solar tracker (controller)

[bbsux]

I wonder if it would be difficult to use the webcontrol as the controller for an XY solar array tracker?

moderndevices has a pretty cheap analog light sensor. I would think you could use the shade system to do it. Any ideas?

I'm talming doing it with a seperate sensor not by the output of the panel

 

[rossw]

I wonder if it would be difficult to use the webcontrol as the controller for an XY solar array tracker?

moderndevices has a pretty cheap analog light sensor. I would think you could use the shade system to do it. Any ideas?

I'm talming doing it with a seperate sensor not by the output of the panel

As someone who's lived off-grid for the better part of the last decade, making and using my own solar trackers, I can state that the webcontrol IS quite able to do the job, as I use one myself. I have also made and used commercial and home-made sun-trackers, and was previously an advocate of them. I have been forced to eat my words and change my mind. Bright-spot tracking fails on just too many fronts.

I posted on this forum recently this flowchart http://general.rossw.net/webcontrol/webctl-tracker-flowchart-16.gif - which is actually the basic flowchart for some of the controllers I've sent to various parts of the world, and use here.
I've just designed a new board that I hope to build up over the next few weeks that will provide autonomous control of arrays in a cluster.

I'm waiting to get some new WC boards that have trig functions, as I hope this will allow me to actually calculate the sun position rather than my current system of a bunch of estimated monthly sunrise/sunset times and daily creep, which isn't idea.

 

[CAI_Support]

Ross,
 
3.02.16c firmware that we have been shipoing has trig functions.
SIND, COSD, TAND
 
SET VAR1 90
SIND VAR1 VAR2
 
VAR2 will have 10000 inside.
 
SET VAR1 270
SIND VAR1 VAR2
 
VAR2 will have -10000 inside.
 
COSD has smilar boundary check, and TAND repeat every 90 degrees so that it will only return meaniningful value.
 
SIND, COSD, and TAND only work on whole degree value.  Returned result for SIND and COSD is x10000 for better accuracy,
for TAND, is x1000.  so that
TAND 89 is 57290
 
with one exception that TAND 90 will return 65535, since we have no way to express infinity.  PLease check that in your logic.