How to build a Solar Tracker and Free Plans
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- This video goes along with the plans that I am placing on the web freely so you can build your own single axis tilted solar tracker. If you want a copy of the plans, please like this video and send me a message. I have a link below with the plans, crude but functional.
Sorry about the wind noise.
drive.google.c...
Thanks for sharing, I built 3 but had to change the way the actuator mounted due to high winds. Your the MAN thanks again. God bless you.
Would you happen to still have those plans?
Looks like his link is dead.
Also would love to know the adjustments you made for high wind.
My little farm is super windy
Hi Pete, in reply to your question about wind, I use a tracking circuit that "parks" the panels so the wind blows across the top of the panels when the wind gets up, not underneath. The weak point is at the base where it comes into contact with the base in the front. I did recently have to replace a piece of the pipe that holds the lower swivel have in place. Otherwise, I've had no trouble with wind (knock on wood). My Max winds here are in the range of 50 mph where about 90 miles north, the pattern changes to about 70 mph. No hills or trees there. I hope that answers the question about that. As for the actuators, I use the solar actuators from Venture Manufacturing in Ohio. Good prices and great people to work with. Look them up online and give them a call.
One of the best solar trackers I've seen great job simple and sturdy
Craig,
Bless you for sharing your time and invention. I down loaded the plans and will begin construction when the snow clears (April).
I'll try and send you photos when I get mine up.
Thanks, Allen
How did it turn out?
@@johnfitbyfaithnet Well.... here's what happened. I got the holes all dug, then the wife and I thought we better focus on food production instead for a while, turns out that might have been a good idea given where we are with this virus. This required my building a huge green house as our forest friend would eat anything we grew. We have also just started making this a year round operation with lights and wood heat. I walk by a pile of panels from time to time and wish I had time to get them up. With the grow lux lights added to the system I really need my panels and a tracker installed. Maybe later this summer .
@@allengibson7346 cool thank you for sharing
@@allengibson7346 you live in MN like me, this newbie would come help.
I'm just trying to get my order in now, solar 15k pole mount tracker
@@lts30000 Douglas, thanks for the note and your offer to help. I am actually located in North Idaho so logistics would be a problem. After giving it a great deal of thought I decided to go with a static mount. I have a host of reasons for doing that (I won't bother you with those here), Primarily, with panels being as affordable as they were a little over a year ago, it just made more sense to build a larger array than to buy the materials and do the work needed to put together a adjustable array. Thanks again, Allen
I just found your videos today. Thank you so much for posting your knowledge and your willingness to share the plans. I look foreword to using your plans to build my smaller 2kw system. you have me as a subscriber.
Dawn A Thanks for subscribing Dawn. If you have questions let me know.
Very, Very helpful!!! Thank you for the plans. I will touch base with you if and when I start putting a solar facility together.
Thanks for the plans, I think that I can used parts from a big old Sat Dish setup from the Eighties
I love it!
28 kW vs 60 kW is not 40%, that's 214%. You more than doubled your production with this single-axis tracker.
I have a fixed pitch 6.2 kWp, and about to add 2 or 3 kWp, on at least a 1 axis tracker, maybe a dual-axis, (I'm not too keen on the amount of ground area the two-axis needs though). My 6.2 kWp makes a 22.8 kW average per day since installed. I think with a single axis tracker the 2 or 3 kWp will be around 15 to 24 kW on it's own!
Nice system Craig, well-done! Just downloaded, will see if I can take this on.
Ross R Enjoy it. The trackers have really helped my system out do what it is supposed to do. I built them because 10kw is all my state allows to get net metering and watt for watt compensation.
Very nice. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Cheers.
I have two old 12 ft. Satellite Dishes I think could be converted to a Tracker Any Idea?
Great job vary impressive I've been considering doing a tracking system of some sort thanks for sharing
Outstanding videos. I was glad you are willing to share your info so freely. I have some design modifications which I will share back with you and credit you with the original design. Your entire system is inspiring. FYI the "Track and Park" is not available.
great. please send them along to me and I will try to put them into the download for this project
Please know I have the same mindset of sharing what we know. Know also that It may be a bit of time as we are 2 years out and working to begin our quest. Your free sharing of knowledge has inspired me and I hope to implement/improve your design for my off grid retirement. If you are wondering what we are working on please feel free to check us out.
