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Solar Panels are obviously more efficient when directed at the sun (Cosine Theta and all that)
Auto tracking systems are expensive, and beyond my budget.
I have been looking for a mounting system which allows for manual rotation and elevation. It would allow one to set it for the Sun's local elevation for the day and, even if one is out, to at least set the direction to the local Siderial noon as the best average.
Because of cable connections I envisage that it could have only 180 degree rotation, so in order to allow for total flexibility of orienting the MH, it would need to allow for elevation either side of the horizontal.
Does anyone know of such a mounting system available commercially?
Alternatively, has anyone designed and fitted such a system?
Does anything exist?
Am I looking for the 'Holy Grail' ?
I haven't come across anything like that. Nearest I've seen is aimed at fixed installations with limited adjustment.
But for those of us who can easily reach our roof mounted solar panels (as can I through the open Heki), it would increase the charging current substantially and allow effective use through 3 out of 4 seasons.
Any such well-designed bracket, perhaps up to around the £200 mark, may well sell well.
I have a solar panel which during winter months is always tilted and the gain in amps is unbelievable' it will increase maybe from 1 amp to 4 amps One of my Dutch friends has carried out much research on the best things to do with solar panels and has his swivel and tilt he also uses thick speaker cable as he sees some gain in using this. However mine only tilts because Bert the Dutchman who travels around selling and fitting solar panels is not going to bother with swivel when he changes his truck as the swivel gain is not as much as you may expect if its manually turned. Bert has both swivel and tilt and tilt only on his big rig and trailer.Maybe it would be worth it if you can be around to swivel every half hour or so. Mine is accomplished at a total cost of under 10e by using Ali angle for brackets and two boot gas struts from a car breakers. I lift it up using the awning winder and the struts hold it up, when its down the struts also hold it down because of the position and angle of the struts and brackets. I'm not at home right now and am not with the van. When I return home I will photograph my installation so it can be copied easily and I will describe the swivel mechanism my dutch friend John has made. It too is simply made and he turns it pulling a string that hangs down to the ground. Me i'm happy with just tilting but importantly the panel must be pointed south. Pics to follow in a few days
I have seen a French van with a sloar panel on the back of his Oyster sat dish.
Andy
______________________________________________________________ There are no typing, spelling, or grammatical errors in my post. What you are seeing is the evolution of the English language in action.
This post may be unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious beliefs,if you are please disregard the above post. Andy
I have seen a French van with a sloar panel on the back of his Oyster sat dish.
I think that is a Sam-y-solar. A 50W panel combined with a sat dish that can be switched between solar/sat modes. Nice idea but well over £2,000 I believe.
edit-. looked it up, its £2,699
Trevor
______________________________________________________________ Not all who wander are lost.
You could buy and install a crank up satellite dish. Bin the dish itself and attach the solar panel to the crank bracket instead. Trevor
Not such a daft idea Trevor.
(Switches into Lateral Thinking Mode! )
Do what you said exactly, but replace the sat dish with a planar array which would take up an area of less than a square foot and would be equivalent to a 60cm dish.
My (excellent) Alden Planar dish gave me the idea. It could be mounted on the same bracket as the solar panel and you would have a dual use crank-up.
It may not be robust enough to withstand a strong wind, but I reckon it could work?
Thanks for your extensive reply and I look forward to receiving more detail of your's and your Dutch friend's set-up.
I am not intending to use the swivel facility for adjusting during each day but just to be able to turn the tilted panel to South whatever direction the MH is facing when parked, so that I do not have to position MH in a certain direction - might lose a good view!
I had wondered if there is any way to utilise my Status 530 TV aerial, by possibly mounting a panel atop the aerial, giving me swivel and tilt.
I strikes me there are two possible effects that would rule that out:-
1 Attenuation of the TV signal in whole or in part
2 Additional windage producing an unacceptable load on the mast mounting, plus a loss of say 1mpg
Any decent sized solar panel angled to the sun would indeed have a high windloading combined with being heavier than a large satellite dish.
Therefore a pole mount would only work with a substantial bracket fitting over the pole and spreading the load over a significant fraction of the panel.
Think similar flat-screen TV brackets. I have one in the kitchen that angles both ways, and yes the TV is a bit heavier than the solar panel, but the bracket is substantial even with no windloading.
Personally I'd prefer angling arms on the short-side of the panel, and a turntable base (diameter ~50cm) with a rotation end-stop.
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