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One advantage of tracking systems is that they provide a more uniform power output over the day. You get higher power morning and evening. For off-grid system

One advantage of tracking systems is that they provide a more uniform power output over the day. You get higher power morning and evening. For off-grid systems this seems very useful. Also, there was a news story recently about the German grid having problems with load balancing - apparently they want to put panels on west and east facing roofs to try and get a more even load throughout the day. I guess that as panels get cheaper, it might be best to have static panels facing East, South, and West. Have we got to that stage yet, where this is cheaper than the moving parts? About your trackers - do you have any more info? Why did you go for 2-axis rather than 1 tilted axis? Were your problems due to inexperience/teething-troubles, or would you have the same issues if you were to do another system? I'd be interested to hear you experiences, thanks.

jacquesm 12y ago
You still would not put panels facing East, South and West, you'd still install those facing South at the 12:00 position. 2 axis because the seasonal offset component got thrown in for free with the system I bought. It was quite thoroughly tested in the field before I bought two trackers, they work but the fact that you need a single post and the resulting forces on the foundation (in clay) caused a ton of issues (we were in a very windy area), the tracker mechanism had trouble with ice formation in winter (Rural Northern Ontario) and the repeated movement put extra strain on the wiring, especially at temperatures far below 0. As for variance, you're right that tracking systems provide more uniform power but most (if not all) solar farms are installed from a power produced / capital expense viewpoint, uniformity of output is currently not worth much.
- bainsfather 12y ago
  Thanks for the info. Seems it was bought system, single titled axis, and the tilt could be changed manually for winter vs summer? Those large-area single-post setups do look unsuitable for windy regions. My static solar panels do follow a rough sine shape through the day. Clear sunny mornings or evenings I get very little power - 2 sin(0) is still zero [a], whilst generating surplus power at midday is not much use to me. I think [b] additional panels sited e.g. SE and SW might save me more money than additional panels facing south, as then supply would tend to match my demand better. [a] I still get the 10% or so from atmospherically scattered sunlight. [b] As you can see, I don't really know. e.g. how much extra atmospheric absorption is there near sunrise/sunset on average etc.
JetSpiegel 12y ago
Why not create curved panels then? It's the best of both worlds. Not sure if it's feasible, technically.
- netcan 12y ago
  I think you still have the same problem, just more uniformly distributed. Imagine a dome shaped panel. No matter what the orientation relative to the sun, the panels are equally facing it. But even still, any particular point in the dome has an orientation and it's only ideal while it's ideal. The point facing east is ideal for sunrise but is useless at sundown. You get as much uniformity as the sun and clouds give you, but you're equally wasting the same amount of panel face at any given time.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    Correct.

jacquesm 12y ago

You still would not put panels facing East, South and West, you'd still install those facing South at the 12:00 position. 2 axis because the seasonal offset component got thrown in for free with the system I bought. It was quite thoroughly tested in the field before I bought two trackers, they work but the fact that you need a single post and the resulting forces on the foundation (in clay) caused a ton of issues (we were in a very windy area), the tracker mechanism had trouble with ice formation in winter (Rural Northern Ontario) and the repeated movement put extra strain on the wiring, especially at temperatures far below 0. As for variance, you're right that tracking systems provide more uniform power but most (if not all) solar farms are installed from a power produced / capital expense viewpoint, uniformity of output is currently not worth much.

bainsfather 12y ago
Thanks for the info. Seems it was bought system, single titled axis, and the tilt could be changed manually for winter vs summer? Those large-area single-post setups do look unsuitable for windy regions. My static solar panels do follow a rough sine shape through the day. Clear sunny mornings or evenings I get very little power - 2 sin(0) is still zero [a], whilst generating surplus power at midday is not much use to me. I think [b] additional panels sited e.g. SE and SW might save me more money than additional panels facing south, as then supply would tend to match my demand better. [a] I still get the 10% or so from atmospherically scattered sunlight. [b] As you can see, I don't really know. e.g. how much extra atmospheric absorption is there near sunrise/sunset on average etc.

JetSpiegel 12y ago

Why not create curved panels then? It's the best of both worlds. Not sure if it's feasible, technically.

netcan 12y ago
I think you still have the same problem, just more uniformly distributed. Imagine a dome shaped panel. No matter what the orientation relative to the sun, the panels are equally facing it. But even still, any particular point in the dome has an orientation and it's only ideal while it's ideal. The point facing east is ideal for sunrise but is useless at sundown. You get as much uniformity as the sun and clouds give you, but you're equally wasting the same amount of panel face at any given time.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Correct.