Wattsun active trackers use electronic sensors and motor or actuator drives to track the sun from east to west. During partly cloudy conditions, the tracker fixes on the brightest area of the sky, capturing the maximum amount of sunlight available. At night it returns to the morning sunrise position, ready to start tracking when the sun rises again. Tracking can increase a PV array’s power production from 10 to 50 percent depending on the season and location. They are particularly effective when greater power is required in the summer months, such as when a large amount of water pumping is needed. Wattsun trackers deliver a significant increase in the amount of water pumped and provide a more constant water flow during the day. The gallons-per-day increase is greatest in the summer when water is needed the most. They may also be cost-effective for net-metered utility grid-tie systems that can produce large amounts of electricity in the summer, to be used as credit toward a high winter power bill.
Azimuth trackers automatically track the sun’s path by rotating the PV array around the pipe, providing greater stability for larger arrays. The corners do not protrude down towards the ground or stick up in the air to catch the wind. The bottom edge of the array always remains parallel to the ground and requires less ground clearance than tilt and roll trackers. Wattsun’s azimuth trackers provide nearly 270 degrees of rotational movement and can adjust from 5 to 75 degrees of elevation tilt.
AZ-125 Trackers
The AZ-125 gear-drive, azimuth tracker comes standard as a single-axis tracker with manual seasonal tilt adjustment. It is powered by a 24 VDC drive motor running a high quality worm and gear drive. With the addition of the dual-axis option (order separately), the AZ-125 can capture virtually all the available power the sun delivers.