TZ Homestead hello please am new to this.... can you kindly tell me what i need to desing a solar tracking system? Thanks...
homecsp.com/store/index.php?id_product=63&controller=product Here is the Track n Park webpage. This is really all you need. Did you watch the other video? I run a 24 volt system for the actuators. 2 deep cycle marine batteries in series and a 24 volt solar panel with a charge controller on it for the batteries.
Well done! Simple, strong, great design. I want to build some! Send me the plans! Thanks so much for sharing!
the plans are in a link shown here drive.google.com/open?id=0B-LQy5niVNUYMHBTNU52Ukttd0U
Hello Craig, really nice design on your adjustable single axis tracker. The best part is that you used commonly available pipe and structural steel members. Although I'm a little late watching you video, I would still like to get the plans. The link you posted above does not work. I am looking to design and build my own solar tracker system for my country property.
Great job, well done,
Thanks for the plans,
i sir if possible to you to e maill plan andrepage3017outlook.com@outlook.com thanks sir
Looks like Im late to the party. Are the plans still available? One of the best, most informative post i'v seen.
Pedro, it is electric actuators. I have a 60 watt 24 volt panel to move them so they don't take power from them.
Craig, use solarpowered super capacitors instead of batteries for actuators! I think u need just 1 second @10amp load. 10 X 700F in series should? do it. 26v maximum limit. Use 1/4 watt 1k balance resistor parallel with each 2.5v cap. for this battery eliminator. Thanks again
Thanks Dave! That would work and the 26volt max is important too. Sometimes the batteries charge to over 29 volts and that makes one of the tracking boards park the panels at the wrong time, but usually where they are still receiving full sun.
@@davegeorge7094 Hi. Is there an instruction somewhere how to make that? Thanks.
nice job dude very interesting design
Hi Craig Bradely! I think your video is great and wanted to know if you know what preautions are used for high winds? Will it automatically move to the horizontal position during high wind events?
Hello! A very interesting project. Please show me the drawing of your solar tracker. Because the link in the description of this video is not working
I'm thinking of a dual axis control system. I would need to alter your design where you manually change the N-S axis. No wasp danger!
Amazing build....I wished I did have a garden myself in order to get some money back by selling electricity power back to the main power company. Dual axis is really nice, but I wonder what the difference is on a yearly base compared to cheaper, fixed angle positioned solarpanels like you see on farmerland mostly (or roofs for that matter). I wonder if it's not easier to place just flat panels on the ground instead of angled panels if the power generation is only a fraction less compared to systems that have angled panels since the efficiëncy is so much higher with modern panels compared to panels 10 years ago (they overal initial investment WITH the more affordable high efficiëncy Chinese panels already produce more than you need in a normal household anyway right, if making money out of solar energy is not your main target, but just to get carbon neutral for starters).
Craig, have you ever considered putting grease fitting on your bearings?
No, it just so happens that using the grease zerks helped get the grease into the sleeve. I just keep greasing them.
Bravo ! I need one.
Nice design!
thanks for response how many feets is ok distanse between each and im put a concrete bloc in front 40x36x30 whit flange for the front block and 2 block of 24x24x20 for rear thank you for you help im appreciate
3 trakers same to you traker 8kw solar pannel 65 70 kw by day in sunny day quebec canada very good installation
27 305 w pannels
Thank you for sharing
Can you send me the plans to your tracker?
Very informative Video. Would really like your plans.
Larry Johnson click the description link and you can download a copy of the plans. If you have trouble, message me again
The link to the plans is in the description. Click in there and you'll see the link to the PDF download.
Link not valid anymore?
Hi Craig. Thanks for this video. I was looking into buying a solar tracker, but they are so expensive, I decided to build one myself. And you are right, there are not many plans around :) So yes, I would be very happy if you could email the plans you made. I put you in my circles, so you should be able to send them to me through google plus.
drive.google.com/open?id=0B-LQy5niVNUYMHBTNU52Ukttd0U See if this link works.
drive.google.com/open?id=0B-LQy5niVNUYMHBTNU52Ukttd0U Try this link.
