Both systems have associated advantages and disadvantages. A PV array can generate the most energy when it modulus are facing the sun directly. Whether a tracker will be cost effective for your application will depend on your seasonal electrical use. For smaller residential applications the system are usually mounted on top of a properly petro chemical pumps Manufacturers sized steel pole. There are two forms of PVC tracking, single axis and dual axis. The single axis style will follow the suns path from the east to the west and the array is fitted or angled at a fixed point off of the horizon. Electrically operated trackers for residential systems usually rely on sensors that alert the motors to orient the array towards the sun as the position changes throughout the day.

As the sun contact one canister the Freon is heated and pushes some of the cooler liquid Freon to the other side. Electrical systems are much more precise. But thermal trackers have proven to be very durable in the field. These canisters or tubes are filled with a material, generally Freon that vaporizes at relatively low temperatures. A dual axis tracker will adjust the PV array to track the suns path from east to west and will adjust the arrays tilt to factor in the suns altitude, very applicable the further north that you live. If you site does not begin receiving sunlight until 10 in the morning or you lose it at two in the afternoon due to shade from tall buildings, trees, or hillsides.

On the flip side thermal systems can be slow to respond and may not maximize the available sun. Electrical systems can get damaged by lightning, a big problem that manufactures are trying to address. And if in winter the heating process can take longer because they are dependent upon obtaining enough heat. For a grid tied system with annual net metering this can be a bonus because the exec summer production will help offset you winter utility bill. In the mornings it is low on the eastern horizon, in the mid day it is high in the sky and late in the afternoon it is low again but on the western side. Tracker s will give you more gain in the summer when the days are longer with decreased improvements in the winter. Trackers come in two basic versions the electronically operated and the other being thermally operated, most commonly referred to active and passive.

Trackers as they are called are available for almost all sizes of PV arrays. In a passive system a canister is attached the east and west sides of the tracker. When located at a site with a great solar view a tracked array will usually generate 25% to 40% more energy annually than a standard fixed or static array. This then transfers weight to the other side and moved the array towards the sun. Thermal trackers use the transfer of weight to follow the sun.The suns path over the sky changes during the day. A good site for a tracker system receives dawn to dusk sun.
. Those of us who want to get the most watt hour from the PV modules often look to tracking type systems