Solar Panel Sun Tracker. Don't "math" a real-world problem to death without all the facts. Solar Trackers work! Tracker Info: www.eco-worthy.com/?ref=Tony5
I did the "math" for tracking in 2007 when i was tasked with making a program to actually answer this question. I have a database with 20 years of climate data for the US and i can conclusively tell you that tracking gives you about 30% more power collection on average than stationary panels. The key is keeping the panels as perpendicular to the sun as possible, which your system does. Cut your electric bill by an additional 30% and you will find out that additional system costs can be recouped in a year or less! Thanks for sharing!
Again, you are mathing it to much. In the morning, my panels create about 70% more than panels facing south. In the evening, my panels create about 70% more power than panels facing south. During mid day, both setups produce the same with the same number of panels. If you add the cost of panels to offset the cost of the trackers, then during mid day, the southerly facing panels will produce more. In Tennessee, you would be lucky to have 10 days a month that did not have clouds during the day reducing output. With the tracker, everytime the sun shines, I make power. There is no way to math and unknown.
My solar tractor averages out for an entire day as 42% more productive than if the panels are stationary. I took one of my panels sets and had it set stationary while I let the other panel set track the Sun. During the morning hours the one that tracked the sun was producing 70%. More power than the one that didn't. The same thing happened in the evening. This averaged out to be a 42% gain over a stationary system with the same number of panels. The guy you spoke of was not a controlled test. You could have had one bad connection or one thing different.
the school district Washington Island in Michigan has a parallel installation for over a decade public available with all the data. 30% by average is right as said above. If you have more gain in the morning and evening then it might be less during highnoon but at the end of the day the usual tracker brings about 30% depending on the shadow, climate and casting of cause. There is a video on youtube about that school and their solar system and inverter is open for the public. You can check both systems the fixed one and the tracker via sat image but the result are just 30% It always depends cause if you need power in the early morning and late evening a tracker might be the best. But here we do not have power outages in decades, highest ac availability in europe , so the grid is always there and the solar power system plus the battery of cause - and for emergencies a 3000 Watt diesel powered inverter and a 6000 L tank full of diesel for the heating which can also be used to power the inverter to charge the car. Here we have solar power systems usually on rooofs and agriculture ones in 4 m hight or on arrays on the ground all facing south with 35°, no tracker cause those are too expensive here, panels are a lot cheaper cause another 600 W panel is currently about 140 $ or 120€
Solar trackers do produce more energy but, they may require more maintenance and repair costs plus up front costs. I also live in tornado ally with high winds on open farmland so they would always be at risk of wind damage. If you are limited for space for a solar setup they are definitely worth the money to invest in or have a wind block for them. If you have lots of room, than more panels are better. I live on a farm so I can do a fixed mount system for my panels which produces shade for my sheep which also graze the grass under them. I can also use the shade to grow crops that require less sunshine to grow under them (Electro-culture). It is a win win situation for fixed mount on a farm, ranch or homestead with extra land to spare. I can also put mine on a central hinge that I can move up and down 4 times per year manually if desired to adjust for each season (but not daytime tracking). For a city person a tracking system could be a major win or someone with lots of shaded areas to deal with. For a rural home with open land you just need to do the math. Solar panels on the roof are also very problematic when it comes time to replace all your shingles or even one of them. I would NEVER put solar panels on my roof if I had any other option to mount them.
I'm a 66 year old retired (successful) engineer with a fully working 2,560 Watt solar system I custom-built with all ground-mounted (movable) panels. I learned a great deal from you. I have looked into your trackers and see all the benefits. I have to reset my panels for Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, and one point in between, equinox. It's a pain. Other than dealing with the panels, my system works perfectly. I am going to copy you only weld up my support pole longer/deeper so I can ride my mower under the panels in the flat position. My gripe with these specific trackers is the 1,200 Watt limit on panels. Eco Worthy would not give me a weight limit, only a Watt limit. I am most likely going to purchase them anyway and beef them up enough to handle 2,000 Watts per tracker system. I don't care if they void the warranty as you (and others on UA-cam) have shown just how fantastic these are, and, now how inexpensive replacement parts are. The cost of a complete system is way less than the cost of a roof install. Roof installs have a huge list of problems and suffer efficiency issues due to heat and fixed tilt angle as well as maintenance (cleaning). You discovered and implemented the smartest solution. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
I am not sure where people get the idea they can only handle 1200 watts of solar panels. They can handle as many panels as can be bolt on. There is only a limit by size. As you can see with mine, my panels are severely undersized. I built this system to learn on. I needed to know the right questions to ask when I build my permanent system. I ran heavy wire and two trackers, so that I can upgrade later. The new ones are upgraded with stronger bushings.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk The "1200" comes directly from Eco Worthy Tech/Customer support. When they told me that, I asked them about the weight limit, and they responded by attaching the installation instructions.... So you can not get a usable answer out of them. I understand what you did and thanks for sharing with all of us so we can learn as you do.
@@benkanobe7500 - as you know fro engineering, civil structures are usually wind rated - all to do with load, pressures and areas, nothing to do with the "watts" - ie, you may be using modern 550W panels, or old school (non perc) 150watt panels of the same size - loadout weight (kg/lv) also has less impact than windload. (ignore unintelligent "manufacturer recommendations" / reasonable use is more appropriate under most circumstances - if it breads, pull out the welder, grab some scrap steel and weld it back better..
@@kadmow We are of a like mind. I received both systems yesterday. - $598.oo each including shipping!!! I have my welder and unistrut all ready to fab up some mechanical strength and reposition the actuators for my leverage. All good stuff and thanks for your comments.
I have a lot of experience with a tracking system using the same linear actuators. About 10 years now. My first actors were pneumatic because that what I have available to me. These eco-worthy ones where not out yet. My arrangement is 9 panels set up all panels next to each other for a long arrangement. Similar to a commercial solar farm. I have 10 arrays. I only track 2-axis, east to west and it works fine. I make more power in the winter than I know what to do with. I live in southern Arizona. Where I live wind is the biggest issue, especially during the monsoon season with micro-burst. Winds can hit 80 plus mph for a few minutes. My setup currently is what I call fourth generation. When I had a failure from wind I would determine the failure point and redesign it. It was recently tested with a micro-burst in the area that took out a neighbors porch awning and about 10 power poles snapped on roads nearby. Power was out for 9 hours. My house was still air conditioned and no worries of loosing hundreds of dollars worth of frozen meat. All of my panels held up. In high winds my panels return to the east position with the shortest possible actuator length for elimination of most of the stress on them. Overall I get way more power with tracking than a fixed position. Also I gave up on tracking the light. I just have it pulse movement during the day that adjust itself for the time of year. Also, when they return to the east at sunset, I pulse it in about 15 pulses with a small break so to not to exceed the duty rating of the actuator. I finally got my system dialed in.
We just moved from the desert in Southwest Texas and had the same wind issues. My first dual axis tracker was blown apart twice before I figured out how to weather proof it. I ended up using 4-1/2 drill stem for the main rotating parts and 11 gauge steel tubing for the mounting rails. I still had an auger concreted at all four corners in order to strap it down when we had one of those desert thunderstorms that would blow through. The one good thing about living in the desert you could see a storm coming way before it arrived.
trackers are especially beneficial for batteries, because they smooth and prolong the power output from panels. there is not rapid increase, peak at the noon and then drop of power output. that can be replicated with several fixed panel fields facing different directions, but i think, tracker is more elegant solution.
Im hosting 4 eco worthy solar tracking with 3X375W solar panel, this my solar panels getting sun right at 8 AM and im pleased with the results, I had to upgrade some stuff on the eco worthy and solve some annoying issues but now its working fine.
I have two issues: 1 - Its not large enough. I need to be able to put 10 * 455 panels on one and the trackers I have seen for those are $2k - $3k. 2 - I would really like to know how they perform in 80mph - 110mph winds. We actually do get hit with these winds where I am once a year. Still an awesome video though, thank you for sharing
I'd like to build one, but with only one axis of movement. Automatic tilt towards the South, since I'm up north in MI. East-West I'm sandwiched between roofs (solar pergola), and I'd want the wind protection feature so the whole thing doesn't end up smashed in my neighbor's yard if we get a tornado or something. Hopefully I get to try it.
I'm doing projects like this as well. Single axis right now, and the one currently working is on a shed rooftop with two 300watt panels moved with an actuator per panel, not super cost effective. We have 10 x 360 watt panels tracking around 60 degrees, 30 degrees from horizontal each way, attached to and pivoting over a fence, with 5 actuators as the other pivot/legs. We hope to pick up an additional 3 hours of sun per day. It also provides shade to a raised bed garden for a little agrivoltaic action as well. The actuators are difficult to find for much less than $40 per actuator right now. We may pick up some higher end actuators with full hall sensor positional control, but also cost a good bit more, but fit the project goals a bit more closely. (machine learning involved)
Great video, I already have 8kw stationary setup and 10kw LIPO4 battery to feed haha. Yesterday on a clear sunny sky here in Hobart Australia, made 56kw for the whole day. Was looking at putting a 2.4Kw's of panels on a tracker and have it on the 3rd string of the inverter. However wind here is a lil issue some days, coastal and gust over 100km+ 10+ days a year. Don't call it the roughing 40's for nothing lol.
I have seen some stationary set ups that will have panels that sit vertically on the side to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun, but the people who had them said similar things, it doesn't get as much energy as tracked solar. Usually the main reason we have stationary panels here in the southwest is our near constant winds, so most of the solar systems here are over built to make up for that lack of efficiency. I would love a tracked solar system here, but I think it would need to be a lot more robust to handle the sand and high gusts/winds
Ah! I see. What you are saying is the mathematicians are too "clear" headed, but optimization may actually be found by "cloudy" thinking.... Thank you for your presentation! It has always seemed to me that tracking was the optimal approach, especially if space was limited. Your examples of intra-day variation in sunlight availability provided even more weight to the argument for tracking. Even so, I'm likely to install my first system without any tracking, but will probably switch to tracking in a couple of years. I've got lots of space and panels are getting cheaper and cheaper... my big problem now is finding and deciding on a battery storage and inverter system. I really like the idea of a Tesla Powerwall or an Anker Solix X1 -- basic shrink-wrapped turnkey systems (with professional installation) with great battery management (including some temperature protection), but frankly, an Anker Solix 3800 in a well insulated and passively ventilated box would meet my immediate needs just fine, but the 3800's input voltage limitation (60V max) is a bit constraining, especially as it can't accept many amps below 32 volts. oh well... sorry just thinking out loud. You have a sweet setup there, I hope it gives you many years of service!