Thanks! Both links work. This is a nice autumn/winter project :)
This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing! I was wondering if you have any friction issues with the pipe inside the pipe? Have you considered adding pillow bearings or polymer bearings(which is what I think the pros use)?
Hi,what hight do have the pipe from N and from S and what angle have all the structure. Thanks.
Hi Craig, this is one of the most informative videos on the subject I've managed to find so far, thank you. I wonder how's the concept "pipe in pipe" holds under weather conditions after a few years. Any wear/corrosion issues? Also, the link for plans isn't working anymore.
Hi Craig, just what I have been looking for. Thanks for sharing. Do you know what the wind speed and snow load rating would be? I will need that for permitting. Could you send me the plans?
Hi Mark, sorry for the delay getting back. The plans are available on a link down below here from a google drive link. I don't really know the snow rating, I know that when I put them up, we had a couple of 9 and 12 inch snows and I was able to brush the snow off and they worked fine. Turn off the motors if you are expecting snow but with the rod underneath, they are pretty strong. I hadn't worked out any numbers on snow loading or wind loading, but the mounts are pretty heavy. Let me know if you can't get to the plans.
I've downloaded your plan and went through it - nice job putting it all together and thanks for helping people who're looking for the ideas online. There's only one thing that makes me wonder: those 3" pipes are turning inside the 3 1/2" holders without bearings (if I got it right), so are they doing okay being just lubricated through zerks? No hard time turning in cold weather? Thanks for the help.
I keep them greased and they turn fine. Just grease them every 6 months or so, not much grease either...
How well does this handle the high winds? We have some pretty stiff winds here in our area. We have a 7Kw system on the house and a planned 6Kw system for off grid. The plan is using the off grid with some trackers to maximize the output. Just need something that handles the wind. What is used to determine the movement of the actuators for moving the panels during the day? I see that the actuators look to be from old satellite dish mountings. Those still come up now and again. I have 30 panels to mount. My panels are 200w panels.
Wow, nice built!
I have a problem downloading it, I just repeatedly getting an error message.
Could you please send me the link?
Thanks in advance!
Kjell
Truly outstanding! Thank you! Thank you!
Where's the tracker? What is driving the actuator?
the link is not working any longer. I was wondering about the actuator. Where do you source them and what is the brand?
www.venturemfgco.com/ very strong actuators!
Have you considered putting a counter balance weight at the bottom under the mount to counter the weight of the panels?
They are balanced the way they are attached to the mount. Not too hard to move at one extreme or the other
Sharing this.
Cool! Thanks brother!
Looks Good
This link should work to download the plans to this tracker. If you do download them, please send me a message on here and post pictures when you get it built.drive.google.com/open?id=0B-LQy5niVNUYMHBTNU52Ukttd0U
Hi
I just downloaded the plans. Thank you very much
I have 5 KW of fixed panel and want to get more energy for the morning loads --toaster, coffee pot and hair dyers etc) and late afternoon to top up the batteries for overnight.
So, after a year of use are there any things you would add or do differently ?
Thanks
Bill
WilWinston I hope it helps you with your system!
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Craig what brand and Watt panels are you running? I want to do around a 6Kw system with two to three rotators. I live in Central TX.
my panels are SolarWorld 275 watt panels. I have 36 of them for 10kW.
How did it turn out?
@@johnfitbyfaithnet I have not built them yet!
How do I get plans for this
Hi, Do you still have the plans available?
What system or rails and clips did you use to mount your panels to the tracker? I want to build system with eight 310 watt panels.
I bought a kit that came with all that stuff from wholesalesolar.com
Класс! Привет Вам из России)!
where can I download the plans?
question for you how much distance between each traker and how much is the base of concrete and the distance between each
I have 20 feet between each one which is not enough. But I don't remember how much concrete. Total 7 yards for all 4.
the wind not afect the installation on my site 50 mph regular
Hello Sir,
would you still be able to provide the plans? The link is dead.
Can you please send plan for it?
