Servicing and repair 3off 2kW PV Trackers.

[clockmanFRA]

Hi, Thought some of you guys might be interested.



These 3 have been up and operating nearly 10 years now.  They are double axis, but the declination axis is a manual winding handle, and I just adjust a couple of times a year. 

Yes these trackers have withstood a Hurricane classed wind, they also have the option to lay flat in really, really bad winds.

Originally the drive sun LED sensors and circuit PCB were supplied by Dave in Cowa Australia, he would do me a completed and boxed up circuit.   His would sense the deferential in brightness between the 2 LED's and use a bit of code on a PIC to move the actuator arm either in or out about every 5 minutes or so. At night the circuit would park the tracker into the East position ready for the morning sun.





Sadly Dave died a few years ago, and No2 tracker and No 3 trackers stopped working as the drive relays Dave used have gone US, and fried the PIC chip.

Recently i contacted Duane Johnson of Red Rock Energy in the USA and purchased two new complete circuits for $90.

The circuit i purchased .......  LEDSRM24Vc3P single axis solar tracker with Remote sensor & Parking.   see ..... www.redrok.com/led3xassm





The small LED PCB has no mounting hole, so i have had to do a PCB clamp arrangement to hold it securely, especially when the wind is buffeting the tracker.

[clockmanFRA]

DUANE recommends using a Peanut butter jar for housing his LED's, we don't get much Peanut butter here in the French Normandy sticks, so I used a couple of sauce jars.

I just attached them to Dave's old IP68 enclosure boxes, and yes I left Daves old LED 's sticking out his box, good old Dave.

Duane says that the LED's should be mounted on the East side of the PV panels, where Daves were in the middle on the tilt over axis.



Duanes circuit PCB has just one mounting hole so it just hangs in my IP68 main control box.



I used some CAT5 E cable from the sensor to the circuit PCB.



Here i am working on No2.



No2 & No3 have had there actuator arms fully dismantled and rebuilt with new thrust bearings, new drive gearing, I machine the new replacement from brass as the nylon pinion just strips.  Its a slow drive 12 tooth so I use a Cycloidal form.



All 3 now functioning correctly.

Interestingly Duanes circuit works on a pulse every 30 or so seconds, this can be altered, and drives with FET's direct to the actuator for about 1.5 seconds. It certainly suits my purposes, as I do not want my trackers wasting energy and wearing things out prematurely constantly hunting for the SUN.

I finished the repairs on No 3 this evening and its working fine. No 2 works well, and once the sun has set they start there long haul to park in the East for the following sun rise.
 

[Bruce S]

Nice!

[clockmanFRA]

Thanks Bruce,

Actuators that I use, these are actually 36vdc, but work well with 24vdc …….





NOTES,

Okay to be honest, although these trackers are simple, and robust, and as about cost effective as possible, yea they are my design on Hugh Piggotts principle of simplicity, but reality kicks in and I will not be building any more PV Trackers.

I get about 1/3rd to 1/4 improvement of power against a static array of the same kW.

Each 2kW tracker with its actuator and steel cost, and cement footing etc is about $600, I can do a steel framed static array its concrete footings etc for 2kW of PV for about $300, so I would rather spend the saving on some more PV panels as the price of PV gets better and better.

Bruce and Mods, I hope you don't mind please ……..   

 …. here is a link to get the book to make your own 2kW Solar PV Tracker.

https://levivray.com/purchase-book---make-a-2kw-solar-tracker.php

Thanks

[Bruce S]

ClockmanFRA;
You're link is not out of line, since you are way over the minimum posts.
Never mind the amount of assistance you've been to a great number of people on just this forum.


Other MODs I hope agree :-D

We won't even charge the standard 2-pint minimum 

Honestly ! Back when these were built the prices of PV were still pretty high and a tracker that could tweak them to gain another % made since then. Now, maybe not so much.

Question? running the 36V actuators at 24V hows the current draw?

Cheers
Bruce

[clockmanFRA]

Thank you Bruce, and the other kind Moderators.

When servicing the trackers I do a amp draw check on each of the DC motors, just to check that they are behaving. As some times the two outer magnets that are shaped around the armature comes away, just a cheap Chinese adhesive.  I now drill a hole and tap each and re-glue with epoxy resin. That seems to hold them in place.

Normally at 24v the working motor pulls at initial start up surge of between 1.5 amps and 1.7 amps, once running and the tracker is changing position then the motor draws between 0.68amps and 0.76amps.

Look after yourself Bruce, and when next you are passing please do drop in as we have 30 to 40 gallons of double fermented local Bio Cider, from our Cider orchard, always available for friends.   We have some decent beer as well.

[Bruce S]

Look after yourself Bruce, and when next you are passing please do drop in as we have 30 to 40 gallons of double fermented local Bio Cider, from our Cider orchard, always available for friends.   We have some decent beer as well.

