ECO WORTHY Solar Panel Dual Axis Tracking System - SETUP

[@safranpollen]

great ! i see the same problem. In winter times this construction is not able to slow down to 65/70 degrees. And exactly at winter times , you need really all sun ! I will rebuild this with summer angle 25 and winter 70 degrees and more solide with 3000-5000 N servo motors.

[@randymason62]

Good idea. Let us know how you did.

[@safranpollen]

@@randymason62 I think for.south-north Axis I have to cionstruct with 2 parallel Steeltubes with a space between for the servomotor with a stroke of minimum 500 mm . Then it is possible to drive down in winter to 70° , in summer to 25° and for storm to position 0 °

[@randymason62]

I be interested on how you do this, video or picture if you can. @@safranpollen

[@randymason62]

I was thinking of doing the same thing just the other day. 👍🖖@septicwhelk3654

[@rw4669]

​@septicwhelk3654 I have an 18º sun height at winter solstice problem too! But Im confused about your solution. I can see that if i cut away a bit of the butted area on the south facing, flat top of the main post, then that would let the whole panel rack tip down further south to be closer to a 90º facing of my winter solstice sun, but Im confused about your version of a cut on north and it being a "v" notch. Could you clarify?

[@jjorstad18]

I did some testing with having the long actuator on the east side (then have to switch the 2 wires for the actuator so east/west goes the correct direction when commanding on the controller) this gives you more tilting angle to the west 53° then to the east 35° (i have woods to the east so it works better for me to get more angle in west sky). With it on the west side, it is almost even angle, west 45°\ east 50°. I have also replaced the short actuator with another the same length as the long actuator, moved the bracket back 1 hole on the north/south mount, drilled new hole and installed rivet thread sert, retracted actuator, tilted all the way south and drilled 2 new holes with rivet thread sert. Now it can tilt all the way south and a good angle to the north. I have also seen people putting the north/ south cross strut on the top of the east/west strut instead of under it.

[@randymason62]

I will look into that N.S setup for sure. I will need to cut out a V in the stand because the N.S bar hits. Thanks

[@woodzyfox4735]

@@randymason62 one side tilts more then the outher, for the side with the less tress shade, like AM sun you want more tilt that way thas how we did ours. The setup tells you about this, the more tilted side goes for the AM sun as the eveing sun is more or less useless

[@JenkinsUSA]

Hi Randy, two things - to add more tilt angle on the main pole, see if you can get a sleeve to fit over the pole that will cover the existing mount. This will require a new hole and bushing, it may be possible to use the existing. This will increase the height allowing for a greater angle 📐 dip. I hope I conveyed that well. On the 250/85 like others said, it’s 250V and 85A. Each panel is 290W, Watts(W) = V x A therefore 290W = 36V x 8A. You can safely wire 6 panels in series ( think batteries ) safely. From there you could wire multiple sets of 6 in parallel to up the amperage as your controller will handle up to 85A which is quite impressive. Hope this helps, best wishes and Merry Christmas 🎄

[@randymason62]

Thanks I will look into those updates. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

[@heshworksbetter2777]

I see you have reinforced the panel strut with angle iron. Have you considered replacing those 2-piece struts with 12 gauge 1 piece strut? Mine tracker is expected in the mail today and that was my first intended upgrade. 10ft sticks of the 12gauge at my Lowes is like $30 each.

[@randymason62]

OK I'm going to look into that. Thank you very much.

[@barneycarparts]

I plan to do the same thing (add the stronger unistrut) I have 365 watt panels I can only fit 4 on the tracker and they weigh abt 40 LBS each. The stock rails are too weak so I may add some angle iron on the verticals where the bolt together but I figure the panel frames should add some stiffness.

[@michaelvanallen6400]

All studies only showed additional yields of between 20% (single-axis) and 37% (dual axis) of solar trackers. Due to the extreme drop in the price of solar modules tracking systems are now superfluous. In any case, they are mechanics and need maintenance. And they are very susceptible to wind. *For this reason and because of the mechanics, most of them only last a 1-10 years. It is much cheaper and much more reliable to simply install more solar modules!* If you want more constant yields throughout the day, you simply have to set up the modules in an S-E and S-W orientation.

[@Andre-vx5mp]

Nice improvements.

