[RE-wrenches] Tracker manual needed

[Howie Michaelson]

William,
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...
Howie

Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
Solar Electric & Heat Pumps Systems Sales & Service
802-272-0004

On Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 6:37 PM William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
wrote:

> Friends:
>
>
>
> So far it looks like I have stumped all of you on identifying these
> trackers.
>
>
>
> 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.
>
>
>
> 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:
>
>
>
> A.   If I orient the axis N-S the tracker would track east to west with
> no tilt towards the south.
>
> B.   If I orient the axis E-W the tracker would alter tilt angle as the
> day progressed, but never facing other than due south.
>
>
>
> This all seems strange, but maybe I just don’t 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’t be asked.
>
>
>
> 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 here
> <https://millersolar.com/MillerSolar/case_studies/26-Mystery_tracker/Mystery_Tracker.html>
> .
>
>
>
> Thanks everyone for trying to help.  This is a real head scratcher.
>
>
>
> William
>
> 805-438-5600
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
> Behalf Of *larry at starlightsolar.com
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 22, 2020 9:53 AM
> *To:* RE-wrenches
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Tracker manual needed
>
>
>
> William,
>
>
>
> 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’s
> for the young folks)
>
>
>
> It’s 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?
>
>
>
> Set the elevation angle to latitude for best all year performance.
> Elevation can also be seasonally adjusted for more gain.
>
>
>
> There are 3 types of sensors most commonly used in this style of linear
> actuator. Hall effect, reed switch or a 10 turn potentiometer.
>
>
> Larry Crutcher
> Starlight Solar Power Systems
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 22, 2020, at 8:33 AM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Dave:
>
>
>
> The trackers appear to work. I am not clear on what  direction to orient
> them. Do you know?
>
> William Miller
>
> www.millersolar.com
>
>
>
>
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