JP GleyzesWhen I made my quick market analysis, I came to the conclusion that the critical parts in terms of cost will be the mechanics and more precisely the linear actuators.
Of course this project can be considered as completed for my initial specifications. But if I want to make a "bigger" solar tracker then I will have to face the issue of affordable actuators.
These little babies, when strong enough, are in the range of 150-200€. Furthermore they are provided with simple end of motion switches but no way to get their precise positionning (no encoder)...
And when we search for this kind of actuator with a control loop, we easily go in the range of >1000 $ systems... Which is a show stopper for my use case...
So I decided to make my own servo motor using scavaged wiper motor.
It is explained in another project here : how to convert a wiper motor into a strong servo motor
This means that we have now a 20$ servo motor able to produce torque up to 60 Newton Meters (Nm) or if you prefer more than 600 kg.cm... Well enough to move a solar panel!
A wiper motor is in the range of 20€, the driver 5€, the AS5600 5€ more... A full system for 30€
Considering this achievement, I do believe now that my solar tracker could be easily scaled up for much bigger panels. And almost at the same target price than when using stepper motors !
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As you are already scavenging car parts, the power window regulator might be even cheaper and easier to mount. (sorry for being low on details, I'm on a project that requires something very similar but is still in early stages)
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That's a good idea. Thank for it !
I do believe that these smaller motors have less torque than wiper motors. But could be a nice intermediate solution for "small" panels.
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