So i have a solar panel that is noncrystalline or somewhat, and i have it on a solid base, and what it does it the solar panel, throughout the day will rise and drop from east to west and reset itself after sundown. I was going to do this with 2 LDR's on each side of the panel and hope that somehow i could get it to aim directly at the sun. It also has a rain sensor to reset it to one end to cover the gears. (When the solar panel reaches one end or the other it will trigger a switch.).
Any ideas on how i may be able to program it ?
Thanks anything will help
(I have an Arduino Mega 2560)
With such a vague description I doubt if anyone will be able to give you much specific advice, but a very general and important starting point is to get the mechanical part working first. You will need a support structure and motor/gear arrangement that is able to point the panel in the desired directions before you can do anything else, and I suspect that this will pose some interesting problems.
There are lots of similar projects described on the web, so google something like "solar panel tracker" for ideas, or check out similar project right on this forum. Here is one How I built a sun tracker for my solar panels
PS: you will get more and more appropriate attention if you choose a sensible title for your post, like "sun tracker"
Ok thanks for the help.
I took your advice and decided i will work on the design and bring up a detailed post later about it and make sure the panel can be moved accurately and hope someone will come up with something to help with the coding because i am not very good at anything to do with that part at the moment.
Stepper motors are not a good choice for this application as they will use more power than the solar panel produces.
Use a cheap DC motor with a worm gear drive. Then the motor only needs power occasionally when the panel needs to move and the worm gear drive will not allow the panel to move when the motor is off. If your panel is heavy a used car windscreen wiper motor might be a good choice.
Programming the movements based on two LDRs should be very straightforward. Just arrange a shield so that both LDRs only get full sunlight when the panel is pointing directly at the sun. Then your code will move the panel in the direction of the LDR that is in the shade.
I suggest you make a proper cover for the mechanism rather than bother with the complication and power wastage of moving the solar panel to protect it. In any case, if the project is outdoors it needs to be protected from dust and insects as well as rain.
Ok thanks for the help. I have a base worked out for it to rotate to axis and it will work good with wormgears and its good that it works out cheaper using these and it uses a lot less power.