Power consumption of solar tracker

hi colleagues, 

I am doing a simulation of a tracking solar system (horizontally single axis). There is a question about the power consumption of a solar tracker that I would like to ask. As far as I understand, the solar tracker will use the power generated from the solar panel. 
Can anyone please tell me further about the method to estimate the power consumption of a solar tracker?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you, 

Kind regards,
Anh

Hi Anh,

SAM does not model power consumption for solar trackers. You can account for tracker power as a loss by adjusting the DC loss on the Losses page.

Tracking error loss accounts for failure of the tracker to correctly orient the modules, and is another factor to consider. SAM assumes that the tracker follows the movement of the sun perfectly. You can use a DC loss to account for tracking error. This article discusses tracking error:

K. Anderson, C. Downs, S. Aneja and M. Muller, " A Method for Estimating Time-Series PV Production Loss From Solar Tracking Failures ," in IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 119-126, Jan. 2022.

Best regards,
Paul.


 

hi Paul, Thanks for your information.