Solar tracker enclosure

The enclosure houses a tracker's control electronics outdoors, so it has to seal against dust and monsoon rain and hold its shape in the sun. The prototype was fabricated from sheet and machined parts: fine for field trials, too slow and too costly for volume.

• A DFM review first: uniform walls, draft on every face and ribs in place of the thick bosses, so the part fills evenly and does not sink.
• A continuous sealing groove designed into the lid, with the parting line kept clear of it.
• Mold flow to place the gates and balance two cavities, then conformal cooling around the deep side walls.
• Core and cavity in hardened steel for UV-stabilised, glass-filled material.

The mold ran its first trial with only minor corrections, and the enclosure moved from fabrication to molding. Both cavities produce matched parts, and the lid seals without secondary machining.