How I built a motorized sun tracker for my

solar panels
One of my more complex projects
This is my home-made solar panel sun tracker. It is
based on a 1960s vintage TV antenna rotator, driven
by 21st century microcontroller technology. It was
pretty easy to build. This web site shows how I did it.
I had seen other solar panel tracking systems on the
web based on antenna rotators. It looked like a neat
solution to the problem of how to move solar panels.
Then one day I saw an older style, but brand-new, still
in the box, antenna rotator for sale at a yard sale for
$15, I snapped it up and got to work.

This is one of my more ambitious and complicated

projects. Unfortunately, I have to include the usual
disclaimer that I won't be able to give people
trying to build one of these much in the way of
individual attention. My inbox gets flooded with
questions and requests for help every day, and
there is just no way I can help everyone, or even
most people. You'll need to have a decent grasp of
mechanics, electronics and programming to duplicate
this project. If you don't have them, well I am not going

to be able to teach it all to you. Basically, you are

going to be pretty much on your own. I will be
continually updating this web site with answers to
frequently asked questions as time goes on. So if you
don't get a response to a question, check back from
time to time. If a lot of people are asking the same
thing, I will address it here.
Don't feel you need to copy every part exactly. Feel
free to innovate, experiment, and substitute. There is
a lot of wiggle room in the design. Lots of things can
be changed or modified and a working tracker would
result. There are must be dozens of different ways to
implement the electronics alone. You could use an
Arduino, a Raspberry Pi, a PC, or a handful of analog
components, instead of an MBED, to implement the
sun tracking electronics. This is just the way I did it. I
hope it sparks some people's imagination and
ambition. Email me with details on how you do it and
I'll add a link to your site.
Here is some time-lapse video of the home-made solar panel sun
tracker in operation. In the video it is set up on my remote Arizona
property, and is doing a good job of keeping my solar panels
pointed at the sun.

Why build a tracking platform for my solar panels?

Solar panels produce a lot more power if they are
pointed directly at the sun all the time than they do in
a fixed position. I got tired of manually moving my
panels to keep them pointed at the sun throughout the MBED NXP
OM13032 598
course of the day. If I wasn't around to move them
every few hours, they wouldn't make enough power to NXP - OM13032;598 keep my batteries fully charged. I decided to automate MBED BOARD; ARM
CORTEX-M0; LPC11U24
the process and free myself from having to manually
move the panels.
Here is the box the antenna rotator came in. It still has
the $15 yard sale price tag on it. The box is beat up
and faded from being in storage for so long, but the
unit inside was still brand new and wrapped in the
original plastic. It is an older unit, based on 1960s
technology. The person had purchased the unit new,
but never used it. It had been sitting in a box in their

garage for decades until they finally decided to get rid

of it at the yard sale.
The trackers I saw online were based on newer units,
but I immediately saw how to make this older one
work as a solar tracker. Basically I just threw away
almost all the electronics that originally drove the unit,
kept just the actual motor drive, and rolled my own
control system. I'll go more into detail about the
electronics below. Older units like this are fairly easy
to come by and inexpensive at places like hamfests
and on Ebay, and of course yard sales. Here is a link
to the manual for this particular model:
http://w5jgv.com/downloads/U-100_Manual.pdf.

The first step was to come up with a way mount the

drive motor and solar panel(s). I did a little back of the
envelope brainstorming and designed a mount for the
tracking system that was simple, inexpensive, and
easily broken down for transport. It is made mostly
from 2X4s and standard pipe fittings, and is held
together with carriage bolts.
This unit was designed to be portable, since I would
be building it in my workshop in Florida and then
transporting it to Arizona for use. I designed it to be
easily knocked down and packed for transport, and

easily re-assembled in the field with only a few tools.

The core unit consists of just five main structural
parts. There is the north support, the south support,
the rotating assembly, and two braces to hold
everything together.
When set up in the field, the base unit would be
leveled in both the east-west axis, and the north-south
axis, and aligned toward due north. Note that
magnetic north and due north can be quite different
directions in some parts of the world. Apply your local
deviation when using a compass to align the unit.

Here is a photo of the north side support of the solar

tracker. It measures 48 inches wide at the base and
stands 43 1/2 inches tall. Keep in mind that these
dimensions are only correct for use at 34.6 degrees
north latitude. If you are significantly further north or
south, you will need to modify the dimensions of this
piece. More on that below. The support is made of
2X4s that are screwed and glued together. Note that
there are two little feet on the bottom. They aid in
levelling the unit when setting it up. The gap between
the upright 2X4s is exactly the thickness of another
2X4, or about 1 1/2 inches.

Here is a photo of the south side support of the solar

tracker. It measures 24 inches wide and stands 13 1/2
inches tall. It too is made from 2X4s glued and
screwed together. This piece also has little feet to aid
in levelling the entire unit when setting it up. This
piece is probably more or less universal, and will work
for a wide variety of latitudes. Again, the gap between
the upright 2X4s is exactly the thickness of another
2X4, or about 1 1/2 inches.

The horizontal 2X4 brace that goes from the bottom of

the north support to the bottom of the south support is
48 inches long. It fits between the uprights and gets
bolted through them. This is another piece that will
have to be sized for your particular latitude, since the
distance between the north and south supports will
change as the angle of the driven pipe changes.
The diagonal brace is a piece of 1X4. It was added to
take the bulk of the stress off of the rotating assembly
so it doesn't bind up. It slips on the bolts holding the
rotating assembly in place.

Here is the heart of the tracker unit. This is the drive

motor and rotating assembly. The antenna rotator
drive motor is at the left, with its associated mounting
structure. A 4 foot long, 1 inch steel pipe is driven by
the rotator, and will carry the solar panels. A bearing
and mounting structure are at the right end. Details
below.

Here is a close-up of the motor end. The antenna

rotator is designed to be clamped onto a fixed mast,
and rotate a shorter mast with an antenna attached to
it. So I created a pseudo fixed mast to clamp it to. The
short piece of 1 inch pipe at the top (under the coil of
wire) serves as the mounting point for the rotator. The
short piece of pipe screws into a floor flange, which in
turn is bolted to a 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 square piece of wood
that is glued and screwed to a 12 inch long piece of
2X4. The 2X4 slips between the uprights on the north
support and gets bolted in place.
Another short piece of 1 inch pipe passes through
hollow drive shaft of the rotator and gets clamped in
place. A 90 degree elbow is screwed on to the left
(top) side of this short shaft. A 4 foot long piece of 1
inch pipe is connected to the other end via a coupler.

Here is a close-up of the bearing end. The lower end

of the 4 foot long pipe that carries the solar panels
screws into a union that has been modified to serve
as a bearing (more on that below). A close nipple
connects the other side of the union to another floor
flange. The floor flange is bolted to another wooden
mounting structure identical to the one at the other
end, but one corner was cut off to prevent it from
interfering with the lower brace holding the north and

south supports together.

The first time I assembled the unit, I held all the

pieces together with large c-clamps. Once I got the
angle of the drive axis correct and everything nice and
squared up, the clamps were tightened down to hold it
that way. Then I drilled holes for long carriage bolts to
bolt everything together.
I should talk a little about how I determined the angle
to use on the north-south rotational axis of the tracker.
I planned on using this tracker on my remote, off-grid
property in Arizona. So I designed it to work at the
latitude of my property. The unit is fixed in latitude. I
didn't make it adjustable. It will only be the correct
angle during Spring and Autumn, but those are the
times of year I am usually on my property. It will be
close the rest of the year. It will be a little high in
Summer, and a little low in Winter. Still, it will work
much better than fixed panels.
The angle of the with respect to the ground of the axis
of rotation is set to be the same as the latitude of
location where the tracker will be used. Think about it
this way to visualize why. If it was used at the Equator,
0 latitude, the angle with respect to the ground would
be 0, so the axis would be horizontal. If used at one of

the poles, +90 or -90 latitude, the angle with respect to

the ground would be vertical. So it follows that the
correct angle is always the latitude of the location
where the tracker will be set up. My Arizona property
is at about 34.6 Degrees North Latitude, so that is the
angle I used. The angle you need will depend on
where you are. Not only will your angle probably be
different, but the dimensions of your base structure
will also be different. The dimensions of the base will
depend on the angle you use. Assuming you use the
same south support, the height of your north side and
the distance between your south and north supports
can be calculated with a little trigonometry.
This angle is not always correct. If the sun always
rose due East and set due West it would be perfect.
However, the Earth is tilted 22.5 degrees on its axis.
So during the course of the year the sun seems to
move 22.5 degrees North in Summer, and 22.5
degrees South in winter (this is reversed in the
Southern hemisphere). So this fixed angle is really
only ideal during the times of year when the sun
seems to rise roughly due East and set roughly due
West. This would be during Spring and Autumn, which
just happens to be the times of year I am on my
property.
An adjustable version could be easily created that
could be set to a lower angle in Summer and a higher
angle in Winter. For now though I will leave that as an
exercise for the reader, because it works fine for me
as is.

