Worse, you need very accurate 2-axis mechanical tracking as the sun moves across the sky, which is expensive.
How precise do you need it to be? The sun’s path is quite predictable, so if you just need it within a degree or two, that should be doable.
There is a rarely-used trick for solar trackers. Normally, they’re hugely expensive because they need a rigid metal frame (which is heavy), and motors to turn the rigid metal frame (which are heavy and expensive), and poles to hold up all that weight (which are again heavy and expensive).
But much like the rocket equation, you can shrink the entire system if you shrink the payload. And here’s where it gets fun! You don’t actually need a metal frame at all. Instead, you can take just the bare solar panel modules, connect them with tiny metal brackets, and stabilize the entire panel structure using a two-sided suspension bridge. It’s like the Golden Gate bridge, but it’s under tension from both sides, with a single central “tower” that runs through the middle of the panel. Once placed under two-sided tension, ordinary LG solar panels (the big, TV-sized ones) will remain structurally sound under everything from snow load to wind (though you really want a smart tracker that adjusts the panel angle to handle these threats).
I know this works because I have a 5 kW system sitting just outside my window, and it has survived over 5 years of weather. So if sun-tracking were the biggest barrier to vastly improved solar power, it could likely be solved.
How precise do you need it to be? The sun’s path is quite predictable, so if you just need it within a degree or two, that should be doable.
There is a rarely-used trick for solar trackers. Normally, they’re hugely expensive because they need a rigid metal frame (which is heavy), and motors to turn the rigid metal frame (which are heavy and expensive), and poles to hold up all that weight (which are again heavy and expensive).
But much like the rocket equation, you can shrink the entire system if you shrink the payload. And here’s where it gets fun! You don’t actually need a metal frame at all. Instead, you can take just the bare solar panel modules, connect them with tiny metal brackets, and stabilize the entire panel structure using a two-sided suspension bridge. It’s like the Golden Gate bridge, but it’s under tension from both sides, with a single central “tower” that runs through the middle of the panel. Once placed under two-sided tension, ordinary LG solar panels (the big, TV-sized ones) will remain structurally sound under everything from snow load to wind (though you really want a smart tracker that adjusts the panel angle to handle these threats).
I know this works because I have a 5 kW system sitting just outside my window, and it has survived over 5 years of weather. So if sun-tracking were the biggest barrier to vastly improved solar power, it could likely be solved.