Getting more power from your solar panels
In this article, I build a simple solar tracking system using a Raspberry Pi and a stepper motor, with the purpose of experimentally verifying the gain in power from a solar panel that is tracking the sun compared with a fixed solar panel. Oh – and it looks cool in time-lapse video [1].
Solar Power Systems
Over the past few years I have built a lot of solar-powered systems: Project Curacao, SunAirPlus, WeatherPi, and the recent solar-powered ESP8266 [2]. Although I've fooled around with sun tracking systems, I have never built one all the way out and then gathered the data to figure out if it was worth it. Now that the sun has returned to the Pacific Northwest, the time is right.
SunTracking – The Theory
A single solar cell never seems to put out quite enough power to run a Raspberry Pi all the time, and the new Raspberry Pis take even more power. One improvement you can make is to add the hardware to track the sun with your solar panels, which could increase your solar power generation by 20 to 30 percent.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
Pages: 6
(incl. VAT)
Buy Raspberry Pi Geek
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Related content
-
Managing solar power systems with SunAir boards
A successful solar power project requires data analysis and the ability to modify the system to take advantage of prevailing weather conditions.
-
SunRover part 1: Track motor controller/power system
Take your first steps in building a solar-powered robot.
-
A solar-powered ESP8266 WiFi module joins the IoT
We take an inexpensive ESP8266 WiFi/processor combination and turn it into a solar-powered device.
-
SunRover Part 2 – Solar Power Controller/Power System
Putting power in your robot is more than just running wires – you'll need to make sure the power supply doesn't cause interference that will disrupt other components. This article explores the problem of electrical noise and describes the design for a multiplexing solar power system.
-
Measuring air quality with the Raspberry Pi
Monitor your environment with a Raspberry Pi and an air quality sensor.
