	#6
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	What're you using the power for besides a backup? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-27-11, 02:28 PM	#7
Slidegate Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mercer, Pa. Posts: 19 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	I'm using the excess power to run my work bench in the cellar, TV, Drill press soldering station and recharging drill batteries and whatever I can run depending on the SOC of the batteries

10-28-11, 01:06 AM	#8
ThomSjay Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Posts: 91 Thanks: 8 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Do you have any more pics of the motors-to-worm gear? I think I might be able to accomplish the same thing. Thanks. __________________ TomS

10-28-11, 05:09 PM	#9
Slidegate Lurking Renovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Mercer, Pa. Posts: 19 Thanks: 1 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	OK here are the pics you asked for. The first picture shows the motor and the 2 gear boxes mounted 90 deg apart, the second picture shows the second gear box meshing with an idler gear with a starter gear brazed to it. The third shows the whole gear assy spring loaded to the flywheel. Real easy disconnect there. The fourth is a little fuzzy but it shows a coupler with set screws to connect the 2 together. The fifth shows the whole assy. You need to be able to do a little metal work to do the combo but it sure does work smooth. Hope this helps. Any more ? feel free to ask Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Slidegate; 10-28-11 at 05:18 PM..

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode