Swivel solar panel mounts

[Rwnielsen]

Good morning all
I'm getting ready to put up 3 good sized solar panels on my roof and I'd like to use a mount that rotates to some degree. I have a few ideas for tracking the sun and a swivel base is a key component. Forum search got me nowhere.
Thanks for your help
Richard

[Danjo]

I spent a lot of time and brain cycles on this. In the end I decided that over-paneling was cheaper and easier

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Danjo

I spent a lot of time and brain cycles on this. In the end I decided that over-paneling was cheaper and easier

I tend to agree with you. However, I love to fabricate and tinker

https://www.amazon.com/Garelick-7512...QRHEJ29SHKD080

Even if I have to rotate each one individually it would make parking much less direction oriented. I plan on boondocking maybe 2 weeks at a time

[somewhereinusa]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

I tend to agree with you. However, I love to fabricate and tinker

https://www.amazon.com/Garelick-7512...QRHEJ29SHKD080

Even if I have to rotate each one individually it would make parking much less direction oriented. I plan on boondocking maybe 2 weeks at a time

Not trying to rain on your parade but, here are some random thoughts.

The swivel you linked to are pretty sloppy and the bearings are open to the weather. I would think that dirt getting into them would be a problem.

While driving, mounting a large panel in only the middle would put tremendous stress on both the panel and what it is mounted to unless you have some pretty stout bracing.

Along the same thought that swivel only has one bolt holding it together.

If you still want a swivel, take a look at the front hub from a front wheel drive car. They have two flanges to mount to, are water/dust proof, are precision and quite strong. But aren't cheap. I think even a noisy used one, I think, would be suitable.


I see you are in San Diego so, maybe you've never had a parade rained out.

[Rwnielsen]

I agree with your points on stresses. An 8" base extended out to the size of a solar panel would be be extreme. The bearing surface needs to be larger as does the center pin. It's just an idea I'm mulling over.

[Rucker]

Another member of the forum had essentially the same question/plan with tiltable panels. Turns out, unless you live north of Chicago the gain is not worth the effort.

As I recall, max gain in North America from tilt is about 25%, so buy five instead of four panels? An extra couple hundred bucks max, and no mechanical risk or maintenance.

Unless like the other guy you're a glutton for engineering punishment. And if so, welcome to the club...

[kazetsukai]

Thinking about the problem posed, it seems to me like you need to both tilt upward and then rotate along the tilted axis. This would be very difficult to secure, particularly in high wind situations. Also, panels would need to be spaced apart enough not to shade each other at the most extreme rotations anticipated, creating dead space on the roof, if not more geometrical restraints on your design.

If I absolutely needed to do something like this, I'd mount each panel to a piece of strut that articulates up 90 degrees from laid flat. The panel would be attached to the strut down the center of the panel using two or more of those double-acting door hinges. To secure the positions of both directions of articulation I'd be partial to the use of a pair of linear actuators- one to raise/lower the panel and the other to rotate the panel along the tilt axis... but there are problems like being able to lower the panel without rotating it to be flat, etc.


Generally I agree with the other poster that more flat panels will yield better results than pan/tilt articulation. I'm not against tinkering- I filled my roof with 3000W of PV and I'm in the process of building a mechanism to support another 3000W, articulating the panels out on drawer slides with linear actuators. I want to be able to push a button and be road ready.

[Rwnielsen]

I fully intend to make mine tiltable [sic]. This idea came up because I have 3 roof top A/C units and, therefore, limited space. I have experience with robotics and pneumatic actuators, both rotary and linear. At this point its just mental gymnastics but I thought I'd see what others were thinking. This site is chock full of ingenuity and I really like some of the solutions people have come up with.

[kazetsukai]

I'll throw another idea out there- what about mounting panels to the side of the bus that articulate up like an awning? If you follow my build page link in my signature, the first post in the thread shows me doing this a long time ago. I've since removed them, but I've considered revisiting the approach to get up to 8000W total after my latest work is done.


Definitely let us know what you come up with...

[ABBus]

Originally Posted by kazetsukai

I'll throw another idea out there- what about mounting panels to the side of the bus that articulate up like an awning? If you follow my build page link in my signature, the first post in the thread shows me doing this a long time ago. I've since removed them, but I've considered revisiting the approach to get up to 8000W total after my latest work is done.


Definitely let us know what you come up with...

Why did you remove them?

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by ABBus

Why did you remove them?

Those were 100W panels I had already on hand at the start of the build, when I went hunting for my solar array two years later the panels I picked wouldn't play nice with them on the same string. Virtually all of them were repurposed.

