Tracker efficiencies, etc. [RE-wrenches]

[sunwise at cheqnet.net]

Original Message:
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From: Richard Perez
A big plus is aesthetic--I never tire of watching our trackers chase the sun. They are the best "yard art" imaginable.

Hello Richard,

Got to agree with you there.  Mick Sagrillo used to often say wind was much better than solar cause it was more fun to watch.  That was before solar arrays got the upgrade to lawn art!

A couple other comments on the efficiency though.  Seems like way up North here it can still make sense going with a seasonally adjustable fixed array, at least in stand-alone systems.  Sun stays pretty close to the southern horizon come december and a tracker's not going to help here more than what an extra couple of panels would (savings from not going to a tracking array).

Also, with little to track in our cloudy Decembers, and not a whole lot of serious sun movement until almost March, I often tell clients to shut off the tracker (power it down at solar noon) during the low sun of winter.  I wonder if this isn't a good move from a longeviety perspective.  It's gotta be hard on that little motor when it sets back to the east and its 20 below zero.

On a similar note, I've always felt dual axis trackers should also be avoided, especially here in the north where snow can be an issue.  That's before I heard of you dumping the snow with manual controls ofcourse.  Probably won't be long before Array Technologies builds in a snow sensor which will automatically perform a "snow dump".

Oh ya, and tracking arrays always make sense in well sited grid-tie systems.

Kurt Nelson

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