Solar Technology-New Solar Panels

Solar Technology have designed a range of solar panels using the latest in cutting edge technology allowing you to capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electrical current to power a range of appliances

TRACKING THE SUN

Many different varieties of tracking solar panel mounts are available. One-axis trackers stay at the same vertical angle, but rotate around the post to follow the sun from sunrise to sunset. The vertical angle is set manually to match the angle of the sun for the current season–closer to flat for summertime, and at a steep angle for winter, with the exact angle dependant on your lattitude. The rule of thumb is to set the panels at your latitude minus 15 in summer, and latitude plus 15 in the winter. Dual axis trackers also adjust the vertical angle automatically.

Advantages of trackers:
Your solar array is almost always facing the sun at exactly the optimum angle, for best power output.
The closer you are to the equator, the more gains a tracker will give you.
For many water pumping applications trackers are recommended, especially if the system does not shut down when a water tank is full, etc. Can decrease payback time of a grid-tied system.

Disadvantages of trackers:
They are a mechanical device with moving parts that need regular maintenance and that can fail.
Trackers can be affected by high winds, causing them to point in the wrong direction on windy days.
They give you the most gain in power during summer, when you are less likely to need the extra.
MPPT controllers (above) give almost as much energy gain as trackers, but do it with no moving parts and at a MUCH lower cost.
High cost–the expense of installing a pole mount and of the tracker itself is prohibitive. You could buy 1-2 extra solar panels for the same cost as a tracker.

Our opinion:
Very few people in our community use trackers. We are located high in the moutains, and extremely high winds are commonplace. We often observe those few trackers that are installed around here pointing in exactly the wrong direction on windy days, making little or no power. And here at 40 deg N latitude, the summer gain from a tracker is not really needed–it’s winter when we need extra power, and trackers don’t help much because of the narrow arc of the sun during winter months. And now that most larger power systems up here have new MPPT controllers installed, the gains from a tracker are made even less.

Advances in solar photovoltaic panels are happening at a fast and furious rate. Plus, the newest panels should have an even longer life expectancy than the older models–older panels have started to turn brown in the clear substrate the solar cells are mounted in, reducing their power output. This problem has been solved by using new plastics in the manufacturing process. The biggest advances in new solar panel technology recently have been in power density–the newest panels are the same size as older models, but put out more power per square foot.