Interested in feedback...would you build and use this no electronic solar tracker if we published the plans?
A good friend of mine is a retired inventor and has been working on a self tracking solar panel for the last year+. The idea is that it uses no electronics and tracks the sun throughout the day for the most output. I've been testing it for him and we've been modifying the design. We're on about version 8 or 9 and finally ready to get some feedback.
So question...does this interest you? All plastic parts are 3D printed and it's about $300 in components, including the panel (far less if you already have a panel). We looked into getting someone to manufacture it and it's just too big a pain. So I'm helping him put together the .STL files and create instructions for building it to post over on Thingiverse. But it's a lot of work to get instructions right, so just want to see if this even has any interest. Again, no interest in making money on this.
Here's a link to the panel resetting first thing in the morning (moving West to East). It then uses the small panels to run motors and keep them pointed equally at the sun (think electric tug of war...one panel pulls one way, one pulls the other).