Hello Everyone, Does anyone know how the mirrors of solar panels move, to stay in the direction of the sun?……Do you have any ideas? Is an actuator used? What type of actuator?Thanks, Debbie :)

Hi Francesco,
Thanks alot.....Do you know more about the Tilt actuators they use?
Debbie

If you are talking about mirrors - i assume you referring to the heliostats of a CSP solar installation?. Typically, to remain perpendicularly aligned with the sun, a 2-axis tracking system would be installed which includes an elevation drive, azimuth drive, heliostat controller (to control the drives), and a power supply (could be grid-connected, solar-powered or some form of electricty storage).

The elevation drive is usually an electrical liner actuator consisting of a stepper motor, allowing rotation along the elevation axis. The azimuth drive can be a worm-geared stepper motor allowing rotation along azimuth axis.

Debbie - if you are talking PV trackers of any particular kind, they will generally use a highly reduced electrical motor and a crown gear to handle azimuth tracking, and a so-called inch gear to handle elevation tracking, the both driven by an actuator controller such as a Siemens unit. If you have a more detailed question, or want more information feel free to email me at buildingrob@hotmail.com and I will endeavor to assist you as best I can

What type of CSP solar field tracking system you are looking for: Tower, parabolic or CLFR. Each one have different type of tracking system. If you can specify, I can share the information I have to your personal email ID.