<div dir="auto">William,<div dir="auto">To me, it looks like someone's bastardization of an old Unirac fixed Top of Pole mount. My best guess is it was designed as a single axis tracker, meant to track the sun's altitude across the day, but have a fixed South facing azimuth. Unless it was closer to the equator, orienting so it tracked East to West wouldn't make much sense, since other than early morning, mid summer, or late afternoon the panels, would be facing far off optimal. Just a guess...</div><div dir="auto">Howie<br><br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="auto">Howie Michaelson<br>Sun Catcher<br>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer\u2122<br>Solar Electric & Heat Pumps Systems Sales & Service<br>802-272-0004</div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 6:37 PM William Miller <<a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com">william@millersolar.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div class="m_-8434018061517092157WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Friends:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">So far it looks like I have stumped all of you on identifying these trackers. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">These trackers are trying to work. The electronics and motors are operable. Unlike the diagram below, these trackers do not have an inclined axis to allow the tracking to sweep from east to west with the panels inclined to compensate for latitude and season. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">The trackers spun around their mounting poles and I simply want to know how to orient the axis so I can put them back to work:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="m_-8434018061517092157MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><span>A.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">If I orient the axis N-S the tracker would track east to west with no tilt towards the south. </span></p><p class="m_-8434018061517092157MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><span>B.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">If I orient the axis E-W the tracker would alter tilt angle as the day progressed, but never facing other than due south.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">This all seems strange, but maybe I just don\u2019t have my mind wrapped around the concept as applies to these units. Maybe these mounts were modified in the ancient past when they were installed. The original installer is no longer on this planet so he can\u2019t be asked.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I created a web site to post all of the photos so anyone who is curious can look at full sized images. The web site is <a href="https://millersolar.com/MillerSolar/case_studies/26-Mystery_tracker/Mystery_Tracker.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Thanks everyone for trying to help. This is a real head scratcher.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">William</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">805-438-5600</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> RE-wrenches [mailto:<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b><a href="mailto:larry@starlightsolar.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">larry@starlightsolar.com</a><br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, July 22, 2020 9:53 AM<br><b>To:</b> RE-wrenches<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] Tracker manual needed</span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">William,</p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">This type of mount is a polar axis type and should be aligned with the pivot N-S. The actuator can then swing the array E-W. The attached photo is an example of how the mount was used in the C-band antenna days. (1980\u2019s for the young folks)</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">It\u2019s hard to tell but it looks like the elevation bolt is missing that connects the azimuth bar to the pole mount cap. Can you supply a better photo of the mount? </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Set the elevation angle to latitude for best all year performance. Elevation can also be seasonally adjusted for more gain. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">There are 3 types of sensors most commonly used in this style of linear actuator. Hall effect, reed switch or a 10 turn potentiometer. </p></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black"><br>Larry Crutcher<br>Starlight Solar Power Systems</span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black"><br><br></span></p></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black"><img border="0" width="398" height="325" id="m_-8434018061517092157_x0037_0EE68A7-4F1D-491E-AF11-BF4AA06EAB66" src="cid:image002.png@01D66034.27EDA560"></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal">On Jul 22, 2020, at 8:33 AM, William Miller <<a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">william@millersolar.com</a>> wrote:</p></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Dave:</p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">The trackers appear to work. I am not clear on what direction to orient them. Do you know?</p><div><p class="MsoNormal">William Miller</p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.millersolar.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">www.millersolar.com</a></p></div></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></div></div>
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