[@EcoWorthySolar]

Great! May we have your 📩

[@5885ronny]

Hallo sehr gut habe auch so was im Garten 👍😀👋

[@iiinsaiii]

250 is the Voltage, that the max voltage it can take. 85 is the amps and the max it can handle. You can add more solar to the charger. Just make sure you don’t go over the voltage.

[@randymason62]

Thank you

[@kimkim-fu1ep]

@@randymason62 With the Victron charge controller, the 250 is the amount of open circuit voltage you can put to it. The 85 amps is the max amount it will put to the batteries. So for your panels, you can have a max string of 5 of your panels (44.9 X 5 = 224.5 volts) wired in series (daisy chained together). The reason why you have 3 sets of inputs is in case you had a second or third array of panels you wanted to add (think different voltages but not necessarily). The reason why most people wire them in series is because if you parallel them, you are supposed to fuse each panel, and also your amperage will increase (for instance those same 5 panels (8.48 amps x 5 = 42.35 amps) which means you will need a much larger cable going from your panels to your controller.

[@randymason62]

@@kimkim-fu1ep WOW that's great I THINK HEHE I'm starting to understand. That helps a lot. Thanks

[@JohnWilson-greytyphoon]

I was going to purchase two of these I purchased one and had problem with nuts and bolts snapping and cross threading. Poor quality. Will see how it stands up in the great north in Maine before I purchase another.

[@rw4669]

Hello Mr Mason: Im very interested in a few things you point out, especially thea problem where the southern tilt is maxed out by the "B" bar butting against the main post. Did you make any modification to remedy that/ I live near top of USA, so near winter solstice, I need lots of good tilt. I read that panels do well when theyre up to 15º of the optimal right angle to the sun, so they dont have to have the exact 90º angle, but I wanna get near as possible. The company gives some conflicting answers to a question Ive asked, and I wonder if you can help: When fully tilted south, what degree of angle would you say it is when you look carefully, counting from the bottom of the main post as 0º to the bottom of your bottom panels? In your video, it looks like less than 45º, which would be great; is it even better and less than that? I like the idea of tha angle iron reinforcement as well, as Im facing winters with 4ft snow piling on top of the horizontal panels in sleep position, in an overnite sno storm! Thanks for any info.

[@randymason62]

I have not fix the bar butting up yet but I was given a suggestion. “@JurassicJenkins Hi Randy, two things - to add more tilt angle on the main pole, see if you can get a sleeve to fit over the pole that will cover the existing mount. This will require a new hole and bushing, it may be possible to use the existing. This will increase the height allowing for a greater angle dip. I hope I conveyed that well.” You will need to get the same size motor as the E.W. If it was me I would keep an eye out on the weather and tilt it all the way S. so the snow doesn’t crush it. Hope that helps.

[@rw4669]

​@@randymason62 Thanks for your reply. Now that I have the device in hand, the "B" bar tilts, with actuator unattached yet, till the angle reaches 37º (by "Mecurate Digital Angle Gauge and Protractor"), taken from horizontal to a downward tilt to south, ie towards the ground. Not even a 45º tilt downward! VERY disappointing, after their tech emails replied that the decline south is to 50º!. Now, Ill definitely have to cut away material at the flat top of main post at south right angle, so the butting occurs at a further, lower angle. I wont remove the "V" piece of metal that the cut produces, but rather let it all remain in place, and "stretch/flatten" it out.. Ill take the bottom part of the now cut piece, give it a tug to fold it out a bit, maybe get a piece of flat steel under it so i can puund it out to make it flat. Then Ive got a new roof for the main post thats declined to the angle that Im shootin for. Then cut away the bit that now hangs/overlays south, then press it all down to form a roof which is now the material that that B bar will butt against but at a however much lower position. Then, close our surgical seams to weather proof, but instead of paying a welder to zip it up, Ill just use JB Weld or any other seal that someone may suggest here to prevent weather from leaking into the center on the main post, as that seal wont be weight bearing- the lip I left in place bears the weight of the butting now. The JB Weld will just really be weather seal. After that, Of course, then must deal with whatever adjustments will have to be had with re-location and perhaps different strength of the corrresponding acuator/drive rod. More headaches. Im not sure I would have purchased this if mfg would have been honest about their angles, as the main point for me is to get solar electricity during grid down winters, which is when grid down is most common in my area. BTW, if you take route of make a higher sleve as one helpful commenter suggested but its same specs, the tilt ANGLE limitations will still be preserved. Bit may resolve any problem of unistrut or panel drag-on-ground problem that may be having.

