1066 Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 Thought you guys might be interested in my homemade solar tracker - This is just lashed together out of wood to test the idea. I works perfectly so I'll get started on a more substantial version to carry a PV or maybe a hot water panel. Using a tracker to keep a panel facing the sun increases the efficiency by more than 30% https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w2GX1OXu4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T-uCl0jrG4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 I love this stuff. Men in sheds. I may not make one but would really like to know how to. Some more applications......... Can you use the tracker to keep the heat on a solar cooker? I really fancy making one of those. Are you a retired engineer by any chance? There are more than a few of us who like to see pictures of our sheds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1066 Posted September 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 There are several uses for the tracker and solar cooking would be an ideal use. - many undeveloped countries have plenty of sunshine but often are short of clean water and cooking fuel. A very simple tracker similar to this mean you could add a cast iron cooking pot and it would boil away all day (Mmmm! Goat stew:)) My longer term thoughts are that you could boil and condense water on a continual basis. If you had a small header tank feeding a flash boiler,maybe nothing more than a tight coil of smallbore copper tube. Collect the steam and condense it by feeding the steam pipe back through the header tank, you would get pure fresh water run out the pipe. Dirty water in - clean water out. No, I'm not an engineer, just a life long tinkerer. I'll do a video of how the tracker works, it's very simple with no electronics or computers involved. Here's a bit more of my tinkering: If you click the subscribe button on my videos you will get notification when I post up more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTanlKuT_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3NxKrETpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4YJKRNdYO0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpkiller Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 am i missing something? it kept bursting into flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprackles Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Thought you were going to show us how you bypassed your meter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedsanity Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 " free energy tracker"? Are you giving them away or confessing that you have cracked perpetual motion ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper3 Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Top stuff 1066 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 There are several uses for the tracker and solar cooking would be an ideal use. - many undeveloped countries have plenty of sunshine but often are short of clean water and cooking fuel. A very simple tracker similar to this mean you could add a cast iron cooking pot and it would boil away all day (Mmmm! Goat stew:)) My longer term thoughts are that you could boil and condense water on a continual basis. If you had a small header tank feeding a flash boiler,maybe nothing more than a tight coil of smallbore copper tube. Collect the steam and condense it by feeding the steam pipe back through the header tank, you would get pure fresh water run out the pipe. Dirty water in - clean water out. No, I'm not an engineer, just a life long tinkerer. I'll do a video of how the tracker works, it's very simple with no electronics or computers involved. Here's a bit more of my tinkering: If you click the subscribe button on my videos you will get notification when I post up more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTanlKuT_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3NxKrETpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4YJKRNdYO0 The issue for 3rd world countries is that they cannot afford much, I am sure you know all this. I was involved with a project to TRY to make solar cookers for under $1. We did a folding cardboard shape to be "like" a parabolic mirror (had a number of small flats really) and with your film on it. It sort of worked but could not track the sun. So you piqued my attention with your tracker.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1066 Posted September 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 The issue for 3rd world countries is that they cannot afford much, I am sure you know all this. I was involved with a project to TRY to make solar cookers for under $1. We did a folding cardboard shape to be "like" a parabolic mirror (had a number of small flats really) and with your film on it. It sort of worked but could not track the sun. So you piqued my attention with your tracker.... I know very basic technology is the answer - It's either got to be bullet proof and never need any maintenance or so basic the local bike mechanic can fix it. I recently read a report about using a rope pump to lift water from deep wells - a really basic idea that works well and was made locally. The well and the pumps were provided by charity but after a year only about 10% were still working - disappointing really. I would think a solar cooker would work well in the equatorial region without much tracking being necessary - a simple solar concentrator as you mentioned can easily and quite quickly raise a cooking pot to boiling temperature - Then you could use the "hay box" method of slow cooking by just folding up your solar cooker that doubles as a well insulated box and leave it to stew for several hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Similar idea to this. Simple, but clever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1066 Posted September 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Ahh yes. That's the basic idea - Here's the diagram I drew for another forum. I made this tracker in 2011 and put the video up then but kept it private until a few weeks ago. These are the type of panel I used to drive the positioning motor:http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-1-...20935105466%26and this is the type of motor.http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-12V-DC-...item4d1193bfb0For this prototype I used plastic gears from a cheap salad spinner.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chef-Vention...item1c364af7e6Using the same panels and a similar motor my second version carried a 40lb payload with no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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