You should do a test. Like turn off one of the trackers in the year round position for a week and measure how much solar each array produces. Or even just one day if its cloudy. As I'm in Missouri im really curious how it would handle the cloudy days. Solar tracking is about solar hours. My normal install has about 4 daylight hours where there is an insufficient amount of power. I start seeing wattsge at sunrise, but i dont have enough solar to cover my loads for about 2 hours, then again at about 5:30 I am back to draining my battery even though I have sun for another 2 hours. So i plan to get one of these as its cheaper to get a solar tracker then it would be to get another 8kwh of batteries. If you're willing to spend over 1000$ ypu can get thet capacity for about 100$ a kWh, but thats DIY. Its closer to 300$ per kWh for something prebuilt. A 500$ tracker makes sense. I still rely on mostly normal mounted solar but I want to try one of these.
I just bought two of the eco-worthy trackers. I need space for other things in my yard and my isn't an option, so the trackers solve some space problems. I havent purchased panels yet. I would like to maximize the amount of wattage I'm producing from each array. I know you said in past videos that ypu started with the harbor freight panels as a test. Have you thought about which panels you might upgrade to (brand/wattage)? I know some panels are much heavier than others and I'm not sure how much weight the trackers can safely handle.
I do not know how winters are there but in the winter time this pays up big time. Another concern for winter is the flat rest position. I think it should be vertical when snowing. Does it have that posibility?
Not sure If I'd do this on a large scale. But honestly these look fun to mess with. Looking at doing a separate system for greenhouse heating. These might be a fun project to use. If I can get them under that $450 mark.
Sorry if didn't dig enough but do you have a diy tracker on a budget we can utilize? I know you and others spent the money and did the work but now you know exactly what works. Not to mention the knock of brands that do the same thing. Look forward to you spreading the knowledge for all! Maybe create a site and we can all work on the code together. This would make it demographically irrelevant and the algorithm will do the work. Just what is needed.
I have a 100 watt oanel I manually moved today every hour or so to match the suns movement as a little experiment and it made a major difference in the amount of watt hours brought in per the history on my victron controller, im sold,makes a huge difference and ur right it starts capturing sunlight much earlier and later
Ciao! Ti seguo da un po' e sono intenzionato a comperare un inseguitore. Ho già dei pannelli fissi di alta gamma ma il costo dei pannelli della Worthy è davvero vantaggioso. Sai dirmi se sono validi o è meglio altra marca?
- and the structure could be knocked up from some 2x3 hardwood - if one only has a hand drill and a chainsaw mill. And it appears - that tracker frame could easily support 12 panels (a windbreak on the "non sunny side" of a panel field would will help reduce wind peaks. - without ever causing shade. yes tracking the brightest spot in the sky (every 10--20 mins with sleep in betwees uses very little power) - even if only making a tracking adjustment infrequently - helps to work around cloudy intermiitent sun... (naysayers are going to nay.. If you have great fun, and inbuilt resiliency, go for it.) A tracker works especially for mobile arrays, where there isn't the real-estate to just add more panels.
Thank you very much for your videos on these trackers. I really enjoyed them. Haters are always going to hate, so don't let them get to you. You know these are working for you and that's all that matters. Some of these people are setting ridiculous expectations from these units (like asking them to work when winds are above 80 mph). Everyone thinks they are an expert. I just wanted you to know, many of us appreciate the effort you shared with us. Thanks!
The reason that many people that have been in the industry for a long time say that trackers are not cost effective unless you have limited real estate, is because, traditionally, a quality tracker costs thousands of dollars. These cheaper Chinese trackers are quite new. Like cheap Chinese panels, they are in a different category.
I would be really interested in an experiment where you let the panels track vs have them fixed pointing south at 30-45 degrees. That would really emphasize how effective this is.
They won't do that because it would prove their stories are not accurate.. I have seen studies suggesting that at best you get 5% more power with trackers and that often gets used up with the actuators.. After 2 years of experimenting, I found that just leaving mine facing south and manually adjusting the angle once a month is the best.. My custom made rack system males it very easy to adjust the angle and it only takes 30 seconds to do. It is also much sturdier than those tracker mounts so wind is never a concern...
@@twistedhillbilly6157 I think there are situations where a tracker will yield a substantial gain. There are a lot of variables to consider, like the latitude, shade coverage, whether you're doing single or dual axis, the interval of the panel movement, and how many panels are operated by the actuators. In doing my own research, it seems single axis tracking is worthwhile if you have modern and more efficient panels, since that means your structure will be lighter and therefore you don't need as powerful mechanisms. Dual axis trackers don't seem worth the extra complexity and expense over single axis. Lastly, I'm not so sure actuators are the right choice. They're smart for dual axis since they add rigidity without complexity but there are other methods that might be a lot more efficient.
@@chomps21 "TRACKING" the sun is very simple and can be extremely cheap. Using the info to move a large, heavy object accurately and efficiently is the issue. A moveable object will always be much less stable than a solidly secured object. Mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic mechanisms needed to move the large, heavy array can and will be problematic. You also have to consider the extreme limitations on the size of the array. You can't just add some panels if you need more power. The reason they are rarely used is that the cost doesn't outweigh the benefit. There have been many attempts at large scale tracking and none have succeeded. People who have gone to the expense usually do not want to admit they were wrong so they think it was "wroth it" HOWEVER, every independent study that has been done concludes that that there is no benefit from it..
With tracking, more power is supplied at peak demand times. Morning and evening should require more power, than mid-day for working families. This should lead to a somewhat smaller system, less panels and batteries should cover cost of tracking?
What way do you have it go back to at night in the winter. Flat seems like a bad idea when you could get 3"-6" of snow in 1 night? And do you find that in winter you could make even more power if it tilted more to the south? I noticed you have your east/west actuator on the west side were in my manual shows it on the east side. I have seen both ways. I also flipped mine so the motors were on the top, to keep water out of them. So far working great.
I guess that could be a problem somewhere. We don't get enough snow to worry about it. 6" of snow will not bother this. It tilts to the south on its own. It is always looking directly at the sun each and every day of the year. It follows it across the sky all day long. Winter/summer works the same. I built it the way the directions show. Turning the actuators around seems smart. If I have any problem I will. I spray mine with dry lube which last about 6 months. It is about time again.
My movements are drawn from a small 12v battery with a 10 watt solar panel. Nothing going to my power is consumed by the movements. Everything works wonderfully.
Great review of these trackers. I just picked one up (via eBay) for a song. Hope to get it set up over the next couple of weeks. The problem that I have is... which panels actually are the best fit for these? My panels are bi-facial and not a good fit. So, should I be looking for a specific size panel or wattage or type?
It is not limited to 200 wattt modules. It has a clamp system. It is just a mount. As long as you keep it balanced, it will take as many panels as you can clamp on to it.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk This system would be great if it fits normal sized panels, as they're far cheaper than the smaller ones from eco-worth. Here you can buy big 450 watt panels for 200 dollars, their small 195 watt panels cost about the same. With 2 big panels it's a 900 watt system, not too far off their 6 panel 1200 watt system.
Say what..? I bought Six brand new 200w Bi-Facials off Amazon and have them all mounted and working great on mine. Bi-Facials have nothing to do with how they fit or mount. It's the size of the panel that is important.
Hello Mr Tony: thanks for this and your previous install videos. Because of them Id like to set up 2 of these trackers according to your methods. But theres something thats not clear to me about these trackers and Id expect to see the answer in any of the assembly/review vids, but havent. Heres my situ and setup. My panels will all go straight to an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra via MC4 cables, not making any other connections along the way. Thats the normal connection methodfrom panels for that battery/inverter device. Using these trackers, I believe I would bypass the Ecoworthy MPPT of both trackers, in order to put all 12 panels in series [my only option], to get all 288volts to my Ultra battery/inverter, via a single [pair] of PV cable, , this is doable, yes? Im not asking for a comment about the Ultra, rather about not connecting the solar panels PV cables to the Ecoworthy electronics : can I bypass the box?. So in this scenario, Id have these these trackers for tilting the panels only. And the panels PV cables are wired straight to the Ultra with no other connection too Ecoworthy electronics, and it would be the as usual for the Ultra: solar panel to MC4 connectors in PV cable to connect into MC4 ports on the Ultra. My question is: Can this work, or Would I be missing anything from the Ecoworthy setup in this scenario that would ruin my tracking/tilting function that Im after? I cant begin to answer this because I dont even kno or can see how the cables emerging from each panel are terminated: are they bare wire with no connector and theyre supposed to plug into the Ecoworthy digital box, and then to your solar system? And is that necessary? or do they terminate with MC4 connectors, or what.? :( Thanks for all your videos.
what is the expected cost of wind damage ? if you can lose shingles you can lose these big things, and thats 6 panels to replace. i keep insurance on a car thats worth less than a set of your panels,
I was surprised to see you installed your solar panels under shade trees? I think I would have placed them in a constant sun space if available land allowed even if more wire was required to get back to the battery shed.
I’ve got 52,000 watts (5,350 lbs of panels) of PV. I don’t want a bunch of trackers to purchase, repair and maintain all the lubrication points. So what are you going to power with those two little arrays? I am powering my whole house, shop, 8.25 Tons of heat pumps. All electric! All year around. In Kentucky. Array angles between 45° and 66° with Azimuth between 145 and 225 degrees, for winter production, mainly.
If you followed the channel, you would understand I built this system as a learning tool. I am not locked into anything. Whatever makes sense is what I will do. The money I spent on this system will not break my bank. Having built it, I know the right questions to ask. Clearly, we came to a different understanding. The whole point of the tracker is to have less panels and make the same power. This little system powers my travel trailer and utility shed hardly using any grid power.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk As long as you are happy with your choices, that is what's important. Some buy $80K trucks, RV's, airplanes, $20K vacations or fill their sheds/garages/storage rentals with "stuff". I wouldn't call people WRONG for having any of these items. They worked for it, it's their money. It's a great hobby and educational experience. Enjoy.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mkdon’t you just love how people with no videos are always spewing hate… thanks for making these videos I just bought 2 solar tracker and 12 bi facial panels for $2100
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Nice reply. Understanding was obviously the goal here, not trying to prove that trackers are right for every situation, too many people are too easily triggered .... Though I plan to have no tracking on my first solar "farm", other than manual seasonal adjustment, the needs it serves are small and non-critical, and I'll be able to add more PV and batteries as those needs grow, and may eventually take the house totally off grid, but I'm old and lazy, and wary of windstorms, so I may never add clock or light-following tracking.
I would love to see you upgrade the panels to 400+ or 550 panels. What are your plans timeframe for that? Really enjoying your channel and content. All the best.
There will always be "naysayers".. To each their own. I love mine. My 1200w (6x200) is doing pretty good. It's still not getting full solar input because the 12v wires from the controllers is too small causing a bottleneck. I'm waiting for an solar installer\electrician to install some other items, then I'll upgrade the wire..... It'll be able to run my mini split, hot air fryer, microwave, router and pc as it were plugged into shore power.. ps. Love the short time lapse at the end.
How can I take the word of anyone who installs solar in the shade when there's unshaded land 50 Ft away in either direction. Also these panels are tiny.
@@MrSummitville My panels will all go to an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra via MC4 cables. if you bypass the Ecoworthy MPPT of one tracker [or both?], to put all 12 panels in series, to get all 288volts to your battery, ie, my Ultra, via a single [pair] of PV cable, , this is doable, yes? So in this scenario, the tracker is for tilting the panels. And the panels PV cables are wired straight to the Ultra with no other connection, which is tha as usual for the Ultra btw. Would I be missing anything from the Ecoworthy setup in this scenario? I dont even kno or can see how the cables emerging from each panel are terminated:are they bare wire with no connector, or MC4 connectors, or what.? :(
I run twin 4050 watt dual axis trackers that i built from scratch and have never understood the more panels arguments. I get sun 10-12 hours of full sun a day versus 4.5 hours for stationary panels my system runs my loads all day while charging my batteries.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk I definitely make more power on most days than I can use, since I just put in all new 48v 5.1KWh batteries I think I will add another 6 batteries to my bank and give myself another 2 days worth of back up power.
I did a proof of concept of a new type of solar tracker that I call "Zombie pneumatic solar tracking" (I might change the name if anyone thinks of a better one). It uses an air pump to raise and lower floats that moves the solar panel. Mine is on equatorial mount and is single axis, with manual adjustment for the second axis. I call it zombie because I have one controller that moves all the other "zombie brainless" solar panels at the same time. In my case, my air pump produces enough air to move 50 or 60 solar panels. You could do the same thing and run it from one solar panel that drives the pump. In mine, slowly rising air pressure over the course of the day gradually rotates the mount. In yours, your one tracking panel would control the valves and air pump to move itself and the other ones. I have a few videos about my demo. (Its a bit hokey because I have a heart condition and can't do much at a time, etc. ) You could also make yours level the panels in the wind. Mine doesn't do that. Brian
We have a nice bit of land, but our property is primarily trees. I don't want to cut down trees unless it is required. This was the absolute best place to put panels. I didn't go, YE-Ha, put it here. LOL! The neighbor farmer was not keen on me planting my solar in his field. They are in direct shade until 8am. in the summer. They stop producing power in the evening around 6 pm due to trees on my neighbors property. During the winter, the lower angle of the sun complements the system giving longer sun time. I don't want to cut down 5 acres of trees to save the planet with solar panels. LOL!
They're great where it's not too windy. On my ridge they'd almost always be flat (if they haven't blown away). For the cost of your two small trackers I can get over 2KW of excellent condition used panels. Face 1Kw East and 1KW West, and never worry about fragile moving parts. Of course, that's just my situation. Yours appears to be different.
Yes. Every area is different. My solar trackers hold up to 15-20 mph winds without problems. I have my solar trackers go flat about 25 mph or higher. They have went through two 60 mph winds and one 80 mph wind. When the sun is out, I get all of my panels working for me. It sounds like wind might be a better alternative or at least a supplemental power source.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk not dong wind here. We get very strong gusts, but nothing consistent. Besides, anything with moving parts will make noise and require maintenance and repairs. With the price of panels these days I'll take the quiet and no maintenance panels over anything else (except hydro, if I had a year round stream on my property).
err well I HAVE 2 myself.. so 1 you have WAY TO MUCH shade... and 2nd have you been greasing and checking on them weekly? If you check it weekly and keep it well maintained you wont have any issues.. Mine are in full sun all day long, and i get upwards of 50% more per day data logged. my system is set to move every 2 min. I also have a 2nd mini/charger panel attached to a battery in a box on the post. but you got way to much shade for solar..
We have duel axis system, it moves every 10 minutes the controller is made by Lauritzen (USA) well worth it, has all the features you need, hi wind parkup etc. 🇦🇺🤙
How so these hold up to snow? Can they clear snow? Gows the sensor work in snowy conditions? They probably dont make sense for most of the us that gets snow.
Yes more panels will make more power over paying for a tracker. How ever you need to have the room and the extra cash to get them. With that said If you add more panels you get to a point were your charge controller can't handle the voltage of those extra panels. The voltage of the panels will make a big difference. Then you have the space issue. For my system I can't safely add more panels without getting another CC for $600-800 plus the extra panels cost plus the wire and circuit breakers and other small things. I don't have the space for the extra panels either so the tracker is a perfect fit for the extra power to ensure I have enough for the A/C in summer now that I've upgraded the battery pack.
I totally disagree. You missed the whole concept I was talking about. In TN, we are lucky to get ten days each month without clouds boiling up over midday. This cuts out put of stationary panels. My panels are always hunting for the best sun all day long. You can't math the unknown.
it would maybe be nice when the system is full and panels are turned off (turning off solar panels is a hot topic in my workfield) to just turn them to a less ideal position to save some heat generation on the panels, this could even prolong the life of the panels itself.
That makes sense, but this system is not that complicated. It faces the sun with very few other functions. It has no idea what power level the system is.
The grumpy OldGuy™ in me is tired of things done poorly. I'm in tech and use my computer a lot, so when I click on a menu and wait for it to just draw (WAIT!), I have time to think, "Why is that taking so long? This thing is running at gigahertz! I didn't ask it to cure cancer.". That's just one simple example and there so many more things that go wrong. So I'm becoming a deliberate Luddite and strongly favoring things that are dead simple. Sledge hammers are good. They never pester me to upgrade and the manufacturer never sends me a survey … it just works as well as the day I bought it. While I understand your pursuit of efficiency and have no disrespect for that, I lean toward the simple, if less efficient way for myself.
It is true that the sun availability changing during the day is a very pertinent factor. Also mornings you are trying to catch up after all night with no power, and evening you are looking to fill batteries that may be a bit low from cloudiness and daytime power usage. This is one of the big advantages of a tracker. You would have to buy a lot of panels to have say 3 angles of stationary ones that will give you the same service as a tracking setup.
I could justify the tracking system if it involved 10 or 20k watts of panels but you've got what, 800 - 1000 watts on each tracker? Hardly worth the trouble in my book, but what do I know?
- sir, you could easily build a similar setup for any load you need - also, electric actuators are available for any force and range of motion desired... Taking a look at the setup, and riffing on the theme - it isn't too hard to contemplate (a 5kW system with 9 x 550W panels has ~ 600lb of panels on it, add the structure and not we are pivoting ~1500lb around in the air...)
@@kadmow I did a proof of concept with no actuators, just floats attached to an equatorial mount and an air pump to raise and lower the floats and move the panels. Probably a cheap option.
The performance of a solar panel angle of incidence is loosely a bell curve 2-axis perpendicular (H-V) to the panel face is the peak of both bell curves. That's where you want the sun to be, with obscured sun (cloud cover), you'll probably lose about as much as you'd gain chasing the brightest spot in the sky. IMHO, better to just run that slow continuous solar trajectory across the sky and use your surplus collected energy to prepare fo the next day's position and put the tracker to sleep the rest of the time. Generally finding the current date and time (GPS is great as it has the rest of the info you need already available) and using a solar position algorithm will get you pretty darn close - but I read in a paper a while back that an NIR camera with a super wide angle lens (110°) under a 95% absorptive Neutral density filter makes it so that just about only the sun is visible. You can home in on the sun and derrive an error offset for the tracking algorithm while only sipping power. You could do that with even an Arduino/ESP32...
My system really doesn't chase the sun and the output used for moving the actuator is minuscule. My system will only move once every 3 minutes if needed . The power used to run the actuator doesn't even really come into play because it's so light. You seem to be one of the people I was talking about. You are overthinking it.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk I'm an EE, I tend to think a lot... guilty, but as a rebuttle, I'm not saying "a solar tracker isn't worth it". The power used for moving the actuator may be miniscle, but it's measurable and having it "hunt" (like what yours did @7:03, and again right before the cut @7:45) uses power it doesn't need to IMO. This little stuff kills total harvested power, like a vampire load in a house. Earth's rotation is about 15°/hour (360°rotation/24hours = 15°/hour). If you want to calculate a slightly more precise value, the Earth orbits the Sun once a year (365.25 * 24 = 8766hours, 360°orbit/8766hours = ~0.041068°/hour). Looking at the oribital plane from the north pole down, both the rotation and orbit of the Earth around the Sun are counter-clockwise, meaning the apparent hour-angular-rates are additive: reasonably 15.041068°/hour steady state. Good enough for a single axis solar tracker - just need a reduction drive to a stepper which can handle the torque and a step pulse generator that results in that angular-rate. Math is required to optimze this drive system though, just like MPPT charge controllers there is nothing for free (more volts vs more amps or torque vs revs in a drvie system), and system integration is about cost ballancing. Optimized steady-states are generally more energy efficient than bursty rapid movements resulting in overcorrections - and this is based on real-world experience (up to and including building commercial EMS design/installation), not just paper math. It's like a variable speed A/C compressor tweaking it's steady state speed rather than bang-bang on/off compressor control.
I'm shocked that you have it at 3 minutes to move them. Even that feels super aggressive. I feel like 10 minutes would be plenty for the average sun movement. If you're trying to snag reflections off of other clouds then yeah 3 minutes makes sense, but is the power gain from moving the panels to that reflection off setting the movement? It may be, it'd be awesome to get some good power metrics on how much that system uses to move it just for fun.
All ya’ll watch Craig Bradles’ video on “easiest solar tracker”, and then build your own. The eco worthy ones are too small for the price. If you really want to be off grid you would need like 20 of them. And they are only made for the older 100 watt panels.
I can buy a lot more than 30% more panels for the cost of a tracking system. His trackers are holding 6 panels, but lets do the math assuming 8. The cheapest solar tracker I can find costs $419, So 8 panels at $100 each totals $800, so I can increase my output buy over 45% buy spending the $419 on 4 more panels. 45% is a 50% increase over 30%. Plus I never have to repair a tracker or feed one the power required to run it.
Are you factoring in time of day when your getting that power? I have plenty of panels on my array to charge up but these trackers put me online earlier and for later. I don’t need more power mid day, I want to be collecting solar as early as possible and as late as possible.
Indirectly. My solar system runs a battery charger that provides 12 volt battery power to the units. Some people put a standalone solar panel for the solar trackers.
I could get a few of these I just have no where to place them LOL! Should have built my extra room with some steel beams to plonk these on to. Oh well.
To prove or disprove your argument is very easy, just leave 1 of your arrays facing south at optimal angle all day and compare kWh to the one that's tracking. You can do this on both sunny and cloudy days, then make the data public.. the more data the more accurate results become. This is called science, give it a try.
That is when they change gains the most. In cloudy conditions a fixed panel might output so little it's basically zero, the trackers can take that zero and make it 50%.
I have fixed panels. They should last 30 years with minimal maintenance and repair. They are ground mounted and provide a large shaded area adjacent to my shop for parking and storing equipment. In real life I just get free solar power and a lot of it with no worries. That’s how I would do it again.
You are soooooo right! The glass on top of the panel reflects some light and the more angle to the sun, the more it reflects. The rest refracts down to the PV cells. It's not just cosine of angle in real life. Them tree shadows, if the post could extend when there's no bad wind and geddown when there is, could getcha more time is all. Scissor-jack legs? A DIY tracker done right will cost less but might not do all that this one does.
This is advantageous too because you end up very close to 100% production as soon as the panels can point at the sun. The "just add more panel" requires buying a bigger inverter as well as more panals, racking, etc. A tracker lets you fill in more of a smaller inverter's capacity without needing a bigger system to avoid clipping. These are quite economical now.
Overall I think you cover most points, but missed one for off-grid systems. In northern lat you don't get much gain in the winter months over stationary panels, and your panels/batteries should be sized for you usage.... So during the summer you can track for more power, but have nowhere to store it.
(in summer you could heat a long duration thermal battery with the surplus - after batteries and hot water is sorted... Yes in extreme northern latitudes, the winter sun is only a glimmer on the southern horizon, probably a good store of firewood is handier than a solar tracker - but at the same Latitude in summer - with the huge range of the sun position across the sky - a "smallish" system running at peak power all day kills it for running the AC - day and night - no battery really needed in the midnight sun.)
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mkBut clouds do move fast. Move every 3 minutes vs every 30 minutes ... Won't the total motor ON time, over the whole day, be about the same, regardless?
"You loose the complexity and the cost is about the same" is literally the only point needed. You can't follow up and say "yes, but this is the real world" as a counter argument to the hard math.
@@twistedhillbilly6157 what are you talking about? I lay out me new 3 panels in my yard in bets orientation for 1pm peaks. See what i get for a week. Then on my days off at home, every hour i run around proping up the panels to simulate "tracking". Actually, its not simulated: Im the tracker. The totals are at least twice as much power dumped into my battery by end of day when i chase the sun. Tracking is very effective.
Not sure why a sun sensor is required. The location of the sun in the sky is quite readily predictable both in azimuth and elevation. Also, it’s interesting that he planted these things in the shade when the sun is clearly up.
There are a lot of things to integrate here.... that a panel with a tracker do more in a day then a static panel will depend on many parameters mainly where you live and when, winter, summer.... etc I'm at 45 parallel north, during summer a tracker would do more power, in winter... it would be useless and guess what... we need power in winter... trackers are useless for off grid. The price... trackers are expensive, panels are not, I got 8kWc of panels for 2400€+500€ of structural material. Plus they are mechanical nightmares that will fail at a time or on other, be it because of wind or strictly mechanical wear... Not taking into account days where they are in security mode because of the wind and produce less then static panels. If you are living at the equator then a tracker (with one axle only) would be mandatory.... it all depend on where you live.
I think your understanding is lacking. Trackers definitely increase your power in the winter in the mornings and in the evenings. I understand the angles of the sun are much more towards the south, but the sun comes up in the morning and goes down in the evenings. If you have clouds in the midday, you lose most of your peak output.
I'm at 48 north. Its important to realize that in winter the sun rises and sets south of the east west line and its low in the sky but it still crosses a fairly large segment of the sky over about 8 hours. In summer, it rises a long way north of the ease west line and sets a long way north of it too so you can only get about 4 hours of decent sunlight and energy production with a fixed solar panel, but you can get up to 16 hours with a tracker. That's a huge difference. If you go far enough north, above the arctic circle, the sun is below the horizon in winter so no good and in Summer it is low in the sky in the south at noon then just goes round your back and is lower in the sky at midnight directly north of you every day for almost 6 months So you absolutely have to do tracking there!
What people mean by not worth it is if you spent the money on panels instead of the tracking system you'd have way more power. Remember 20 230 watt panels for 600 bucks.
what you fail to understand is you get peak power out of a stationary system only a 3 hours each day. I get peak power as soon as the sun comes up. What happens when clouds cover your panels for the peak hours. I have seen it happen more than most would care to admit.
Trackers are worth it, just not the ecoworthy ones. They won’t hold enough panels for the price. But there are DIY trackers that make sense. Small trackers are not better than buying more panels.
How will they not "hold enough panels for the price"?! with the addition of about a $100 worth of strut from Lowes you can fit up to 18 of Eco-worthy's own 100watt panels(STC 1800watts capable power). A simple UA-cam search shows people using panels well over a combined 2kw per array. I fail to see how significantly increasing an arrays overall daily production potential with fewer panels than what it would take from a stationary array for around $500US isn't better.
@@heshworksbetter2777 18?!? You are dreaming, good luck with those setups in high winds. Or are there never storms of any intensity where you are? I’ve seen several UA-cam videos of them with the ORIGINAL panel load only that broke, again no 18 panels, and only moderate storms. How are you going to improve it enough? For $500 you can get the same actuators, controllers etc. from EBay or Amazon with other parts from a hardware store and build something much more durable…and cheaper. And Brad Cagle and a couple other videos by school children (showing the same principle) demonstrated a way to track that is much simpler and cheaper, though I had to redesign it so it will track on both axis. How long have all those videos been up? A year or two? Let’s see an update after the next big storm. UA-camrs are always raving about “look at the brand new setup or product that has no track record over time to say yay or nay! Gee, isn’t SO cool”? No the eco worthy tracker is too flimsy and overpriced.
@@5400bowen Dreaming?! It's elementary math. Replacing Eco-worthy's 114" struts with 10ft(120") struts facilitates the mounting of 3 rows of 6 panels of 18.7"x40" panels. Last I looked 3 multiplied by 6 equates to 18. But it's mighty Boomer of you to assume you know the meteorological characteristics of my area and/or load mitigation steps haven't been implemented. But hey, I'm really anticipating seeing your "new and improved" saw horse solar tracker hit the market. Lulz
@@heshworksbetter2777 $500 will buy me two 410/575 watt bifacial panels. And $300 will make a super sturdy tracker that will be as simple as assembling the eco worthy one, ten times stronger, and will hold 4 of those panels no sweat…in high winds and earthquakes.
There is no need for the panels to track the sun. Every day, the sun is in the same spot . If your tilt system was based on the hour of the day, it would be easier to program.
Living up north right by the Canadian border solar trackers are not worth it. Being this far north you're better to spend the money spent on a tracker to buy more solar panel instead. Return on investment just isn't there being above the 49th parallel.
I think you are looking at it wrong. It would seem to more important for your panels to be facing the sun when it is out. What happens when the day clouds up at your peak output time. I have seen it be sunny in the morning, cloudy at noon, and back to sunny in the evening. I happens here often.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Im also near canadian border, and youre correct. Sunlight hours are limited, and so you gotta get it while you can, daily and seasonally. Need a tracker to follow all available sunlight. This is true for daily useages, as well in the more critical grid down situation-esp in winter, where sunlight is more scarce: u better be positioned to absorb all the light possible during any cloud & time windows available! Thanks for all your sharing mr. Tony.
"If you just do the math, you're probably pretty close to right..." Math is not a subjective thing, and when you DO the math on sun trackers, they are a losing proposition. The only place they make sense is where you are very limited on real estate where you can put your panels. The net increase in production does not justify the increase in cost, as compared to a less expensive mounting system and more panels. I don't know why you keeping hitting the deceased equine, but smarter people than you or I have done the calculations, and fixed mounts (with more panels) will deliver a faster ROI than any solar tracker solution. Do you want proof? Look at all of the solar farms around the country...notice that almost none of them have solar trackers? That's because they don't add enough additional capacity to justify the cost. IF they did, they would be installed everywhere. That's the reality. If you like your solar tracker, that's cool man...roll with it! Just don't expect people to take your word for it that they're a better value, when the numbers have already been crunched and we already know the outcome.
Solar trackers, especially on this scale, are idiotic over term. The O&M costs alone along with the upfront cost make them worthless. As a solar professional with a wide network in the industry there are a multitude of reasons the industry moved away from them. Your backyard toy doesn't change the real world, it's just a cute exception. You are not a professional or an engineer. Keep the ego out of the videos/discussion, it has no purpose and you don't have the basis.
I did the "math" for tracking in 2007 when i was tasked with making a program to actually answer this question. I have a database with 20 years of climate data for the US and i can conclusively tell you that tracking gives you about 30% more power collection on average than stationary panels. The key is keeping the panels as perpendicular to the sun as possible, which your system does. Cut your electric bill by an additional 30% and you will find out that additional system costs can be recouped in a year or less! Thanks for sharing!
Again, you are mathing it to much. In the morning, my panels create about 70% more than panels facing south. In the evening, my panels create about 70% more power than panels facing south. During mid day, both setups produce the same with the same number of panels. If you add the cost of panels to offset the cost of the trackers, then during mid day, the southerly facing panels will produce more. In Tennessee, you would be lucky to have 10 days a month that did not have clouds during the day reducing output. With the tracker, everytime the sun shines, I make power. There is no way to math and unknown.
This guys demonstrates the numbers. 30% + more energy. ua-cam.com/video/Hyx1ZUN9bqc/v-deo.htmlsi=cwcAOdMaUn_X4kkN
My solar tractor averages out for an entire day as 42% more productive than if the panels are stationary. I took one of my panels sets and had it set stationary while I let the other panel set track the Sun. During the morning hours the one that tracked the sun was producing 70%. More power than the one that didn't. The same thing happened in the evening. This averaged out to be a 42% gain over a stationary system with the same number of panels. The guy you spoke of was not a controlled test. You could have had one bad connection or one thing different.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Yep.. well said.
the school district Washington Island in Michigan has a parallel installation for over a decade public available with all the data.
30% by average is right as said above. If you have more gain in the morning and evening then it might be less during highnoon but at the end of the day the usual tracker brings about 30% depending on the shadow, climate and casting of cause.
There is a video on youtube about that school and their solar system and inverter is open for the public. You can check both systems the fixed one and the tracker via sat image but the result are just 30%
It always depends cause if you need power in the early morning and late evening a tracker might be the best.
But here we do not have power outages in decades, highest ac availability in europe , so the grid is always there and the solar power system plus the battery of cause - and for emergencies a 3000 Watt diesel powered inverter and a 6000 L tank full of diesel for the heating which can also be used to power the inverter to charge the car.
Here we have solar power systems usually on rooofs and agriculture ones in 4 m hight or on arrays on the ground all facing south with 35°, no tracker cause those are too expensive here, panels are a lot cheaper cause another 600 W panel is currently about 140 $ or 120€
Don't let the UA-cam experts get you down. I have a tracker and the panels on that always out preform the others
Solar trackers do produce more energy but, they may require more maintenance and repair costs plus up front costs. I also live in tornado ally with high winds on open farmland so they would always be at risk of wind damage. If you are limited for space for a solar setup they are definitely worth the money to invest in or have a wind block for them. If you have lots of room, than more panels are better. I live on a farm so I can do a fixed mount system for my panels which produces shade for my sheep which also graze the grass under them. I can also use the shade to grow crops that require less sunshine to grow under them (Electro-culture). It is a win win situation for fixed mount on a farm, ranch or homestead with extra land to spare. I can also put mine on a central hinge that I can move up and down 4 times per year manually if desired to adjust for each season (but not daytime tracking). For a city person a tracking system could be a major win or someone with lots of shaded areas to deal with. For a rural home with open land you just need to do the math. Solar panels on the roof are also very problematic when it comes time to replace all your shingles or even one of them. I would NEVER put solar panels on my roof if I had any other option to mount them.
I'm a 66 year old retired (successful) engineer with a fully working 2,560 Watt solar system I custom-built with all ground-mounted (movable) panels. I learned a great deal from you. I have looked into your trackers and see all the benefits. I have to reset my panels for Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, and one point in between, equinox. It's a pain. Other than dealing with the panels, my system works perfectly. I am going to copy you only weld up my support pole longer/deeper so I can ride my mower under the panels in the flat position. My gripe with these specific trackers is the 1,200 Watt limit on panels. Eco Worthy would not give me a weight limit, only a Watt limit. I am most likely going to purchase them anyway and beef them up enough to handle 2,000 Watts per tracker system. I don't care if they void the warranty as you (and others on UA-cam) have shown just how fantastic these are, and, now how inexpensive replacement parts are. The cost of a complete system is way less than the cost of a roof install. Roof installs have a huge list of problems and suffer efficiency issues due to heat and fixed tilt angle as well as maintenance (cleaning). You discovered and implemented the smartest solution. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
I am not sure where people get the idea they can only handle 1200 watts of solar panels. They can handle as many panels as can be bolt on. There is only a limit by size. As you can see with mine, my panels are severely undersized. I built this system to learn on. I needed to know the right questions to ask when I build my permanent system. I ran heavy wire and two trackers, so that I can upgrade later. The new ones are upgraded with stronger bushings.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk The "1200" comes directly from Eco Worthy Tech/Customer support. When they told me that, I asked them about the weight limit, and they responded by attaching the installation instructions.... So you can not get a usable answer out of them. I understand what you did and thanks for sharing with all of us so we can learn as you do.
@@benkanobe7500 - as you know fro engineering, civil structures are usually wind rated - all to do with load, pressures and areas, nothing to do with the "watts" - ie, you may be using modern 550W panels, or old school (non perc) 150watt panels of the same size - loadout weight (kg/lv) also has less impact than windload. (ignore unintelligent "manufacturer recommendations" / reasonable use is more appropriate under most circumstances - if it breads, pull out the welder, grab some scrap steel and weld it back better..
@@kadmow We are of a like mind. I received both systems yesterday. - $598.oo each including shipping!!! I have my welder and unistrut all ready to fab up some mechanical strength and reposition the actuators for my leverage. All good stuff and thanks for your comments.
Before you do watch Craig Bradle channel video about easiest solar tracker….
I have a lot of experience with a tracking system using the same linear actuators. About 10 years now. My first actors were pneumatic because that what I have available to me. These eco-worthy ones where not out yet. My arrangement is 9 panels set up all panels next to each other for a long arrangement. Similar to a commercial solar farm. I have 10 arrays. I only track 2-axis, east to west and it works fine. I make more power in the winter than I know what to do with. I live in southern Arizona. Where I live wind is the biggest issue, especially during the monsoon season with micro-burst. Winds can hit 80 plus mph for a few minutes. My setup currently is what I call fourth generation. When I had a failure from wind I would determine the failure point and redesign it. It was recently tested with a micro-burst in the area that took out a neighbors porch awning and about 10 power poles snapped on roads nearby. Power was out for 9 hours. My house was still air conditioned and no worries of loosing hundreds of dollars worth of frozen meat. All of my panels held up. In high winds my panels return to the east position with the shortest possible actuator length for elimination of most of the stress on them. Overall I get way more power with tracking than a fixed position. Also I gave up on tracking the light. I just have it pulse movement during the day that adjust itself for the time of year. Also, when they return to the east at sunset, I pulse it in about 15 pulses with a small break so to not to exceed the duty rating of the actuator. I finally got my system dialed in.
I love it. I really like people who do things for themself. I am thinking about building a very large tracker. DIY
Eco worthy solar tracker .l like it when it work.but I have problems. From day one.on support
@@clydefuller4730 So what seems to be the problem..? Have you made a video for us to see..?
We just moved from the desert in Southwest Texas and had the same wind issues. My first dual axis tracker was blown apart twice before I figured out how to weather proof it. I ended up using 4-1/2 drill stem for the main rotating parts and 11 gauge steel tubing for the mounting rails. I still had an auger concreted at all four corners in order to strap it down when we had one of those desert thunderstorms that would blow through. The one good thing about living in the desert you could see a storm coming way before it arrived.
Before you do watch Craig Bradles video on “easiest solar tracker”.
trackers are especially beneficial for batteries, because they smooth and prolong the power output from panels.
there is not rapid increase, peak at the noon and then drop of power output.
that can be replicated with several fixed panel fields facing different directions, but i think, tracker is more elegant solution.
Im hosting 4 eco worthy solar tracking with 3X375W solar panel, this my solar panels getting sun right at 8 AM and im pleased with the results, I had to upgrade some stuff on the eco worthy and solve some annoying issues but now its working fine.
Great video, thanks! I appreciate the details for replacement parts.
I have two issues:
1 - Its not large enough. I need to be able to put 10 * 455 panels on one and the trackers I have seen for those are $2k - $3k.
2 - I would really like to know how they perform in 80mph - 110mph winds. We actually do get hit with these winds where I am once a year.
Still an awesome video though, thank you for sharing
I'd like to build one, but with only one axis of movement. Automatic tilt towards the South, since I'm up north in MI. East-West I'm sandwiched between roofs (solar pergola), and I'd want the wind protection feature so the whole thing doesn't end up smashed in my neighbor's yard if we get a tornado or something. Hopefully I get to try it.
I'm doing projects like this as well. Single axis right now, and the one currently working is on a shed rooftop with two 300watt panels moved with an actuator per panel, not super cost effective. We have 10 x 360 watt panels tracking around 60 degrees, 30 degrees from horizontal each way, attached to and pivoting over a fence, with 5 actuators as the other pivot/legs. We hope to pick up an additional 3 hours of sun per day. It also provides shade to a raised bed garden for a little agrivoltaic action as well. The actuators are difficult to find for much less than $40 per actuator right now. We may pick up some higher end actuators with full hall sensor positional control, but also cost a good bit more, but fit the project goals a bit more closely. (machine learning involved)
Great video, I already have 8kw stationary setup and 10kw LIPO4 battery to feed haha. Yesterday on a clear sunny sky here in Hobart Australia, made 56kw for the whole day. Was looking at putting a 2.4Kw's of panels on a tracker and have it on the 3rd string of the inverter. However wind here is a lil issue some days, coastal and gust over 100km+ 10+ days a year. Don't call it the roughing 40's for nothing lol.
I have seen some stationary set ups that will have panels that sit vertically on the side to take advantage of early morning and late afternoon sun, but the people who had them said similar things, it doesn't get as much energy as tracked solar. Usually the main reason we have stationary panels here in the southwest is our near constant winds, so most of the solar systems here are over built to make up for that lack of efficiency. I would love a tracked solar system here, but I think it would need to be a lot more robust to handle the sand and high gusts/winds
I like the way you explain things.
Ah! I see. What you are saying is the mathematicians are too "clear" headed, but optimization may actually be found by "cloudy" thinking.... Thank you for your presentation! It has always seemed to me that tracking was the optimal approach, especially if space was limited. Your examples of intra-day variation in sunlight availability provided even more weight to the argument for tracking. Even so, I'm likely to install my first system without any tracking, but will probably switch to tracking in a couple of years. I've got lots of space and panels are getting cheaper and cheaper... my big problem now is finding and deciding on a battery storage and inverter system. I really like the idea of a Tesla Powerwall or an Anker Solix X1 -- basic shrink-wrapped turnkey systems (with professional installation) with great battery management (including some temperature protection), but frankly, an Anker Solix 3800 in a well insulated and passively ventilated box would meet my immediate needs just fine, but the 3800's input voltage limitation (60V max) is a bit constraining, especially as it can't accept many amps below 32 volts. oh well... sorry just thinking out loud. You have a sweet setup there, I hope it gives you many years of service!
Good info. Been looking hard at these units
You should do a test. Like turn off one of the trackers in the year round position for a week and measure how much solar each array produces. Or even just one day if its cloudy. As I'm in Missouri im really curious how it would handle the cloudy days.
Solar tracking is about solar hours. My normal install has about 4 daylight hours where there is an insufficient amount of power. I start seeing wattsge at sunrise, but i dont have enough solar to cover my loads for about 2 hours, then again at about 5:30 I am back to draining my battery even though I have sun for another 2 hours. So i plan to get one of these as its cheaper to get a solar tracker then it would be to get another 8kwh of batteries. If you're willing to spend over 1000$ ypu can get thet capacity for about 100$ a kWh, but thats DIY. Its closer to 300$ per kWh for something prebuilt. A 500$ tracker makes sense. I still rely on mostly normal mounted solar but I want to try one of these.
I'd say the advantages of having a correctly sized inverter, and a broader production curve and a lot of value people aren't calculating in.
I like the trusses on that sun shade 👍
Thank you. I have to get to the point where I can close in the barn and insulate it. I wanted air conditioned and heated
I just bought two of the eco-worthy trackers. I need space for other things in my yard and my isn't an option, so the trackers solve some space problems. I havent purchased panels yet. I would like to maximize the amount of wattage I'm producing from each array. I know you said in past videos that ypu started with the harbor freight panels as a test. Have you thought about which panels you might upgrade to (brand/wattage)? I know some panels are much heavier than others and I'm not sure how much weight the trackers can safely handle.
I do not know how winters are there but in the winter time this pays up big time.
Another concern for winter is the flat rest position. I think it should be vertical when snowing. Does it have that posibility?