[@randymason62]

@@rw4669 Good point on the last comment. I was thinking cut a V at point of touch like you said and get the12" actuator. They hold up to 350lb

[@rw4669]

​@@randymason62 Regarding weight capacities, has anyone tried to balance the panels on top of the rack so they tip n/s, e/w very easily? So then the acuators dont have to work too much. I havent tried, as my panels are still on the way.

[@randymason62]

@@rw4669 Well the tracker has a solar sensor witch is mounted on the top right (E side) flat with the panels. The acuators Don't really work hard they only move every 10 min. or more depending on how you setup.

[@Rock_Nemo]

You need to make sure your panels, when hooked in series dont exceed the max input voltage on your controller. So if its 250v max you need to add the number of panels by the VOC ratings and stay under this voltage or you can damage the controller. And understand in cold temps the panels will exceed these ratings so it needs to be calculated for your coldest weather. There are calculators online for figuring this out. You can over panel some and exceed the current and wattage without damage as the controller will only use what its max input is rated for, but if over max voltage it will cause damage. It can be confusing trying to understand all the specs on the panels and what the controllers can handle. Looking at your setup it looks like you can have 5 panels and at 0 degrees F and it would be at 245.8 volts. If your in a much warmer climate that voltage will decrease..

[@randymason62]

Thank you very much. I have more of a understanding. So does that mean I can use different size panels (because I have 3 PV MC4 ports) just as long as I don't exceed the controller??? AND it doesn't effect the other 3 panels?

[@Rock_Nemo]

@@randymason62 When you mix panels the current output will be limited to the lowest rated panel, so if you mix make sure the current ratings are similar

[@EcoWorthySolar]

Recently we have upgraded the controller to 2.0 version. Would you wanna test it?

[@randymason62]

I would be interested in testing it.

[@EcoWorthySolar]

Great! May we have your 📩?@@randymason62

[@randymason62]

It said there is 2 replies but I only see mine. Are you still looking for me to test the 2.0?

[@EcoWorthySolar]

@@randymason62 yes!!! Where can I get your address?

[@TROOTHSEEKERS]

I just got mine two days ago and the east/west actuator is miswired.

[@JudasBytes]

may I know the stroke length of the max length of the moving rod when it is fully extended?

[@randymason62]

E/W is 12" stroke. From end to end is 28" - N/S is 6" stroke. From end to end is 16". Hope that helps.

[@Bowhunters6go8xz6x]

From what I have recently read, Eco Worthy is now selling what they claim is an improved version of this Eco Worthy Tracker. Is yours the old one or improved version? The new improved version is supposed to be able to support up to 500 lbs in solar panels and fixes many of the old models problems.

[@randymason62]

Well I got this a little over 3 years ago. I would have to see it to be sure but from what I can see nothing really looks different on their website.

[@Bowhunters6go8xz6x]

@@randymason62 - I don't own any solar yet but am looking at them and a guy on KZbin that has quite a few videos on the Eco Worthy tracker and he pushes them a lot has claimed in a video that they are making new ones and talks about the upgrades.

[@edgarquispearo]

Hola. Cuanto es el peso total de la estructura?

[@randymason62]

Lo siento, no conozco esa pregunta. Sé que el chico de UPS lo recogió. Los paneles solares pesan alrededor de 75 libras. cada www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JYAIS9W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@woodzyfox4735]

you dont make them tight.. only a little tight.. they also tell you to check everything bi-weekly chekc with your hand for loose things. if your center is wobbling then its not tight enough.. also, its not ment for that weight lol only 600w of panels... not the 870w heavy panels u have. and your controller isnt screwed in right. Them electric acutaers are built for about 500 lbs for force. i have the same unit. 2 of them in fact.. As for your victron mppt, its 250v max 84amps total power. BUT its depending on the battery voltage. look at your manual for more details. it may be 48v battery = 4000W per input 24V battery = 1000w per input blah blah 250 V absolute maximum coldest conditions 245 V start-up and operating maximum