I'm either heading to Japan for a visit or to stay in the not too distant future.

Stopping over for a visit would be great!
I still have those patches that kept getting returned via post , I could certainly bring those as well.

Stay safe & Stay well.

Cheers
 

[clockmanFRA]

Yes it would be nice to see you and perhaps you can stay for a few days.

I could arrange for us to deliver those patches in person when you here. Saturday mornings are normally best as that particular station as its manned/girlled by part timers.  Nice to meet the lady Chief.

On a practical note, France and England are spatting with each other at present, and as the final date, Jan 1st, when Uk legally leaves the EU is fast approaching very little legal documents/agreements have been reached.

For us here in France, we are not sure of our legal status, we hold Uk passports and we thought we were part of Europe and a European citizens.
 
At present after 1st January we may not have the right to live here or to hold or own a property in France.
 
Yes, we will be allowed to travel on 90 day visitors visa's and reside here for 90 days, but after that period we have to return to the UK for 90 days etc etc. 

And for our family going backwards and forwards, me with my work, we are very uncertain of our future.

One thing for certain, the UK government will make us pay every time we travel with an expensive visa application and paperwork.   

Bruce, sometimes I think the world is going mad?

 …. However, for me personally, one thing is for sure, those that are supposedly in charge seem to get more and more incompetent. !!!!

[Mary B]

Ever watch the movie "Idiocracy"? Seems like our governments sure are headed that way!

[Bruce S]

Mary B;
Just about right!! sad to say.
Here's how my current travel timeline would be according to the current restrictions being enforced.
Fly to France ( NOPE! y'all ain't open yet. If I do get there gotta stay for 14days somewhere , BUT it would make for a nice stay).
Fly from France to Japan, stay "somewhere" at my own expense for 14 days, travel by non-air and non-public  transport 4 hours north , stay outside the base for 14 days (no big deal, again nice food , I could get some extra work time with the local FD :-D.
Once those 14days are up I can then get on-base at self-quarantine at our townhouse for yet another 14 days ( NOW! This I don't count as a bad thing :-D).
ALL this time would count against my vacation time and current employment all for a 10 day visit with my wife . Not to mention the return flights!

Go figure :-)

Bruce S

[clockmanFRA]

You will get here one day Bruce!.

Please don't come Just yet.  !!!!


Just had a email from my youngest's school, the parents association got the Info and the school had to publish, a lonely pupil one of the few attending the school has tested positive for COVID 19.  Yes, they have just started testing ordinary folk. But, I suspect there are more.

Good job I did not send my youngest back to school.

All the parents I have spoken to say that their own children are not going back to school until September term, and that's that.

His school bus has been running now for over 4 weeks, it drives past 3 times a day, we call it the Ghost bus, as its just the driver with her face mask. No children get on, No children get off it.

And all because the French teachers strong union and the school administration unions wanted it members back to work, so they can get their salaries, no matter the cost.

Just goes to show what the school authorities really think about the school children.

Do they care about the child's parents and grandparents, seems to me the answer is NO.
 
Is the school going to shut down for 14 days , like ordinary folk have to isolate,  HELL NO, !  the Principle and his advisors  reckon they can handle it and will just carry on.

They blindly follow the Politian's point of view, and no longer the medical committees that are supposedly advising, that seem to me are being ignored very cleverly by those slippery Government political advisors.

Just so glad I would not allow my boy back to school until September.

In September we may need to consider all the relevant information we can get hold of.

My boy and I caught the virus late Feb and early March but now the Mrs informs me, that in the UK there are now Eleven strains of COVID 19.  The Virus in Scotland is very different to the Virus in the South of England.

I told her and the other 2 boys to stay put in the Uk for the time being.

Sorry! Bruce, for your own health, please do not come to France until at least September.

[Bruce S]

No Worries!
Why when I read your detail of the "GHOST bus" did my brain go to the scene in one of those Harry Potter movies  ?

Strange about the schools! Here? they're all about NOT sending the children to school too soon. Even summer school programs have been cancelled.
At the college our daughter is enrolled at the programs that only are available every two years(field work) has been cancelled, she's already signed up now for the filed <-> field work class of 2022.

Stay Safe!

edit: Still can't type, drink coffee and spell at the same time

[Mary B]

A LOT of parents in town are homeschooling now. The parents who have to work have arranged to have their kids school with friends. Most of the kids prefer the homeschooling too! As long as they get the classwork done in the allotted time frame they can go at their own pace. Many are halfway into the next school year already and some are doing classes all summer long.

Minnesota did have an advantage with a robust online classroom system for k-12. Made it a lot easier for kids to keep up.

[Bruce S]

Mary B;
I'm not aware of any state online schooling for k-12 here in Missouri (though it may have changed by now).
However, we did home school for quite a long time via online accredited schools.
Last year of high-school was more for social, and diploma(s).

