How big? Watts?This idea that trackers are a waste or not needed is nonsense. I can almost double my energy produced every day over a fixed south facing setup. It’s definitely not for every situation but it shouldn’t be outright discouraged. I didn’t have any problems with the mechanical part of mine. Basically just a hinge and actuator but I did struggle with the tracking part. I tried using Arduino and making my own but ended up being cheaper and way less frustrating to buy one
At Lat 34.4°, a 2 axis tracker would yield 39.9% more energy on an annual basis. 1 axis would get me 26.4% more.
Ya it definitely isn’t practical for every situation. Buying defective panels is a good idea too. I bought some from newpowa that just had minor dings in the frame. I don’t see them come up often though. Do you know of places that sell them?
What exactly are you trying to power by putting them in the bed of your truck? I thought about using my tool box on my tru k bed to store batteries but panels seem risky. One wise a$$ teenager sees that and probably break them just for fun.Of course, a PV panel sized to just reach capacity of an SCC at noontime sun is going to produce less power during those hours when sun is lower in the horizon, even aimed directly at the sun.
Oversizing the panel to make up for less light in that case could beat the +26.4% figure, and production would clip at noon.
What I'm considering is pairs of 5' tall panels, mounted on hinges at opposite sides of the truck roof (or rack).
Tilted up, they will have an acute 60 degree angle between them, 8 hours apart. They could be aimed at 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM sun (either in the summer, or other seasons if also tilted toward front of the truck.)
SanTan has some panels with cracked backsheets for $0.13/watt
I wouldn't use them for high voltage (don't know how thick that EVA is) and perhaps they won't last long.
I bought Sunpower for 2 to 3 times the price.
But some guys are buying the bargain ones.
Do you have a link to his Ebay listings? I was looking at this one today.There’s a guy on eBay and Amazon that sells trackers. He makes them and offers 1 year warranty. SBE solar tech. There’s others that are a little more aesthetically pleasing but I try to stick with American products and he was a pleasure to do business with. He knows the product and does tech support, not just some middleman selling Chinese crap.