Solar tracker using buckets of water

[@fumezflori]

Best idea ever, to make it more interesting (automated) I would put a hose between the two buckets with a electric pump and an arduino, a controlled flow and reverse and a quick reverse in the morning just to reset the setup without the manual labor. Anyway, very cool idea.

[@rickharold7884]

Beautiful. And have the pump power using a tiny solar cell that only get power when the sun hits it. It would then be positioned such that the sun hits it as it moves west. Of course w a sealed water system. V cool.

[@alanhat5252]

pump between a bucket on the floor & the draining bucket maybe.

[@MARS-GREENH0USE]

Broooooooooo

[@John-gm8ty]

a novel approach, not sure what the market there is like, but here in Australia, there is a MASSIVE glut of used solar panels from old systems that have either been upgraded to a bigger system or a warranty claim, in which they replace the entire system. so you can pick up 240w panels for ~$50Au (US$35)so it's just cheaper to buy more panels to maximise output.

[@anthonycali6880]

Love it! Simple, and smart!!! Exact sun tracking isnt necessary. Some tips below sound good too!

[@jamest.5001]

Heck yeah, the buckets could be sealed, with vent, and use a tiny pump to re fill the bucket over night, to get full about sun rise, starting over, pumping so slow, it could use very little power, 50wh possibly, depending on the amount of water, and speed of refills, have a timer, maybe the charge controller has one, with output, that can work a relay for the pump, start about 4am, and fill, until sun up, and let it do it's thing, possibly 20% more energy collected!! 😀 Awesome 👍

[@justtinkering6713]

Thanks for the ideas.

[@jetfu400]

the idea is good, but in a typhoon, that setup is brittle. your panel will be flapping around.

[@toddkes5890]

I assume that as a personal solar setup the person will watch the local weather and try to take down the solar setup in case bad weather is expected. Instead of people who insist you come in to work in spite of the road being flooded/iced over/destroyed/etc

[@alanhat5252]

in a typhoon if it was bolted solidly to the roof you would probably lose the roof anyway

[@lmeseguer001]

Buckets could be closed with a lid, and filled in with an intake valve, or even an automated circular pump system.

[@robinrobin7290]

Great video, thanks for the ideas, and give me thoughts to make with a moving weight under the solar panel. Greetings Robin

[@JackSchidt]

Smart. Saved. I want to try this and have a pump with a timer in it and… voila!

[@Pillowcase]

This is damn good engineering.

[@MARS-GREENH0USE]

Isnt this the best . Cheers later

[@ti-nu4ou]

So cool. Thank you.

[@SolarCookingGermany]

Interesting. I see a use with solar cookers 👍

[@jamest.5001]

I was thinking about using zener diodes, a pair if large capacitors, resistor, and relay, let the capacitor charge slowly, when it reaches zener voltage, dump the other capacitor in to the relay, turning it on, for a short time, while it moves a linear actuator, when it's off, it charges the other cap, the capacitor timer restarts, use a pot to adjust the timing. Or add a small capacitor, to fine tune, basically run for a couple seconds every couple minutes, work with it until it follows the sun, the trackers using a couple tiny pv cells are nice also, maybe they can replace the capacitor in this idea, just figure a way to reset the system at night!!

[@lawrencepatricio5776]

Just watched a bunch of solar tracker videos. None that I can do. This one passed my KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid! 😋

[@jakeliujakeliu]

Now water cost more than electricity now

[@alanhat5252]

but you only fill the system once. The dripping bucket drains into a bucket on the floor which you use to top up the dripping bucket at sunrise.

[@lawrencepatricio5776]

@@alanhat5252 I think his comment was supposed to be funny. And yours was way too serious.

[@rickharold7884]

Love it

[@l0I0I0I0]

TY!

[@jebadaiah1228]

have you tried collecting the drip into another bucket then swapping them out to reset the day?

[@WeekendVibesTelugu]

👏👏👏

[@petarpetrov4418]

Bravo!

[@kriskarson2195]

👍

[@l0I0I0I0]

Is the SPEED of the sun across the sky always the same year round on the horizontal axis? Vertical axis varies. Seems like a tracker would want to go slower at sunrise then other times of day, eventhough sun travels at the same speed? If motor is programmed to travel at one degree per min for example, will that vary slightly at different times of the day such as noon verses sunrise or midway between noon and sunset etc.

[@toddkes5890]

Earth rotates at a constant speed, so likely 'yes'

[@alanhat5252]

what does your sundial show? Noon is always in the same place but do the ends of the day vary through the year?

[@toddkes5890]

@@alanhat5252 Noon might vary depending on daylight savings time. Ends of the day will differ as well, as the earth revolves around the sun (short days in winter, long days in summer)

[@l0I0I0I0]

Guess I could have worded this better. From the perspective of a fixed point like a tracking system that rotates 360 and follows the sun from East to West in Northern hemisphere, the sun goes from for example East 270 deg to West 90deg, for each degree of a tracker following sun, is the speed exactly the same or are there slight differences? It seems when the sun first rises, a tracker would stay for a longer period on due east, the follow the sun upward at a different speed, the at midday, the sun would be at a slightly different speed from the perspective of a solar tracker. Of course the sun travels at the same speed, but from one point perspective and tracking from a fixed point horizontally, it would seem the degree travel speed of a tracker would vary no?

[@toddkes5890]

@@l0I0I0I0 One way to test it would be to make something like an armillary sphere, and have a vertical pole in the center of the sphere. Mark the locations of the shadow every hour, and measure the distance between the marks. Or measure the angle between the hour marks on a sundial

[@theosalt1]

I get it, you have made a hack on a water clock.😁

[@mrchrisknight315]

Could you post the listing for the bearings please?

[@MARS-GREENH0USE]

😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@beastscientist]

Cleaver

[@fumezflori]

Chevy volt ...hmm but the batteries :)

[@alanhat5252]

what do you do about wind?

[@ionpopescu4303]

Are you going to feel the bucket everyday ???? This is a joke