anything I should know about one ,before I buy?
--
Karma, What a concept!
On 2/15/2011 9:30 AM, Lamumba wrote:
> anything I should know about one ,before I buy?
You didn't supply a link, so I did a Google search and took a quick look at
http://www.thesolar.biz/Solar_Pathfinder.htm
and decided that, although it might be a nifty gadget, you might come
out money ahead to download one of the free sun azimuth/altitude
calculators (David Williams has written and posted one here) and use the
computed results for the sun path.
The device does allow you to get a notion the effects of shading and
reflection from nearby trees, buildings, etc - but it's worth noting
that those measurements are single-point readings and might be very
different a yard/meter away (in other words, they might be accurate for
one part of your collector but not for any other), and might vary from
day to day and hour to hour throughout the year.
If you're inclined toward DIY projects, you can buy (S3-R1-A, $8.50) a
solar radiation detector at
http://www.hobby-boards.com/catalog/index.php?cPath"
that connect to your computer via a USB adaptor (DS9490R-A, $8.00) - so
that for around $0 you can have essentially the same capabilities with
the ability to deploy as many sensors (insolation, temperature, etc) as
you might ever desire.
To directly answer your question: You should know whether it tells you
what you want to know, and whether you like the device more than the
cash it costs. :-)
--
Morris Dovey
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/
PGP Key ID EBB1E70E
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