A solar tracker provides a convenient means of mounting modules and enables the panels to automatically follow the sun during the day and throughout the seasons, giving 30 - 40% more power than a fixed array. Output power is not only maximized, but is uniform - an advantage for applications such as pumping water.
They are particularly useful in high sunlight areas or for large solar pumping systems and give substantial benefits in summer and winter.
They are worthwhile when the cost of the tracker increases the array output for less than buying equivalent extra solar modules, especially when the greatest power demand occurs in summer.
Other advantages of a tracked array over a fixed mount are allowing morning, afternoon and intermittent periods of bright sunlight to be captured.
These trackers use an optical solid-state sensing system to keep a PV array precisely facing the sun. Sun sensors mounted on the controller monitor the differential amount of sunlight on opposing sensors. The controller then seeks to equalize the sunlight received by opposing sensors by moving the PV array.
During cloudy conditions it moves to the horizontal position in order to maximize output from the diffuse sunlight conditions. At daybreak it automatically returns to the sunrise position.
We use trackers manufactured in Germany by DEGERenergie.