If we can avoid massive collective issues that would be appreciated as there is very little agency the individual has to address those and that helpless ess can often extend to the more solvable individual matters we all grapple with but also occasionally rise to conquer.
TL-DR: I want dual axis solar array on my hiace rooftop
Explanation:
This video clearly states the advantage of having this feature on your solar, gives you more than 8 hrs of peak power (8:00 - 17:00) with a comparatively small surface area (perfect for space-concious application), compared to about 5 hrs laying it down flat (10:00 - 15:00)
And yes, I get it. A 30% increase in energy collection daily isn’t significant to justify the maintenance that can come with actuation.
But as a guy living in a van full-time, 30% is the difference between having 2 ceiling fans on for an hr and 5 hrs through the night. Yap, full blast, it’s hot here.
Further more; this video show-cases the single axis solar array, Then I started wondering, if it reaches high noon, this guy will have to I dunno, turn his car around? So that the solar panels can actuate another way around.
Surely there is a solution to this somewhere… right?
so far i landed on a sketch.
Have a Crack at the design integrity Engineers :)
That’s pretty good!
Thanks, this is probably one-axis (west to east) solution, but it’s the only less complex solution that is easy to automate, maintain, and handle off-roading(when retracted flat, of course)
It definitely beats parking the van facing north and reparking again at noon to face south.
You only gotta worry about greasing that central gigantic screw, as IMO is the only vulnerable point exposed to the elements.
The actuators and motors are splash proof. They will also be protected on the metal case when fully retracted and moving at highway speeds