Here is another view of how the rotator head is

mounted. I don't draw actual blueprints for the stuff I
build. So don't bother writing and asking for them. I
tend to just visualize stuff in my head and then build it
without bothering with the intermediate step of
drawing up plans. I know this makes it difficult for
others wanting to reproduce my work, sorry. If you live
at a different latitude than me, you are going to have
to modify the design anyway. So there isn't much point
in my being too specific about dimensions anyway.
But I'll take lots of pictures and post them here.
People with the knack for building things should be
able to figure it out from the photos and a few
dimensions. If you are having trouble figuring out
something, write and ask a question. I will get back to
you with info, advice, dimensions, and/or more photos
as time allows. If I find a lot of people asking the same
question, I will put the answer here on the web site.

This photo shows how the lower bearing end of the

drive pipe fits into the south side support and gets
bolted into place with carriage bolts. The other end is
similarly attached to the north side support. The lower
end of the diagonal brace is also visible.

Here is a close-up of how the union has been

converted into a bearing. This is an old amateur
astronomer's trick for building telescope mounts using
pipe fittings. I'm an old amateur astronomer, so I used
it here. It works great and is dirt cheap.
Basically, the union is just packed with grease, and
not tightened all the way. This allows it to serve as a
pretty good bearing, as seen in the video below. To
keep the union from loosening up and falling apart, or
tightening up and seizing as it rotates, two hose
clamps and a Z-shaped piece of metal are used to
hold the parts fixed with respect to each other. In this
photo you can just see the Z-shaped piece of metal
going under and between the two hose clamps.

Here is a brief video showing how a pipe union can be used as a

bearing. The hose clamps and z-shaped piece of metal are not yet
installed.

This photo shows one of the aluminum frames that

hold the solar panels. It is made from aluminum angle.
This particular frame holds a 100W panel, and
measures 47 1/8 by 21 1/2 inches inside dimensions.
Basically, it is just slightly larger than the outside
dimensions of the solar panel. The panel drops right
into the frame, and will be held in place with screws

that go through the frame into the sides of the panel.

Notches cut in the frame for mounting on the tracker
drive pipe are just visible in the photo. Click the photo
for a larger version.

This photo shows how the aluminum angles are

butted and screwed together at the corners. I didn't
have time to get fancy. I only spent about an hour tops
building my frames, but they work great. If you have
the time and skills, feel free to miter and MIG/TIG
weld the corners.

Here is a close-up of the notches cut in the frame for

mounting on the tracker drive pipe. The notches are
the same depth as the hose clamps used for mounting
are wide.

Here is a close-up detail shot of how the hose clamps

are used to mount the frames on the tracker drive
pipe. Tightening down the hose clamps really locks
the frames onto the pipe quite tightly. I was somewhat
surprised at how well it worked.

During initial indoor testing I only mounted one solar

panel length-wise on the tracker, taking up the whole
drive pipe. My intention all along though was to
eventually mount two panels. The motor seemed to
have plenty of torque, and with counter-weighting, I
was confident it could handle two panels. If you only
have or need one panel, this is a way to mount it.

This photo shows two aluminum frames for holding

panels clamped onto the drive pipe. By turning the
panels 90 degrees, two will now fit. The frames are
slightly different sizes because the panels they will be
holding are slightly different.

This photo shows the two solar panels in place. The

panels just drop right into the frames, which have
been made slightly larger than the outside dimensions
of the panels. Screws hold the panels in place so the
wind can't blow them out of the frames.
The top panel is a commercially made 100 Watt unit I
bought because I got a really good deal on it. The
bottom panel is one of my home-made 60 Watt solar
panels. Follow the link to see how I make them.
160 Watts may not seem like a lot of power, but my
power needs at my cabin are minimal. With the
tracker keeping the panels pointed at the sun, and my
home-built wind turbine to supplement their output, my
batteries stay charged and I have plenty of power.

This photo shows the counterweight pipe. It is a piece

of 1 inch steel pipe 30 inches long. It gets screwed
into the elbow at the top end of the motor unit. The
pipe alone is a little more counterweight than is
needed for one panel. For two panels I added a steel
T fitting at the end of the pipe. The antenna rotator
was designed to move a balanced vertical mast. The
counterweight is necessary to reduce the amount of
torque the motor has to exert to move the panels
which are hung off the side of a nearly horizontal

mast. Your panels will probably have a different weight

than mine and need a different counterweight
arrangement. Experiment with different lengths of
pipe, and/or extra fittings to get the balance as close
to perfect as possible and prevent burning out the
motor or stripping the gears.

Here is a video walk-through of assembling the solar tracker with

detailed explanation of all the parts and how they go together.

Here is the original schematic for the antenna rotator.

