subject: Solar Trackers- Long Term Energy Resource [print this page] Solar energy is fast becoming big business as the effects of long term fossil use are now being felt worldwide. The main fact that current fuel resources are non renewable and the demand is ever increasing, the need to find alternative renewable energy resources has become paramount in both the scientific and the business community. One of the devices that make for efficient use of solar panels is solar trackers.
A solar tracker is a motor that adjusts the positioning of the solar carports as against the suns position in the sky. As we have known since Copernicus, the earth revolves around the sun. The job of the solar tracker is to adjust the positioning of the solar trackers in order to be able to maximize the collection of the rays of the sun. The suns rays are the essential energy sources that would be transformed into electrical energy for utilization.
There are two ways to go about it. One is by having the machine move the whole solar carport. This requires an exact movement on a movable ball and joint so that the panel would be directed towards the sun itself. Another manner is through the use of moveable mirrors. These moveable rays would then be magnificent into the photovoltaic cells.
This requires pinpoint accuracy in the angles between the collection and the magnification towards the fixed solar panel. This is the safest and most efficient manner of collecting sunlight as the magnificent effect would help in creating more energy either for storage or use.
Between the two systems, over-all cost would play the most pivotal role in decision-making. The first system, called non-concentrating applications, would be less accurate and tracking can even be done manually. The movement though may cause stress on the sensitive photo voltaic cells. On the other hand, the concentrated application would almost be twice the cost and twice the size for maintenance and storage.
But in turn, the magnification and the solar tracker system by mirrors create much more energy and the accuracy of direction of the sun is much more efficient. In both trackers, the winter season is very much a factor for consideration because of the shorter daylight times. So in order to counter act this, one can either use more trackers thus adding more collectors to generate same amount of energy. Depending on the physical size, the tracker mounting pole size and the array geometry, the price could range from different amounts.
There are many options with the use of tracking technology in solar carports. Research and observation needs to be conducted thoroughly in order that the proper setup is decided upon before purchase and installation.
