Schlagwort: Solar Panel Tracking

  • A simple single-axis sun tracker to maximize solar output

    A simple single-axis sun tracker to maximize solar output

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Solar power is awesome, but it takes a long to recoup the investment on hardware. The more output you can squeeze from a solar panel, the faster you’ll cross that line into actual monetary savings on energy. You can achieve decent output through most of the day with smart placement, but a sun tracker like this single-axis design from Shawn Murphy will dramatically increase your output.

    This is a single-axis sun tracker and so it doesn’t increase output quite as much as a tracker that moves on two axes. But if one orients that axis properly, this will still be a significant improvement over a static solar panel.

    Murphy has two 300 watt solar panels mounted on the roof of a shed that they use as an art studio. That roof has a slight downward slope, so the panels only receive full sunlight when the sun is low in the sky. To account for that, a pair of powerful linear actuators lift up the entire roof of the shed to keep the solar panels perpendicular to the sun’s rays as much as possible. Gas struts help to lighten the load on the actuators.

    An Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect board controls the linear actuator motors through a Drok DC motor controller. The Arduino looks at a pair of LDRs (light dependent resistors) and calculates the differential between them to determine if the panels should tilt further. Murphy connected the Nano to the Arduino Cloud to log the readings, which lets him check to see the movement throughout the day.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgmIF0OEbS0?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    You might not have a shed with a roof like Murphy’s, but you can still repurpose this project for your own solar panels.

    The post A simple single-axis sun tracker to maximize solar output appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Mysoltrk is a low-cost solar panel tracking system

    Mysoltrk is a low-cost solar panel tracking system

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    While a solar panel installed on the top of a roof, lamp post, or the side of a building will produce power, it is nowhere near optimal for achieving the maximum efficiency possible. To get better results, panels are often mounted to pivots and linear actuators/servo motors that continually move to always face the sun. But as Fulvio points out, these motors can be heavy and require extra batteries to function, which is what inspired him to create the mysoltrk to address this shortcoming. Fulvio built his “reinvented” tracker to be small, solid, and sturdy enough to survive outdoors on a balcony or any other space-constrained area like a garden.

    Mysoltrk relies on a pair of very simple yet robust actuators that are each based around a 6V 30RPM geared DC motor, which spins a threaded rod to move an M3 nut closer or further away. When placed in the same plane and connected via a ball joint at the top, this triangle of is able to maneuver the panel in three axes.

    Both motors were then wired to an L298N motor driver which is controlled by an Arduino Nano. Having to incorporate Wi-Fi or a GPS receiver would have introduced far too much complexity, so these components were replaced by a matrix of four photoresistors and a tracking algorithm that, in essence, attempts to balance the readings across all of them in order to point directly at the sun. Perhaps the most incredible part of this project is how no batteries are required thanks to the low-power motors.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcEDuvvm-Bo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    For more information about mysoltrk, which was recently selected as a finalist in the 2023 Hackaday Prize Green Hacks challenge, you can read Fulvio’s write-up here.

    The post Mysoltrk is a low-cost solar panel tracking system appeared first on Arduino Blog.

    Website: LINK

  • Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

    Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Developing a photovoltaic solar tracker controller with a MKR Zero

    Arduino Team — August 7th, 2019

    While energy consumption is an important concern in our modern world, you might have noticed that energy in the form of light shines down on us every day from the sun. Solar panels can be utilized to harvest this and turn it into useful electricity, and if your panels can track the sun throughout the day, you can see an efficiency bump of 15-40%.

    In order to experiment with this concept, Frank Migge has, after several iterations, come up with a beautiful display called the “SunTracker2 Revision 2.”

    The device uses stored sun data fed to an Arduino MKR Zero via its SD card reader, and controls 32 LEDs that show the sun’s position, sunset/sunrise, and magnetic north. Automatic alignment is handled by an onboard magnetometer, and a stepper is even implemented to simulate future panel movement.

    You can check out the demo below, and find more info over on GitHub.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8dpviy-tlI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    Website: LINK