Daughter had to actually slow down and ended up helping teacher(s) in several of the academic level classes.

Plus the graduation was a HOOT!

[clockmanFRA]

Hi Bruce, Hi Mary,

Just an update, Trackers are behaving real good, so RedRock circuits are good.

Sadly and sorry to say that France is still not a safe place to visit at present with Covid running out of control and folk in the nearby Old peoples home diying of 19.

14 day isloation period is still required for any visitor.

Bruce, we have a friend from the UK staying for a few weeks. They have spent the last few days picking the cider apples in our 40 tree orchard, so should be able to make a few hundred gallons for your eventual visitation.

My youngest boy, 13, is still with me here and has officially left the French school system and is being home schooled with Skype and Zoom by UK tutors in waiting to return to the UK school system.

Interesting that last week the French Government has officially banned all home schooling in France, and all French children must attend an officially recongnised school.      The reason?  to stop Islamic home schooling and the like.

   

[Bruce S]

ClockmanFRA;
Mead time for us, cool weather has the local bees working overtime. We have a smallish mason bee cluster, they made a nice addition to the patio, they don't make honey, but the do pollinate without stingers. Mead should be ready right after Christmas.
Apple trees are not doing so well after a fire blight attack  . Local tree pros say to cut my losses now, darn stuff never ever goes away.

Japan is spiking again too, so travel is still on the back burner.

Cheers
Bruce S

[Mary B]

I have made mead twice, still have a bottle aging back in the pantry... think it is 3 years old now... was making morat(Mulberry mead) every year but mulberry tree didn't yield much this year. Oh well, have my homebrew ale! I am stepping up in the world of beer brewing, semi pro setup, electric kettle, brew in a basket so single kettle simplicity, all stainless fermenters... makes life a lot easier to clean in place and not be hauling heavy fermenters around!

[Bruce S]

ClockmanFRA;
I could handle a 14 day isolation! Heck I could use the down time about now!!
I didn't think Redrok was still building,, OR did you rebuild these? Sorry if I missed that part of the posts.


Mary B;
Was given ~12lbs (5.5Kg?) of last years clover raw honey, Bee keeper is flush with honey from a bumper year and a 2nd hive, gotta do something with it  .
Young bottle might be ready about Christmas.

Cheers
Bruce S

[clockmanFRA]

I got the circuits from RedRok last year, so maybe he has stopped building?   Anyone know?

The circuits have been working fine without any problems.

Dave in Australia died 4 years ago so his circuits are not obtainable.

Good Grief! Why the heck do folk die? and just when their products are needed.


Mead,  hmmm that's something i have not really got around to testing, do bring a keg Bruce!  Eventually!!!!!

Family have been in the End Gite, all have stayed 14 days !

I have closed the swimming pool.  And the pool heating is now off.

[Bruce S]

I got the circuits from RedRok last year, so maybe he has stopped building?   Anyone know?


Mead,  hmmm that's something i have not really got around to testing, do bring a keg Bruce!  Eventually!!!!!

I was on RedRok's site just yesterday to check, he's active so I'm guessing he's still around.

The south of France is supposed to have some of the best local honey around, THAT mead should be awesome.

I may start a thread as a safe place to store pics.

Cheers
Bruce S

[Mary B]

ClockmanFRA;
I could handle a 14 day isolation! Heck I could use the down time about now!!
I didn't think Redrok was still building,, OR did you rebuild these? Sorry if I missed that part of the posts.


Mary B;
Was given ~12lbs (5.5Kg?) of last years clover raw honey, Bee keeper is flush with honey from a bumper year and a 2nd hive, gotta do something with it  .
Young bottle might be ready about Christmas.

Cheers
Bruce S

Sounds tasty! Mead is best after a year aging... Morat is okay younger because the berry flavor and sugar offsets the honey sharpness that needs aging.

[Bruce S]

ClockmanFRA;
I could handle a 14 day isolation! Heck I could use the down time about now!!
I didn't think Redrok was still building,, OR did you rebuild these? Sorry if I missed that part of the posts.


Mary B;
Was given ~12lbs (5.5Kg?) of last years clover raw honey, Bee keeper is flush with honey from a bumper year and a 2nd hive, gotta do something with it  .
Young bottle might be ready about Christmas.

Cheers
Bruce S

Sounds tasty! Mead is best after a year aging... Morat is okay younger because the berry flavor and sugar offsets the honey sharpness that needs aging.

Mary B
Morat? As in Mulberry Mead?
Damn Squirrels keep taking our crop of Mulberries !!
I've had some in the past, was tasty. Would like to try making some too. Will be adding to our crossbow ammo for the tree rats and the 2021 crop.

Bruce S

[Mary B]

Yup mullberry mead, really good stuff in small amounts LOL last batch ended up being 15% ABV