Not sure If I'd do this on a large scale. But honestly these look fun to mess with. Looking at doing a separate system for greenhouse heating. These might be a fun project to use. If I can get them under that $450 mark.
Sorry if didn't dig enough but do you have a diy tracker on a budget we can utilize? I know you and others spent the money and did the work but now you know exactly what works. Not to mention the knock of brands that do the same thing. Look forward to you spreading the knowledge for all! Maybe create a site and we can all work on the code together. This would make it demographically irrelevant and the algorithm will do the work. Just what is needed.
😉👍 sehr gutes Video 😃👍
I have a 100 watt oanel I manually moved today every hour or so to match the suns movement as a little experiment and it made a major difference in the amount of watt hours brought in per the history on my victron controller, im sold,makes a huge difference and ur right it starts capturing sunlight much earlier and later
So, what is a "major" difference. Your post tells us nothing. Give us a % increase.
Sorry if I missed it, what MPH gust setting do you panels turn flat?
Ciao! Ti seguo da un po' e sono intenzionato a comperare un inseguitore. Ho già dei pannelli fissi di alta gamma ma il costo dei pannelli della Worthy è davvero vantaggioso.
Sai dirmi se sono validi o è meglio altra marca?
- and the structure could be knocked up from some 2x3 hardwood - if one only has a hand drill and a chainsaw mill.
And it appears - that tracker frame could easily support 12 panels (a windbreak on the "non sunny side" of a panel field would will help reduce wind peaks. - without ever causing shade.
yes tracking the brightest spot in the sky (every 10--20 mins with sleep in betwees uses very little power) - even if only making a tracking adjustment infrequently - helps to work around cloudy intermiitent sun... (naysayers are going to nay.. If you have great fun, and inbuilt resiliency, go for it.) A tracker works especially for mobile arrays, where there isn't the real-estate to just add more panels.
Well said, my friend.
why would you install a solar system in the shade when you have so much open area????
Thank you very much for your videos on these trackers. I really enjoyed them. Haters are always going to hate, so don't let them get to you. You know these are working for you and that's all that matters. Some of these people are setting ridiculous expectations from these units (like asking them to work when winds are above 80 mph). Everyone thinks they are an expert. I just wanted you to know, many of us appreciate the effort you shared with us. Thanks!
The reason that many people that have been in the industry for a long time say that trackers are not cost effective unless you have limited real estate, is because, traditionally, a quality tracker costs thousands of dollars. These cheaper Chinese trackers are quite new. Like cheap Chinese panels, they are in a different category.
What is the maximum weight limit of all panels? Can I use 400 watt REC panels?
I would be really interested in an experiment where you let the panels track vs have them fixed pointing south at 30-45 degrees. That would really emphasize how effective this is.
They won't do that because it would prove their stories are not accurate.. I have seen studies suggesting that at best you get 5% more power with trackers and that often gets used up with the actuators.. After 2 years of experimenting, I found that just leaving mine facing south and manually adjusting the angle once a month is the best.. My custom made rack system males it very easy to adjust the angle and it only takes 30 seconds to do. It is also much sturdier than those tracker mounts so wind is never a concern...
@@twistedhillbilly6157 I think there are situations where a tracker will yield a substantial gain. There are a lot of variables to consider, like the latitude, shade coverage, whether you're doing single or dual axis, the interval of the panel movement, and how many panels are operated by the actuators.
In doing my own research, it seems single axis tracking is worthwhile if you have modern and more efficient panels, since that means your structure will be lighter and therefore you don't need as powerful mechanisms. Dual axis trackers don't seem worth the extra complexity and expense over single axis.
Lastly, I'm not so sure actuators are the right choice. They're smart for dual axis since they add rigidity without complexity but there are other methods that might be a lot more efficient.
This tracker cost 400 bucks building a rack to hold panels stable would be similar in price why not add some efficiency by having it track the sun ?
@@chomps21 "TRACKING" the sun is very simple and can be extremely cheap. Using the info to move a large, heavy object accurately and efficiently is the issue. A moveable object will always be much less stable than a solidly secured object. Mechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic mechanisms needed to move the large, heavy array can and will be problematic. You also have to consider the extreme limitations on the size of the array. You can't just add some panels if you need more power. The reason they are rarely used is that the cost doesn't outweigh the benefit. There have been many attempts at large scale tracking and none have succeeded. People who have gone to the expense usually do not want to admit they were wrong so they think it was "wroth it" HOWEVER, every independent study that has been done concludes that that there is no benefit from it..
With tracking, more power is supplied at peak demand times. Morning and evening should require more power, than mid-day for working families. This should lead to a somewhat smaller system, less panels and batteries should cover cost of tracking?
What way do you have it go back to at night in the winter. Flat seems like a bad idea when you could get 3"-6" of snow in 1 night? And do you find that in winter you could make even more power if it tilted more to the south? I noticed you have your east/west actuator on the west side were in my manual shows it on the east side. I have seen both ways. I also flipped mine so the motors were on the top, to keep water out of them. So far working great.
I guess that could be a problem somewhere. We don't get enough snow to worry about it. 6" of snow will not bother this. It tilts to the south on its own. It is always looking directly at the sun each and every day of the year. It follows it across the sky all day long. Winter/summer works the same. I built it the way the directions show. Turning the actuators around seems smart. If I have any problem I will. I spray mine with dry lube which last about 6 months. It is about time again.
My movements are drawn from a small 12v battery with a 10 watt solar panel. Nothing going to my power is consumed by the movements. Everything works wonderfully.
Great review of these trackers. I just picked one up (via eBay) for a song. Hope to get it set up over the next couple of weeks. The problem that I have is... which panels actually are the best fit for these? My panels are bi-facial and not a good fit. So, should I be looking for a specific size panel or wattage or type?
Limited to 200-watt modules.
It is not limited to 200 wattt modules. It has a clamp system. It is just a mount. As long as you keep it balanced, it will take as many panels as you can clamp on to it.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Thanks for the clarification, Southern!
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk
This system would be great if it fits normal sized panels, as they're far cheaper than the smaller ones from eco-worth.
Here you can buy big 450 watt panels for 200 dollars, their small 195 watt panels cost about the same.
With 2 big panels it's a 900 watt system, not too far off their 6 panel 1200 watt system.
Say what..? I bought Six brand new 200w Bi-Facials off Amazon and have them all mounted and working great on mine. Bi-Facials have nothing to do with how they fit or mount. It's the size of the panel that is important.
Hello Mr Tony: thanks for this and your previous install videos. Because of them Id like to set up 2 of these trackers according to your methods. But theres something thats not clear to me about these trackers and Id expect to see the answer in any of the assembly/review vids, but havent. Heres my situ and setup. My panels will all go straight to an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra via MC4 cables, not making any other connections along the way. Thats the normal connection methodfrom panels for that battery/inverter device. Using these trackers, I believe I would bypass the Ecoworthy MPPT of both trackers, in order to put all 12 panels in series [my only option], to get all 288volts to my Ultra battery/inverter, via a single [pair] of PV cable, , this is doable, yes? Im not asking for a comment about the Ultra, rather about not connecting the solar panels PV cables to the Ecoworthy electronics : can I bypass the box?. So in this scenario, Id have these these trackers for tilting the panels only. And the panels PV cables are wired straight to the Ultra with no other connection too Ecoworthy electronics, and it would be the as usual for the Ultra: solar panel to MC4 connectors in PV cable to connect into MC4 ports on the Ultra. My question is: Can this work, or Would I be missing anything from the Ecoworthy setup in this scenario that would ruin my tracking/tilting function that Im after? I cant begin to answer this because I dont even kno or can see how the cables emerging from each panel are terminated: are they bare wire with no connector and theyre supposed to plug into the Ecoworthy digital box, and then to your solar system? And is that necessary? or do they terminate with MC4 connectors, or what.? :( Thanks for all your videos.
what is the expected cost of wind damage ? if you can lose shingles you can lose these big things, and thats 6 panels to replace. i keep insurance on a car thats worth less than a set of your panels,
I was surprised to see you installed your solar panels under shade trees? I think I would have placed them in a constant sun space if available land allowed even if more wire was required to get back to the battery shed.
The large shed looks new and clear of the trees and far higher just needs the brackets and rails and power is probably used in the shed.
I’ve got 52,000 watts (5,350 lbs of panels) of PV. I don’t want a bunch of trackers to purchase, repair and maintain all the lubrication points. So what are you going to power with those two little arrays? I am powering my whole house, shop, 8.25 Tons of heat pumps. All electric! All year around. In Kentucky. Array angles between 45° and 66° with Azimuth between 145 and 225 degrees, for winter production, mainly.
If you followed the channel, you would understand I built this system as a learning tool. I am not locked into anything. Whatever makes sense is what I will do. The money I spent on this system will not break my bank. Having built it, I know the right questions to ask. Clearly, we came to a different understanding. The whole point of the tracker is to have less panels and make the same power. This little system powers my travel trailer and utility shed hardly using any grid power.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk As long as you are happy with your choices, that is what's important. Some buy $80K trucks, RV's, airplanes, $20K vacations or fill their sheds/garages/storage rentals with "stuff". I wouldn't call people WRONG for having any of these items. They worked for it, it's their money. It's a great hobby and educational experience. Enjoy.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mkdon’t you just love how people with no videos are always spewing hate… thanks for making these videos I just bought 2 solar tracker and 12 bi facial panels for $2100
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Nice reply. Understanding was obviously the goal here, not trying to prove that trackers are right for every situation, too many people are too easily triggered .... Though I plan to have no tracking on my first solar "farm", other than manual seasonal adjustment, the needs it serves are small and non-critical, and I'll be able to add more PV and batteries as those needs grow, and may eventually take the house totally off grid, but I'm old and lazy, and wary of windstorms, so I may never add clock or light-following tracking.
I would love to see you upgrade the panels to 400+ or 550 panels. What are your plans timeframe for that? Really enjoying your channel and content. All the best.
I am waiting on my money tree to bloom. LOL! Thank you.
Completely UNDERSTAND! How many trees did you plant? 🤣
There will always be "naysayers".. To each their own. I love mine. My 1200w (6x200) is doing pretty good. It's still not getting full solar input because the 12v wires from the controllers is too small causing a bottleneck. I'm waiting for an solar installer\electrician to install some other items, then I'll upgrade the wire..... It'll be able to run my mini split, hot air fryer, microwave, router and pc as it were plugged into shore power.. ps. Love the short time lapse at the end.
How can I take the word of anyone who installs solar in the shade when there's unshaded land 50 Ft away in either direction. Also these panels are tiny.
Could I install these in raised garden beds to reduce excavation costs? Did you get the federal tax credit on this?
