Solar Panel Tracking Kit

Solar panel tracking kits are not new. Solar panel tracking kits are used to turn solar panels throughout the day to follow, or track, the sun as it moves across the sky.

Solar panels, known also as photovoltaic panels, or PV panels, intake sunlight and output electricity. Solar panels can be placed on the house or on the ground near the house.

The goal is always to position solar panels so they will have the greatest access to the sun. The sun moves, though. It moves throughout a given day, and throughout the seasons. That is why solar panel tracking kits are used.

Follow the Sun

Solar panel tracking kits follow the sun, gaining the greatest possible access to sunlight. Most solar panel tracking kits use light dependent resistors (LDR). These LDR find the brightest spot in the sky and follow it. That brightest spot should be the sun.

Unfortunately, the brightest spot in the sky can change constantly as the clouds move in and out. A solar panel tracking kit that uses an LDR tends to move constantly on a cloudy day, seeking a will-o-the-wisp brighter spot. Solar panel tracking kits with LDR tracking are affected by the sun and rain also. UV irradiation makes them lose orientation. Sometimes they become “blind” and stop tracking completely.

New Solar Panel Tracking Kits

New solar panel tracking kits have a tracking controller that eliminates the need for an LDR. These kits use electronic timers that let the solar panel array track the sun according to the time of day.

Each day, such trackers follow the sun across the sky in 6 steps. At night, they “park” in a horizontal position. The 6 daytime steps they take are calculated by a small on-board computer. They depend on hours of daylight. The computer takes a small amount of power from the solar panels, but the solar panel tracking kit maximizes the amount of power produced. The loss is negligible.

Some newer solar panel tracking kits also make provision for the wind so that they are not blown off course.

Manual Solar Panel Tracking

Many view solar panel tracking kits as expensive “toys” they neither need nor want. For them, manual solar panel tracking to fit the seasons is sufficient. Daily tracking is a luxury.

To perform manual solar panel tracking, you will need to adjust your solar panels by hand. The following adjustments are for North America.

* Early in February: manually turn your solar panels so they are at the same angle as the latitude where you live. For example, if you live in Chicago, Illinois, your latitude and the angle at which you would set your solar panels would be 41.54 N.

* Early in May: manually turn your solar panels so that they are at an angle 15 degrees less than your latitude. In Chicago, you would now set your solar panels at 41.54 - 15 = 26.54 N.

* Early in August: manually turn your solar panels back to the same angle as your latitude. This should be the same as the early February setting.

* Early in November: manually set your solar panels to an angle 15 degrees more than your latitude. In Chicago, that would be 41.54 + 15 = 56.54 N.