Category Archives: Solar Projects

Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat Program Updated to 0.9.6

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Gabriel Miller

The code for both the Open Source Arduino Sun Tracking / Heliostat Program and the Single Machine Sun Tracking / Heliostat Electronics Set Up has been updated to V.0.9.6. Ver. 0.9.6 fixes a bug in the code which caused the altitude and azimuth … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino Projects, Heliostat Projects, Programmming Projects, Solar Projects | 2 Comments

Sun Tracking / Heliostat Project Introductory Video

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Gabriel Miller

It’s been a fairly quiet around the site over the last several months as I have been busy with school. I’ve still been working on various projects, but just haven’t had much time to document them. Over this winter’s break … Continue reading →

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Sid’s Sun Tracking Machine at Minnesota State Fair

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

  If you remember Sid’s Sun Tracking Machine posted on this site a couple of months ago, you’ll no doubt recognize its design in these pictures at the Minnesota State Fair. The event itself is massive. Their website gives the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino Projects, Solar Projects | 2 Comments

Single Machine Sun Tracking / Heliostat Electronics Set Up

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

This page shows off a single machine sun tracking / heliostat electronics set up. You may have already found it, but, if not, there is a more elaborate electronics system here which includes things like shift registers for increasing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino Projects, Heliostat Projects, Solar Projects | 8 Comments

Sid’s Solar Panel Sun Tracking Machine

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

  The solar panel sun tracking machine in the above picture was built by Sid Frantz. Sid and I have been communicating back and forth by email in an effort to get the Open Source Arduino Controlled Sun Tracking / … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino Projects, Solar Projects | 4 Comments

Another Bug Fix in Arduino Sun Tracking/Heliostat Program

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

There has been yet another bug fix for the Arduino Sun Tracking/Heliostat Program. Download the latest version at the link. This one fixes a bug in the table which causes the position of the sun to be calculated incorrectly during … Continue reading →

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Link to: Stepper Motor Driver Board

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

Thanks to a chance accident, I stumbled across this simple stepper motor driver board. What makes this board especially interesting is that it is basically the same as the board I built to control my heliostats. You can find my … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino Projects, Heliostat Projects, Misc. Projects, Solar Projects | 2 Comments

Heliostat Safety_

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

Here are a few safety tips that you should keep in mind when operating a heliostat. Much of it is fairly obvious, but I do feel as though I should at least make a couple of things clear. Overall, a … Continue reading →

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Heliostat Progress Report

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

After several months without saying much about them, I figured that it was about time I gave an update regarding my heliostat project. As of this writing, it has been about three years since I first decided to go through … Continue reading →

Posted in Heliostat Projects, Solar Projects | 2 Comments

Heliostat Information Sources

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Gabriel Miller

In case you missed it, I added a list of heliostat information sources to the forum. Here’s the link. http://cerebralmeltdown.com/forum/index.php?topic=290.0 Please feel free to add more if you have it. Thanks!

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