Posted by Brent Geery on December 18, 2007, 3:57 pm
I'm adding 1.5kW of Solar panels to my trailer. They will be on a
"weight balanced" tilting rack, so that I could add a satellite dish
actuator and $40 Redrock tracker to allow single axis tracking.
However, it would be single axis tracking of elevation; not the more
typical single axis tracking of the East/West (azimuth) direction.
I don't know of any program that would allow me to calculate the
advantage of single-axis tracking on this axis, but I'm assuming the
benefit would be more in the summer, and less in the winter, as the
summer sun travels higher in the sky. I have a small 1-2 week window
in the summer peak where I will probably need a backup generator, and
this tracking may eliminate that dependence.
Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
--
BRENT - The Usenet typo king. :)
Posted by RW Salnick on December 18, 2007, 4:28 pm
Brent Geery brought forth on stone tablets:
> I'm adding 1.5kW of Solar panels to my trailer. They will be on a
> "weight balanced" tilting rack, so that I could add a satellite dish
> actuator and $40 Redrock tracker to allow single axis tracking.
> However, it would be single axis tracking of elevation; not the more
> typical single axis tracking of the East/West (azimuth) direction.
>
> I don't know of any program that would allow me to calculate the
> advantage of single-axis tracking on this axis, but I'm assuming the
> benefit would be more in the summer, and less in the winter, as the
> summer sun travels higher in the sky. I have a small 1-2 week window
> in the summer peak where I will probably need a backup generator, and
> this tracking may eliminate that dependence.
>
> Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
> tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
>
why not tilt the pivot to (90 degrees minus your lattitude)? Then your
single actuator will move the panels to track the path the sun takes
thru the sky. You'd have to adjust the tilt angle a few times a year to
account for the +/- 23 degrees of solar altitude changes thru the seasons.
bob
Posted by Brent Geery on December 19, 2007, 5:04 pm
wrote:
>Brent Geery brought forth on stone tablets:
>> I'm adding 1.5kW of Solar panels to my trailer. They will be on a
>> "weight balanced" tilting rack, so that I could add a satellite dish
>> actuator and $40 Redrock tracker to allow single axis tracking.
>> However, it would be single axis tracking of elevation; not the more
>> typical single axis tracking of the East/West (azimuth) direction.
>>
>> I don't know of any program that would allow me to calculate the
>> advantage of single-axis tracking on this axis, but I'm assuming the
>> benefit would be more in the summer, and less in the winter, as the
>> summer sun travels higher in the sky. I have a small 1-2 week window
>> in the summer peak where I will probably need a backup generator, and
>> this tracking may eliminate that dependence.
>>
>> Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
>> tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
>why not tilt the pivot to (90 degrees minus your lattitude)? Then your
>single actuator will move the panels to track the path the sun takes
>thru the sky. You'd have to adjust the tilt angle a few times a year to
>account for the +/- 23 degrees of solar altitude changes thru the seasons.
I don't really have a choice in mounting arraignment. It's a miracle
I was able to mount 1500 watts of panels occupying only about a 6'x6'
footprint on the front roof and another 6'x6' section covering the
forward front face of the trailer.
Posted by Anthony Matonak on December 18, 2007, 10:51 pm
Brent Geery wrote:
> Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
> tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
You could try the NREL solar radiation atlas.
http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/
A quick glance seems to suggest you'll get another 10% to 15%.
Anthony
Posted by Brent Geery on December 19, 2007, 4:57 pm
On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:51:54 -0800, Anthony Matonak
>Brent Geery wrote:
>> Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
>> tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
>You could try the NREL solar radiation atlas.
>http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/
>A quick glance seems to suggest you'll get another 10% to 15%.
How do you find that data there? I only see data for E/W (N/S axis)
single axis tracking. I'm talking about the of the direction and axis
N/S (E/W axis).
XML site map
> "weight balanced" tilting rack, so that I could add a satellite dish
> actuator and $40 Redrock tracker to allow single axis tracking.
> However, it would be single axis tracking of elevation; not the more
> typical single axis tracking of the East/West (azimuth) direction.
>
> I don't know of any program that would allow me to calculate the
> advantage of single-axis tracking on this axis, but I'm assuming the
> benefit would be more in the summer, and less in the winter, as the
> summer sun travels higher in the sky. I have a small 1-2 week window
> in the summer peak where I will probably need a backup generator, and
> this tracking may eliminate that dependence.
>
> Can someone help me determine/calculate the effect of single axis
> tracking of North/South (elevation)? TIA.
>