Mega Solar Tracker | WIZnet Makers

details

For those how haven’t read the first part of the story.

So as I am coming up to retrofit/overhaul time on the twins, for mechanical reasons the obvious choice is probably the south tower first. It was built with a reversed east-west mechanism. This was a bit of an experiment which served to teach me that there is a good reason for constructing things the “right way.” The “twins” are much smaller units being only 1.5KW each, detailed CAD drawings of these are included at the bottom of this project. The two towers feed a single dual input inverter located on the north tower. Each tower has its own battery set, solar regulator and tracking computer. They are however both feed from the same DC pony panels located on the south tower. Both of these are 24V systems not 12V like the east tower.

If your wondering why I’m replacing the optical trackers? This picture on a partially cloudy day shows the problem.

So on my Christmas list for this year was time and location from the GPS, network internet access (NTP time server) and maybe chatting to the inverter to get solar output. I also wanted the unit more compact, preferably in one box so I can mount on the back of the tracker frame much the same as the sensor in the first unit. Of course I’m determined to get the OTA thing right so I don’t have to go up on the power ladder with the laptop to change programs.