Great job! Quick question for you…. Could you connect the solar panels in both trackers in series?
No, do not do that. Separate MPPT's.
@@MrSummitville My panels will all go to an Ecoflow Delta Pro Ultra via MC4 cables. if you bypass the Ecoworthy MPPT of one tracker [or both?], to put all 12 panels in series, to get all 288volts to your battery, ie, my Ultra, via a single [pair] of PV cable, , this is doable, yes? So in this scenario, the tracker is for tilting the panels. And the panels PV cables are wired straight to the Ultra with no other connection, which is tha as usual for the Ultra btw. Would I be missing anything from the Ecoworthy setup in this scenario? I dont even kno or can see how the cables emerging from each panel are terminated:are they bare wire with no connector, or MC4 connectors, or what.? :(
I run twin 4050 watt dual axis trackers that i built from scratch and have never understood the more panels arguments. I get sun 10-12 hours of full sun a day versus 4.5 hours for stationary panels my system runs my loads all day while charging my batteries.
Amen! People don't take into account clouds coming over part of the day either. Our panels get sun when it there to be got. LOL!
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk I definitely make more power on most days than I can use, since I just put in all new 48v 5.1KWh batteries I think I will add another 6 batteries to my bank and give myself another 2 days worth of back up power.
I did a proof of concept of a new type of solar tracker that I call "Zombie pneumatic solar tracking" (I might change the name if anyone thinks of a better one). It uses an air pump to raise and lower floats that moves the solar panel. Mine is on equatorial mount and is single axis, with manual adjustment for the second axis. I call it zombie because I have one controller that moves all the other "zombie brainless" solar panels at the same time. In my case, my air pump produces enough air to move 50 or 60 solar panels. You could do the same thing and run it from one solar panel that drives the pump. In mine, slowly rising air pressure over the course of the day gradually rotates the mount. In yours, your one tracking panel would control the valves and air pump to move itself and the other ones. I have a few videos about my demo. (Its a bit hokey because I have a heart condition and can't do much at a time, etc. ) You could also make yours level the panels in the wind. Mine doesn't do that. Brian
So you had no other place on your property that was NOT IN SHADE? These are directly in shaded area...
We have a nice bit of land, but our property is primarily trees. I don't want to cut down trees unless it is required. This was the absolute best place to put panels. I didn't go, YE-Ha, put it here. LOL! The neighbor farmer was not keen on me planting my solar in his field. They are in direct shade until 8am. in the summer. They stop producing power in the evening around 6 pm due to trees on my neighbors property. During the winter, the lower angle of the sun complements the system giving longer sun time. I don't want to cut down 5 acres of trees to save the planet with solar panels. LOL!
They're great where it's not too windy. On my ridge they'd almost always be flat (if they haven't blown away). For the cost of your two small trackers I can get over 2KW of excellent condition used panels. Face 1Kw East and 1KW West, and never worry about fragile moving parts. Of course, that's just my situation. Yours appears to be different.
Yes. Every area is different. My solar trackers hold up to 15-20 mph winds without problems. I have my solar trackers go flat about 25 mph or higher. They have went through two 60 mph winds and one 80 mph wind. When the sun is out, I get all of my panels working for me. It sounds like wind might be a better alternative or at least a supplemental power source.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk not dong wind here. We get very strong gusts, but nothing consistent. Besides, anything with moving parts will make noise and require maintenance and repairs. With the price of panels these days I'll take the quiet and no maintenance panels over anything else (except hydro, if I had a year round stream on my property).
Everyone has to walk their own path.
err well I HAVE 2 myself..
so 1 you have WAY TO MUCH shade...
and 2nd have you been greasing and checking on them weekly? If you check it weekly and keep it well maintained you wont have any issues..
Mine are in full sun all day long, and i get upwards of 50% more per day data logged.
my system is set to move every 2 min. I also have a 2nd mini/charger panel attached to a battery in a box on the post.
but you got way to much shade for solar..
We have duel axis system, it moves every 10 minutes the controller is made by Lauritzen (USA) well worth it, has all the features you need, hi wind parkup etc.
🇦🇺🤙
We can set our to move however often we want. It is very verstital.
How so these hold up to snow? Can they clear snow? Gows the sensor work in snowy conditions? They probably dont make sense for most of the us that gets snow.
We don't have enough snow to worry about it
Yes more panels will make more power over paying for a tracker. How ever you need to have the room and the extra cash to get them. With that said If you add more panels you get to a point were your charge controller can't handle the voltage of those extra panels. The voltage of the panels will make a big difference. Then you have the space issue. For my system I can't safely add more panels without getting another CC for $600-800 plus the extra panels cost plus the wire and circuit breakers and other small things. I don't have the space for the extra panels either so the tracker is a perfect fit for the extra power to ensure I have enough for the A/C in summer now that I've upgraded the battery pack.
I totally disagree. You missed the whole concept I was talking about. In TN, we are lucky to get ten days each month without clouds boiling up over midday. This cuts out put of stationary panels. My panels are always hunting for the best sun all day long. You can't math the unknown.
it would maybe be nice when the system is full and panels are turned off (turning off solar panels is a hot topic in my workfield) to just turn them to a less ideal position to save some heat generation on the panels, this could even prolong the life of the panels itself.
That makes sense, but this system is not that complicated. It faces the sun with very few other functions. It has no idea what power level the system is.
The grumpy OldGuy™ in me is tired of things done poorly. I'm in tech and use my computer a lot, so when I click on a menu and wait for it to just draw (WAIT!), I have time to think, "Why is that taking so long? This thing is running at gigahertz! I didn't ask it to cure cancer.". That's just one simple example and there so many more things that go wrong. So I'm becoming a deliberate Luddite and strongly favoring things that are dead simple. Sledge hammers are good. They never pester me to upgrade and the manufacturer never sends me a survey … it just works as well as the day I bought it.
While I understand your pursuit of efficiency and have no disrespect for that, I lean toward the simple, if less efficient way for myself.
It is true that the sun availability changing during the day is a very pertinent factor. Also mornings you are trying to catch up after all night with no power, and evening you are looking to fill batteries that may be a bit low from cloudiness and daytime power usage. This is one of the big advantages of a tracker. You would have to buy a lot of panels to have say 3 angles of stationary ones that will give you the same service as a tracking setup.
Give me please what are the dimensions?
White rod B
White rod C
White rod D
White rod E
I could justify the tracking system if it involved 10 or 20k watts of panels but you've got what, 800 - 1000 watts on each tracker? Hardly worth the trouble in my book, but what do I know?
- sir, you could easily build a similar setup for any load you need - also, electric actuators are available for any force and range of motion desired... Taking a look at the setup, and riffing on the theme - it isn't too hard to contemplate (a 5kW system with 9 x 550W panels has ~ 600lb of panels on it, add the structure and not we are pivoting ~1500lb around in the air...)
@@kadmow I did a proof of concept with no actuators, just floats attached to an equatorial mount and an air pump to raise and lower the floats and move the panels. Probably a cheap option.
The performance of a solar panel angle of incidence is loosely a bell curve 2-axis perpendicular (H-V) to the panel face is the peak of both bell curves. That's where you want the sun to be, with obscured sun (cloud cover), you'll probably lose about as much as you'd gain chasing the brightest spot in the sky. IMHO, better to just run that slow continuous solar trajectory across the sky and use your surplus collected energy to prepare fo the next day's position and put the tracker to sleep the rest of the time.
Generally finding the current date and time (GPS is great as it has the rest of the info you need already available) and using a solar position algorithm will get you pretty darn close - but I read in a paper a while back that an NIR camera with a super wide angle lens (110°) under a 95% absorptive Neutral density filter makes it so that just about only the sun is visible. You can home in on the sun and derrive an error offset for the tracking algorithm while only sipping power. You could do that with even an Arduino/ESP32...
My system really doesn't chase the sun and the output used for moving the actuator is minuscule. My system will only move once every 3 minutes if needed . The power used to run the actuator doesn't even really come into play because it's so light. You seem to be one of the people I was talking about. You are overthinking it.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk I'm an EE, I tend to think a lot... guilty, but as a rebuttle, I'm not saying "a solar tracker isn't worth it". The power used for moving the actuator may be miniscle, but it's measurable and having it "hunt" (like what yours did @7:03, and again right before the cut @7:45) uses power it doesn't need to IMO. This little stuff kills total harvested power, like a vampire load in a house.
Earth's rotation is about 15°/hour (360°rotation/24hours = 15°/hour). If you want to calculate a slightly more precise value, the Earth orbits the Sun once a year (365.25 * 24 = 8766hours, 360°orbit/8766hours = ~0.041068°/hour). Looking at the oribital plane from the north pole down, both the rotation and orbit of the Earth around the Sun are counter-clockwise, meaning the apparent hour-angular-rates are additive: reasonably 15.041068°/hour steady state. Good enough for a single axis solar tracker - just need a reduction drive to a stepper which can handle the torque and a step pulse generator that results in that angular-rate. Math is required to optimze this drive system though, just like MPPT charge controllers there is nothing for free (more volts vs more amps or torque vs revs in a drvie system), and system integration is about cost ballancing.
Optimized steady-states are generally more energy efficient than bursty rapid movements resulting in overcorrections - and this is based on real-world experience (up to and including building commercial EMS design/installation), not just paper math. It's like a variable speed A/C compressor tweaking it's steady state speed rather than bang-bang on/off compressor control.
You make an intelligent, compelling argument. Most people just talk crap. Thank you for your comment.
man i wish we could get a couple of these
I'm shocked that you have it at 3 minutes to move them. Even that feels super aggressive. I feel like 10 minutes would be plenty for the average sun movement. If you're trying to snag reflections off of other clouds then yeah 3 minutes makes sense, but is the power gain from moving the panels to that reflection off setting the movement? It may be, it'd be awesome to get some good power metrics on how much that system uses to move it just for fun.
You are correct. I changed the time later.
All ya’ll watch Craig Bradles’ video on “easiest solar tracker”, and then build your own. The eco worthy ones are too small for the price. If you really want to be off grid you would need like 20 of them. And they are only made for the older 100 watt panels.
Thank you for your opinion
Where can I look to find someone to fabricate those posts you welded and stuck in the ground?
Any local welding shop. Nothing special about them.
I can buy a lot more than 30% more panels for the cost of a tracking system. His trackers are holding 6 panels, but lets do the math assuming 8. The cheapest solar tracker I can find costs $419, So 8 panels at $100 each totals $800, so I can increase my output buy over 45% buy spending the $419 on 4 more panels. 45% is a 50% increase over 30%. Plus I never have to repair a tracker or feed one the power required to run it.