It is totally electro-mechanical. Very old-school, almost
primitive. On the other hand, it still worked after
decades of storage. One of the quirks of this old unit
is that the motor in the rotator head runs on 24V AC.
That made designing a new control system for it
challenging. I looked for ways to modify or automate
the original control box, but couldn't figure out a way
to make it work. So I gave up on trying to use the old
control box, stripped it of usable parts, and started
designing something completely new.
I didn't re-use many of these parts. The actual rotator
head is of course used. But from the control box I only
kept the 120V to 24V transformer (#110), and the
motor capacitor (#107). The rest got junked. In the
end, I decided to use a different transformer too. The

one inside the original controller looked very wimpy to

me, so I substituted a more robust one. I figured that
the antenna rotator wouldn't have been moved very
often when used for its original application. The way I
am using it though it moves a lot, every day. So the
wimpy transformer worried me. It may have been
overkill, but I already had a bigger transformer rattling
around in my junk box, and I won't ever have to worry
about it, so why not?

Here is a schematic of the controller electronics I

came up with after several iterations. Click the image
for a larger view. the circuit is based on the MBED
rapid prototyping platform. The MBED is basically a
complete computer on a tiny module. It can be
programmed in C using an online IDE. The MBED is
quite powerful, has lots of IO capability and just about

every bell and whistle anyone could want. It is really

overkill for this project, but I was familiar with MBEDs
from using them in projects at work. So it was my first
choice for this project. You could easily substitute an
Arduino, a Raspberry Pi, a PC, or a handful of analog
components to do the same thing. This is just the way
I did it. Feel free to roll your own.
The heart of the circuit is the MBED. It reads the
voltage value (via two of its analog inputs) from two
small solar cells mounted at right angles to each
other. The motor of the antenna rotator is moved so as
the keep the voltage from the two solar cells nearly
equal by keeping them pointed at the sun.
The motor is energized by closing a relay and turning
on an AC inverter. The output of the inverter is
stepped down to 24V AC with a transformer. The
direction of the motor is controlled with another relay. I
used 40 Amp automotive relays because they are
cheap, available everywhere, and I already had a few
on hand. The relays are energized by TIP120
Darlington power transistors driven by output lines
from the MBED. Two push buttons were added to
manually move the motor for testing and
troubleshooting. Pressing PB1 moves the motor west.
Pushing PB1 and PB2 together moves the motor east.
Two limit switches are read using MBED input lines.
Motion only starts in a given direction if that limit
switch is closed. Motion is stopped via an interrupt if
the limit switches open at the limits of travel.
A LM7809 positive 9V regulator provides stable power
for the MBED from the 12V supply. The MBED is
based on 3.3V logic, and has an on-board regulator
and a 3.3V output line that is used to tie pull-up
resistors to.

Parts List
C1 - 0.33 uF
C2 - 0.1 uF
C3 - NPO (harvested from original control box)
D1-D2 - 1N4001 or equiv Diodes
ECell-WCell - Thin-Film Copper Indium di Selenide
(CIS) Solar Cells
F1 - 2A Slow-Blow Fuse
IC1 - LM7809 +9V Voltage Regulator
IC2 - NXP LPC1768 MBED
K1-K2 - 40A SPDT Bosch Type Automotive Relays
LS1-LS2 - Momentary Contact NC Switches (see
below)
PB1-PB2 - Momentary Contact NO Push Buttons
Q1-Q2 - TIP120 NPN Power Darlington Transistors
R1-R6 - 1k 1/8W Resistors
R7-R8 - 10K Trimpots
T1 - 120VAC to 24VAC 2A Step-down Transformer
AC Inverter - 200-250 Watt 12V DC to 120V AC
Power Inverter
The code (software) for this project can be found at
http://mbed.org/users/omegageek64/code/suntracker/.
It is a fairly simple program. As I said above, the
MBED is overkill for this project. However its untapped
potential could allow for adding more features and
functions in the future. A second motorized axis could
easily be controlled. Battery management, charge
control and temperature compensation could be
added. Logging of power production and usage data
could be added. The sky is the limit. Let your
imagination and ingenuity run wild.
The electronics for driving the unit are housed in an
old ammo box that I got at a yardsale for $5. It makes
a perfect enclosure. It is rugged, weather-proof, and
plenty roomy. The box holds two 40 Amp automotive
relays, a power inverter, a 120V to 24V step-down
transformer, the breadboard containing the actual
drive logic, a fuse holder, and terminal blocks for
wiring everything together, There are feed-through
terminal blocks mounted to the outside of the ammo
box so that various signal and power connections can
get into and out of the box.

RASPBERRY PI
STARTER KIT
RASPBERRY PI
STARTER KIT - MODEL
B

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