In the past few years, the price-per-watt for solar panels has dropped dramatically. This has led to a number of downstream effects beyond simple cost savings. For example, many commercial solar farms have found that it’s now cheaper to install a larger number of panels in fixed positions, rather than accepting the extra cost, maintenance, and complexity of a smaller number panels that use solar tracking to make up the difference. But although this practice is fading for large-scale power production, there are still some niche uses for solar tracking. Like [Fabian], if you need to maximize power production with a certain area or a small number of panels you’ll wan to to build a solar tracker.
[Fabian]’s system is based on a linear actuator which can tilt one to four panels (depending on size) in one axis only. This system is an elevation tracker, which is the orientation generally with respect to latitude, with a larger elevation angle needed in the winter and a lower angle in the summer. [Fabian] also designs these to be used in places like balconies where this axis can be more easily adjusted. The actuator is controlled with an ESP32 which, when paired with a GPS receiver, can automatically determine the sun’s position for a given time of day and adjust the orientation of the panel to provide an ideal elevation angle on a second-by-second basis. The ESP32 also allows seamless integration with home automation systems like SmartHome as well.
Although this system only tracks the sun in one axis right now, [Fabian] is working on support for a second axis which mounts the entire array on a rotating table similar to an automatic Lazy Susan. This version also includes a solar tracking sensor which measures solar irradiance in the direction the panel faces to verify that the orientation of the panel is maximizing power output for a given amount of sunlight. Tracking the sun in two axes can be a complicated problem to solve, but some solutions we’ve seen don’t involve any GPS, programming, or even control electronics at all.