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

I fully intend to make mine tiltable [sic]. This idea came up because I have 3 roof top A/C units and, therefore, limited space. I have experience with robotics and pneumatic actuators, both rotary and linear. At this point its just mental gymnastics but I thought I'd see what others were thinking. This site is chock full of ingenuity and I really like some of the solutions people have come up with.

Link to the last time this was discussed here:
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/l...tml#post409266

I forgot that one big drawback noted for this design is the need for a more rigid frame on the panel if they are going to be lifted off the roof, really adds to the work.

Here's a thought on a simpler design: just hinge them for angle of the sun, then orient your vehicle for max exposure. Make a simple springed solution that you can activate from a window.

But if you truly want to geek out why not incorporate a solar tracker? The internet thinks maybe up to 40% more efficient with tilt, rotate and tracking.

I would love to see the actual data on one of these more engineered solutions to understand what the real performance differences turn out to be. You could start a revolution! A slow revolution; and it would only be a partial revolution, but hey....

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by kazetsukai

I'll throw another idea out there- what about mounting panels to the side of the bus that articulate up like an awning? If you follow my build page link in my signature, the first post in the thread shows me doing this a long time ago. I've since removed them, but I've considered revisiting the approach to get up to 8000W total after my latest work is done.


Definitely let us know what you come up with...

To be perfectly honest, I was thinking of stealing that idea, from your thread, to add maybe 4 more panels. I would probably mount them on loose pin hinges and take the down for travel.

[Rwnielsen]

A slow partial Revolution!
Solar tracking, either actual or timed would be the next logical step. All in all, I don't expect to even have a huge DC load. Intermittent water pump, diesel heater, some lights, music, TV, gaming rig and an apartment size refer. I have generators. I just like the idea of tilt/swivel solar mounts.

[kazetsukai]

My top yield was 14kWh+ per day mounted flat with good sun- however the batteries were full early in the day so there was nowhere to store the additional energy, the rest were Considering average battery capacities its not worth it... yet.

Once rigs with 0.1MWh+ of battery become common, this will become very important for sure. Or if you really need to use a low number of small panels.

A game I play where you build mechs has small solar generators you can add that extend a mast of panels vertically. I thought this design was really cool, but no idea how one would actually do it. In transit the panels sit flat, stacked.

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by Rwnielsen

A slow partial Revolution!
Solar tracking, either actual or timed would be the next logical step. All in all, I don't expect to even have a huge DC load. Intermittent water pump, diesel heater, some lights, music, TV, gaming rig and an apartment size refer. I have generators. I just like the idea of tilt/swivel solar mounts.

Just ran across this youtube experiment-thought you might enjoy the design ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6QIutZfsFs

Nothing practical for skoolies, but good details on the electronics of solar tracking design.

His experiment was brief, but demonstrated a 15% increase in solar capture during the peak of the day.

[Rucker]

Continuing to geek out on this.

A hinged panel, adjusted for lattitude, and a little servo that rotates it at the rate the sun moves across the sky.

Set it up in the morning and let it run.

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Rucker

Just ran across this youtube experiment-thought you might enjoy the design ideas.



Nothing practical for skoolies, but good details on the electronics of solar tracking design.

His experiment was brief, but demonstrated a 15% increase in solar capture during the peak of the day.

That was fascinating, he determined 20-30% gain. His solar tracking was eerily similar to one my stepfather worked on 50+ years ago. Same principle

[Rwnielsen]

Originally Posted by Rucker

Continuing to geek out on this.

A hinged panel, adjusted for lattitude, and a little servo that rotates it at the rate the sun moves across the sky.

Set it up in the morning and let it run.

I can't seem to let it go either. I could live with a fixed tilt, timed rotation, I just need a sturdy base that will rotate 90 degrees or so

[joeblack5]

I would mount lazy susan on each side of the bus . Hinge do provide tilt. A little vertical offset so that panel can lay flat on top of each other.

First the top panel tilts up to vertical. Then the second panel tilts up and out of the way. Next the can rotate towards the sun.

Because they are separated by the width of the bus you have less shadowing. Anyhow there is the arduino optimizing the shadow versus perfect orientation.

In storage( transport) the top panel would by physically locked to the lower panel.

The lazy susans would need to be stainless , sturdy and preferable able to pretension to have less rattle whale driving.

In this way you have best of both worlds.
You have twice the panels as for on you roof. You can rotate panels so that they provide shade on the roof or shade as in awning.

Good luck

Johan.