Are you factoring in time of day when your getting that power? I have plenty of panels on my array to charge up but these trackers put me online earlier and for later. I don’t need more power mid day, I want to be collecting solar as early as possible and as late as possible.
Does it get its power through solar as well?
Indirectly. My solar system runs a battery charger that provides 12 volt battery power to the units. Some people put a standalone solar panel for the solar trackers.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk so a 25w panel with battery would run this?
Yes
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk thanks
I can never understand why these trackers use photo sensors to track the sun. A GPS module and position sensors should work far better.
I could get a few of these I just have no where to place them LOL! Should have built my extra room with some steel beams to plonk these on to. Oh well.
They are helpful in small areas,, but they are not for everyone.
To prove or disprove your argument is very easy, just leave 1 of your arrays facing south at optimal angle all day and compare kWh to the one that's tracking. You can do this on both sunny and cloudy days, then make the data public.. the more data the more accurate results become. This is called science, give it a try.
I have already done that. I even talk about it in the video. Are you sure you have the capacity to science.
Looks like I found a 6 month review!!! Granted, on a different channel :)
Show installation step by step video
Trackers don't change gains when it's cloudy.
That is when they change gains the most. In cloudy conditions a fixed panel might output so little it's basically zero, the trackers can take that zero and make it 50%.
I have fixed panels. They should last 30 years with minimal maintenance and repair. They are ground mounted and provide a large shaded area adjacent to my shop for parking and storing equipment. In real life I just get free solar power and a lot of it with no worries. That’s how I would do it again.
I am pleased you are happy with your system.
You are soooooo right!
The glass on top of the panel reflects some light and the more angle to the sun, the more it reflects. The rest refracts down to the PV cells. It's not just cosine of angle in real life.
Them tree shadows, if the post could extend when there's no bad wind and geddown when there is, could getcha more time is all. Scissor-jack legs?
A DIY tracker done right will cost less but might not do all that this one does.
This is advantageous too because you end up very close to 100% production as soon as the panels can point at the sun. The "just add more panel" requires buying a bigger inverter as well as more panals, racking, etc. A tracker lets you fill in more of a smaller inverter's capacity without needing a bigger system to avoid clipping. These are quite economical now.
Just buy 30% more panels. Nobody has time for moving parts.
Overall I think you cover most points, but missed one for off-grid systems. In northern lat you don't get much gain in the winter months over stationary panels, and your panels/batteries should be sized for you usage.... So during the summer you can track for more power, but have nowhere to store it.
(in summer you could heat a long duration thermal battery with the surplus - after batteries and hot water is sorted... Yes in extreme northern latitudes, the winter sun is only a glimmer on the southern horizon, probably a good store of firewood is handier than a solar tracker - but at the same Latitude in summer - with the huge range of the sun position across the sky - a "smallish" system running at peak power all day kills it for running the AC - day and night - no battery really needed in the midnight sun.)
3 minutes is to little, I would suggest 30 minutes. Sun is slow, not a rocket.
Logical. I am still evaluating everything
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mkBut clouds do move fast. Move every 3 minutes vs every 30 minutes ... Won't the total motor ON time, over the whole day, be about the same, regardless?
Why did you put the panels in the shade? Did you do the math? More sun = more power
Those shadows look like early morning shadows. It's likely that this is the sunniest place during peak solar hours.
"You loose the complexity and the cost is about the same" is literally the only point needed. You can't follow up and say "yes, but this is the real world" as a counter argument to the hard math.
There's a reason that large commercial arrays are always fixed.. The trackers never do what they claim..
@@twistedhillbilly6157 what are you talking about? I lay out me new 3 panels in my yard in bets orientation for 1pm peaks. See what i get for a week. Then on my days off at home, every hour i run around proping up the panels to simulate "tracking". Actually, its not simulated: Im the tracker. The totals are at least twice as much power dumped into my battery by end of day when i chase the sun. Tracking is very effective.
Not sure why a sun sensor is required. The location of the sun in the sky is quite readily predictable both in azimuth and elevation. Also, it’s interesting that he planted these things in the shade when the sun is clearly up.
The complexity of creating a system to know where the sun is each day is quite complexe. Having a single sun sensor say move here, is easy.
There are a lot of things to integrate here.... that a panel with a tracker do more in a day then a static panel will depend on many parameters mainly where you live and when, winter, summer.... etc
I'm at 45 parallel north, during summer a tracker would do more power, in winter... it would be useless and guess what... we need power in winter... trackers are useless for off grid.
The price... trackers are expensive, panels are not, I got 8kWc of panels for 2400€+500€ of structural material.
Plus they are mechanical nightmares that will fail at a time or on other, be it because of wind or strictly mechanical wear...
Not taking into account days where they are in security mode because of the wind and produce less then static panels.
If you are living at the equator then a tracker (with one axle only) would be mandatory.... it all depend on where you live.
I think your understanding is lacking. Trackers definitely increase your power in the winter in the mornings and in the evenings. I understand the angles of the sun are much more towards the south, but the sun comes up in the morning and goes down in the evenings. If you have clouds in the midday, you lose most of your peak output.
I'm at 48 north. Its important to realize that in winter the sun rises and sets south of the east west line and its low in the sky but it still crosses a fairly large segment of the sky over about 8 hours. In summer, it rises a long way north of the ease west line and sets a long way north of it too so you can only get about 4 hours of decent sunlight and energy production with a fixed solar panel, but you can get up to 16 hours with a tracker. That's a huge difference. If you go far enough north, above the arctic circle, the sun is below the horizon in winter so no good and in Summer it is low in the sky in the south at noon then just goes round your back and is lower in the sky at midnight directly north of you every day for almost 6 months So you absolutely have to do tracking there!
What people mean by not worth it is if you spent the money on panels instead of the tracking system you'd have way more power. Remember 20 230 watt panels for 600 bucks.
what you fail to understand is you get peak power out of a stationary system only a 3 hours each day. I get peak power as soon as the sun comes up. What happens when clouds cover your panels for the peak hours. I have seen it happen more than most would care to admit.
Where are you getting panels that cheap and 20 panels you better hope your system can handle that voltage
@@dieseldawg7132 SAN TAN SOLAR Right now they have great deals on used panels of various size and watts.
Trackers are worth it, just not the ecoworthy ones. They won’t hold enough panels for the price. But there are DIY trackers that make sense. Small trackers are not better than buying more panels.
Thank you for your opinion
How will they not "hold enough panels for the price"?! with the addition of about a $100 worth of strut from Lowes you can fit up to 18 of Eco-worthy's own 100watt panels(STC 1800watts capable power). A simple UA-cam search shows people using panels well over a combined 2kw per array. I fail to see how significantly increasing an arrays overall daily production potential with fewer panels than what it would take from a stationary array for around $500US isn't better.
@@heshworksbetter2777 18?!? You are dreaming, good luck with those setups in high winds. Or are there never storms of any intensity where you are? I’ve seen several UA-cam videos of them with the ORIGINAL panel load only that broke, again no 18 panels, and only moderate storms. How are you going to improve it enough? For $500 you can get the same actuators, controllers etc. from EBay or Amazon with other parts from a hardware store and build something much more durable…and cheaper. And Brad Cagle and a couple other videos by school children (showing the same principle) demonstrated a way to track that is much simpler and cheaper, though I had to redesign it so it will track on both axis. How long have all those videos been up? A year or two? Let’s see an update after the next big storm. UA-camrs are always raving about “look at the brand new setup or product that has no track record over time to say yay or nay! Gee, isn’t SO cool”? No the eco worthy tracker is too flimsy and overpriced.
@@5400bowen Dreaming?! It's elementary math. Replacing Eco-worthy's 114" struts with 10ft(120") struts facilitates the mounting of 3 rows of 6 panels of 18.7"x40" panels. Last I looked 3 multiplied by 6 equates to 18. But it's mighty Boomer of you to assume you know the meteorological characteristics of my area and/or load mitigation steps haven't been implemented. But hey, I'm really anticipating seeing your "new and improved" saw horse solar tracker hit the market. Lulz
@@heshworksbetter2777 $500 will buy me two 410/575 watt bifacial panels. And $300 will make a super sturdy tracker that will be as simple as assembling the eco worthy one, ten times stronger, and will hold 4 of those panels no sweat…in high winds and earthquakes.
all that round up...be careful mate. That stuff is cancerous af
Statistically, we are much more likely to be hurt in a car wreck, yet everyone jumps right in.
There is no need for the panels to track the sun. Every day, the sun is in the same spot . If your tilt system was based on the hour of the day, it would be easier to program.
Living up north right by the Canadian border solar trackers are not worth it. Being this far north you're better to spend the money spent on a tracker to buy more solar panel instead. Return on investment just isn't there being above the 49th parallel.
I think you are looking at it wrong. It would seem to more important for your panels to be facing the sun when it is out. What happens when the day clouds up at your peak output time. I have seen it be sunny in the morning, cloudy at noon, and back to sunny in the evening. I happens here often.
@@SOUTHERNSOLARAcademy-nx5mk Im also near canadian border, and youre correct. Sunlight hours are limited, and so you gotta get it while you can, daily and seasonally. Need a tracker to follow all available sunlight. This is true for daily useages, as well in the more critical grid down situation-esp in winter, where sunlight is more scarce: u better be positioned to absorb all the light possible during any cloud & time windows available! Thanks for all your sharing mr. Tony.
"If you just do the math, you're probably pretty close to right..." Math is not a subjective thing, and when you DO the math on sun trackers, they are a losing proposition. The only place they make sense is where you are very limited on real estate where you can put your panels. The net increase in production does not justify the increase in cost, as compared to a less expensive mounting system and more panels. I don't know why you keeping hitting the deceased equine, but smarter people than you or I have done the calculations, and fixed mounts (with more panels) will deliver a faster ROI than any solar tracker solution. Do you want proof? Look at all of the solar farms around the country...notice that almost none of them have solar trackers? That's because they don't add enough additional capacity to justify the cost. IF they did, they would be installed everywhere. That's the reality. If you like your solar tracker, that's cool man...roll with it! Just don't expect people to take your word for it that they're a better value, when the numbers have already been crunched and we already know the outcome.
These trackers are super cheap they are around $329 a peace
@@dieseldawg7132 Right?! I like how everyone is acting like it is a $10grand investment to get one.
Solar trackers, especially on this scale, are idiotic over term. The O&M costs alone along with the upfront cost make them worthless. As a solar professional with a wide network in the industry there are a multitude of reasons the industry moved away from them. Your backyard toy doesn't change the real world, it's just a cute exception.
You are not a professional or an engineer. Keep the ego out of the videos/discussion, it has no purpose and you don't have the basis.
As long as folks keep clicking on that affiliate link. I wouldn’t make such a comment if he wasn’t such a smart ass, but it’s an accurate statement.