Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

jackogrady.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 143 posts

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#53

Post by zbrozek »

hedora wrote: post #50
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A 400w watt panel is 250$. Wait, panels are that cheap? Could you point me to a good place to buy them?

$3 per watt, installed on your roof is typical these days: https://www.remodelingcosts.org/solar-panel-costs-increase-s... That includes labor, mounting hardware, inverters and grid tie in. It also assumes high efficiency panels. Watch out before buying older technology (lower efficiency) panels. Some have significant efficiency losses per degree Celsius increase in temperature.

I bought 42 Sunpower X21-335 panels used for about $4700 shipped to my door a few years ago and couldn't be happier. As far as I could tell they weren't actually ever unboxed.

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#54

Post by titzer »

ok_dad wrote: post #52

If you know the lat/lon of the panel (they don’t move right?) and the current clock time, just point it at the current Sun position if it’s daytime? Wouldn’t that be as optimal as possible?

I mean, you could literally build a wind up mechanism that you point at the Sun. Here's a simple DIY project that designed one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ySnb4cPDnw

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#56

Post by ehnto »

hedora wrote: post #49
psyguy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are panels cheaper than the servo motor & Arduino used in this tool? Not to mention that at mass produced scales chip costs are usually 1/5 the price of an Arduino. What if every panel used these tools, we could increase the amount of power we gather from solar.

Our solar panels are rated to 115mph winds. What are these servo mounts rated to? Also, installation of the panels currently costs more than panels. They don't say (or I didn't find) how efficient the optimal fixed mount is, but the agent starts at 80%, so assume some fixed position is 80% of optimal. They increase that to 96%, so they reduce the number of solar panels by about 13%. If the installation labor cost inc…

> Also, installation of the panels currently costs more than panels.

That's partly the racquet people set up to snag government grant dollars, but still true.

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#57

Post by f0e4c2f7 »

kumarvvr wrote: post #46
ncmncm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nowadays panels are cheap enough that if you want more power than you get with them fixed in place, you just add more panels.

Exactly. Any mechanism that moves the panel to follow the sun, must be sturdy enough to also withstand high winds, which is inevitably costlier than proof of concept ideas. Better to add more panels. A better way to ensure more power output is to have a set of panels with a small battery back to automate cooling of the panels and cleaning of the panels.

Interesting that the limiting factor is energy and wind. I wonder if you could devise a locking mechanism or something purely mechanical to solve it. Something closer to gears in a watch.

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#58

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

hedora wrote: post #50
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A 400w watt panel is 250$. Wait, panels are that cheap? Could you point me to a good place to buy them?

$3 per watt, installed on your roof is typical these days: https://www.remodelingcosts.org/solar-panel-costs-increase-s... That includes labor, mounting hardware, inverters and grid tie in. It also assumes high efficiency panels. Watch out before buying older technology (lower efficiency) panels. Some have significant efficiency losses per degree Celsius increase in temperature.

> $3 per watt, installed on your roof is typical these days

Which is why I was so fascinated by someone saying that you could get panels at 250USD/400W=0.625USD/W; I suppose it's possible that all the other stuff (electrician, mounting, inverters) is the difference, but a factor of 5? That feels like an chance to do something hacky and come out way ahead (like, say, DIYing a panel to run your computers, thus cutting out rewiring the house and needing an inverter).

Re: I built an open-source, AI-powered solar panel that's 95% optimal

#59

Post by Quindecillion »

arcastroe wrote: post #14

Given any GPS coordinates, couldn't one simply calculate the location of the sun in the sky to point directly toward it?

I was thinking the same thing...

Just need your location and the time (quarter/season, month, day, hour, minute) and you'll know where the sun is in relation to the location given.

Post reply on HN