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Solar Panel That Tracks Sun's Movement

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:07 pm
by Readymom
DIY: Tracking Solar Panel-Moves With the Sun

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Solar PV tracker
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-PV-tracker/?ALLSTEPS

Solar power is a great way to get off the grid or at least power some household items to be more self sufficient. The only problem with this is you have to have the solar panels pointing in the direction where the sun the most.

This relatively low cost and straightforward to build project actually allows your panel to follow the sun so you have more hours of sun on your panel, thus, giving you more power, apparently, between 30 and 50% more power!
-Intro from: Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Image For a class project (PV Design, Appalachian State, Dr. Dennis Scanlin) I decided to try making a low cost PV (photovoltaic) tracker. Being able to follow the sun's path through the sky can raise your solar panel system's output considerably (30-50%), but the argon filled ones can be a bit pricey, and seem to be a bit unsteady in wind. I looked at several different designs, looked at what materials I could find, and this is how ... CONTINUED at LINK, above ...