Using Old C Band Dish Mount to track Sun. Is it possible?

[TnAndy]

I built and used 3 trackers for my PV solar arrays for several years. I finally quit using them due to the problems with keeping them running Controllers.....tried several....it AIN'T as simple as a photocell, believe me. Linear actuators...went thru several of them as well. Many of them have cheap plastic gears and do not last. Now they sit in the fixed position. And the additional arrays I've added since then are fix mounts...PV has simply gotten too cheap to bother tracking in most cases (unless you're limited by the amount of panels, simply use more panels)

My guess is you won't gain enough heat payback from tracking to justify doing it.....add another panel and be done with it.

Last one I built:

8" schedule 40 steel pipe, 2" shaft in 2" bearings.

North/South axis frame, with 24" linear actuator:

East/West frame. Pivots on 2" shaft/bearings.

Looking at the underside. The east/west actuator is a 48" heavy duty model. The yellow shock absorbers help protect the actuators from wind on the array. There are 10 panels in this array...each 39"x66"....nearly 18sqft each.....180sqft for the whole array....the size of a 12x15' room !

My 3 tracking arrays, facing west near the end of the day. Building array #4, fixed mount out the ridge.

Array #4 finished. Array #5 was simply added onto the end of this one.

For hot water, I used vac tube heater. This is a 48 tube array that helps heat one of my greenhouses.

 

[Raspy]

Industrial,

If you are doing it to get the most out of that particular collector, then it may be of some benefit, but if you simply want more energy for your tub, add another collector.

Position the collector so the tilt favors winter and angle it to favor the west to maximize the heat in the afternoon. This angle gives the largest appearing collector when your water temps are the highest.

Flow rates are directly related to efficiency. So, don't try to "heat" the water, try to "cool" the collector. A lower operating temp will easily make up for a slightly off angle collector by managing the losses.

Depending on your tub's design, of course, it seems one 3X8 collector is small for the job.

Sorry that doesn't help with your tracking question.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks for the replies. A neighbour had three of these collectors. They were supposed to be plug and play. I hooked up water to the one he gave me and NOTHING! Turns out they had a refridgerant system, that had long ago leaked away to help enlarge the hole in the ozone layer!

Anyway, I gutted the unit and just recently finished soldering 1/2 inch copper pipe to the original copper sheets. I am sure, the worst is over!

I washed it yesterday to get the flux off and was surprised that the plate did not really get hot on the sun. When I first played with this thing, I burned myself on the copper plate. That was when I just removed the glass. I am guessing the closed unit plays a huge part as some kind of greenhouse scenereo.

And yet, rolls of black plastic pipe lying in the grass worked amazingly well, better then that stupid wood stove project!




,

 

[Raspy]

Tn,

I really admire your work! Good job.

I have a question for you about the actuators. You mentioned that they don't last and I'm wondering if they saw an unfair load that broke the gears?

In your setup with the shocks. The shocks seem to be simply adding resistance to the actuator's movement, but they don't seem to actually take the load from wind buffeting. It looks like that load is mainly applied to the linear drive. Could you leave the shocks, but make a much more cushioned attachment for the drive to eliminated the constant pounding on the gears from wind?

 

[Raspy]

Thanks for the replies. A neighbour had three of these collectors. They were supposed to be plug and play. I hooked up water to them and NOTHING! Turns out they had a refridgerant system, that had long ago leaked away to help enlarge the hole in the ozone layer!

Anyway, I gutted the unit and just finished soldering 1/2 inch copper pipe to the original copper sheets. I am sure, the worst is over!

I washed it yesterday to get the flux off and was surprised that the plate did not really get hot on the sun. Wen I first played with this thing, I burned myself on the copper plate. That was when I just removed the glass. I am guess


,

Now you are seeing the benefits of glazing and why it's important to run the system at the lowest possible temperature, in other words, design to cool the collector, not heat the water. This way less energy is lost to the environment and more goes into your water.

Now you'll need to consider a freeze protection system.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Sorry. Something is wrong with my computer. I dare not enter long script as it sometimes just vanishes. So I have to keep editing it! A real PITA!

On Friday, I had a stronger frame built for the flimsy cabinet, so when the time comes I can mount it to a C band dish mount.

 

[techman]

I attached a sheet showing the relative outputs for fixed, one axis and two axis. It is for an area of PA, but these charts are available for any area in NA on NREL's site.

Paul