It can be done even simpler - without all the electronics, the automatic angle change can be controlled by the sun itself through two tiny solar panels at the ends, which will fight with each other and power one actuator. Have a look at: Easiest Solar Tracker
Great point Tibor. We studied the design famously used by NASA on Spacecrafts. It's an elegant approach. We used both competing small panels and Photosensors. The limiting factors are that the small panels don't generate enough power to independently power the actuators and the mounted panel needs to be a fixed size to properly position panels/sensors for the balance to be achieved. I am sure space presents a lot of challenges but not gravity and wind loading forces. For sure, fellow contributors will come up with improvements and better approaches. The end goal is to have a robust design that can handle the typical camping usage.
Have you ever thought about working on a system that moves panels laterally. For people using panels in tighter spaces or near overhanging obstructions, the panel could slide back into the sun as the sun moves behind such barriers.
So not just pivot from an installed point but actually slide across a length? It's certainly possible. Our current work is not designed for this but if I can understand this better, I could definitely connect you with any ongoing work in the industry. Thanks for your interest.
yes please.
We will definitely make an open source version available if we see enough interest.
It can be done even simpler - without all the electronics, the automatic angle change can be controlled by the sun itself through two tiny solar panels at the ends, which will fight with each other and power one actuator. Have a look at: Easiest Solar Tracker
Great point Tibor. We studied the design famously used by NASA on Spacecrafts. It's an elegant approach. We used both competing small panels and Photosensors. The limiting factors are that the small panels don't generate enough power to independently power the actuators and the mounted panel needs to be a fixed size to properly position panels/sensors for the balance to be achieved. I am sure space presents a lot of challenges but not gravity and wind loading forces. For sure, fellow contributors will come up with improvements and better approaches. The end goal is to have a robust design that can handle the typical camping usage.
Have you ever thought about working on a system that moves panels laterally. For people using panels in tighter spaces or near overhanging obstructions, the panel could slide back into the sun as the sun moves behind such barriers.
So not just pivot from an installed point but actually slide across a length? It's certainly possible. Our current work is not designed for this but if I can understand this better, I could definitely connect you with any ongoing work in the industry. Thanks for your interest.