1. Here are a few photos of Version 3 of my solar tracker. At the moment it is only single axis but another axis can easily be added if need be. Operation is fairly simple and because of this reliability is high. The brains of the unit is the PIC 18f2520 microcontroller. To find the sun the GPS unit is polled, then time, date and location are fed back into the micro. These values are then fed into a sun position algorithm to determine the altitude and azimuth of the sun. The tracker is then moved to the correct position using the AS5040 contact less rotary encoder to determine the correct angle. The AS5040 has 10 bit resolution over 360 degrees which gives an accuracy of about 1/3 rd of a degree. Being a contact less unit it can be totally sealed meaning that water ingress is not possible. The position is constantly adjusted throughout the day, but as with all of the tracker operations this can be adjusted in the code. So far this version has performed extremely well and tracks the sun perfectly. The sun position algorithm is accurate for a couple of thousand years. I have checked it against on line sun position calculators for accuracy and it is spot on. I think that this tracker system could be turned in to a viable alternative to the other types of tracker on the market with ease. Because it is micro based, firmware updates can be supplied to customers if features are added in the future.

2. GPS Receiver 18f2520 Microcontroller Encoder Input H-Bridge RS232 output ICSP Programming This is the tracker prototype board. It is fairly basic but functions very well. Output to Ram

3. Tracker Frame

4. Testing Tracker Efficiency against fixed panels

5. This is the AS5040 10 bit rotary encoder that I use to measure the angle of the panel. It features contact less operation and 10 bit resolution. -40 to 125 degree operating range makes it perfect for that harsh conditions of the Australian outback.