Also are you able to get increase in power production and how much % you get increase in?
Manish Patel look in the main entry in the comments. There is a link there. Let me know if you find it
Craig Bradley what are your production results for with and without tracker?
Craig: Can you describe how you assembled and erected these? Seems like too much weight and height for a single man? Thanks! I'm trying to do this myself without any heavy equipment and much help in the near future.
We, meaning me, my two sons and brother in law moved the frames over and set them up by hand, then we put on the rail, wires and panels.
Hi Craig.... any interference from the inverters or solar panels to your ham radio antennas/radio???
No, they don't generate any noise on the radios at all!
@@craigb700 tnx for the info, im almost finishing a 4,2kw on my site but with hoymiles mi-1500...thx for the qso also ZP5DBC 73
Can I see a copy of your plans
I just glanced over your plans but i didnt see any details on the actuators , specifically what activates them. are they on timers or by the movement of the sun or?????
lee bergstrom the tracker motored are solar actuators from Venture Actuators. they move the trackers from a signal from the tracker circuits from homecsp.com if you want more information about this let me know and I'll prepare a full explanation video.
lee bergstrom Here is my controller: homecsp.com/store/index.php?id_product=63&controller=product
Lee, I just put a video up about the actuators. Check out my channel to see what I did. In a few days I will post on the manual movement controls.
Plans link is not valid anymore. Can you please update it?
i have an actuator that was on one of those HUGE satellite dishes that was with my house... i took the stuff apart and tested the actuator - it seems to work, but it only spins - i can't figure out how to wire it to extend/retract? I'm assuming it MUST be able to do that, since lining up a dish without that ability would be tough! anyone got any ideas? i hate to think i have this cool huge thing and can't use it! the only other option is to rig up a bunch of gears etc to turn 'round and round' into 'in and out'...
Sounds like the gear teeth are broken off. You need to find replacement gears or replace the actuator. Try Venture Actuators in Ohio.
I did take it apart and nothing SEEMS broken.. but is there a switch to tell it to extend/retract vs spin? or is it wiring? how do you go from one to the other when they set these bad boys up? - surely you must be able to do either action independantly? having moved the dish itself, i can tell you, that sucker is heavy!! you wouldn't want to have to wrestle it in and out to tune...
nice
Can you make a metric version, for the rest of the world???
John Smith I'm not sure what those sizes would be. the main thing would be to get pieces of pipe and bar that would fit inside other pieces for rotation and adjustment. 3 inch pipe inside 3.5 inch pipe. I would do the conversions in Google to metric sizes then talk to your metal guys.
I’d like the plans
i im finish my 3 traker im not instal the aluminium racking im bolt direct on frame and on cornor im weld at 45 degres the water not go inside only connect the 3 actuator on the same single axis controler give me you e mail im shiping picture thanks for plan
The plans for this are no longer there!
im almost finish my 3 trakers 27 pannels 305 watts grind tie system
would you send me the plans? thank you
Dennis Sapp hi Dennis, they are in a link lower down in the comments. click it and you should be able to download them. if you can't find it, send a message back.
drive.google.com/open?id=0B-LQy5niVNUYMHBTNU52Ukttd0U click this link and they should download.
Oh poop, the Google link is dead....
Whose the Ham? I see a pair of Yagi and a tower!
tubesman7 that's me, it's my second tower. KD9MS.
Wish I had that. Maybe in my new digs I will put up something like that! Yeah I thought I saw two. Only a ham would spot something like that, or an A**hole from the home owners association! 73 AF2RF
good system ,please send me the plan. thanks
what's your email address?
how about next time you carft and make video
If anyone has these plans let me know thanks
With Avasva plans doing something like that was easy.
What a
Hallo Craig,
mein Name ist Uwe Rasche aus Deutschland. Ich bin sehr begeistert von Deinem Projekt und der Umsetzung. So ähnlich habe ich das auch umgesetzt. Frei aus eigener Intension. Gern würde ich mich mit Dir austauschen. Meine EMail ruwe50210@gmail.com.
Beste Grüße
Uwe aus Gottgau in Sachsen/Anhalt Deutschland
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