The solar energy and solar farms are used to generate energy and reduce dependence on oil (or for environmental purposes). The maintenance, operation, optimization, and repairs in big farms become very difficult, expensive, and inefficient, using human technicians. Thus, here, we teach using the robots with various functions and components, in various settings, for various purposes, to improve operations in big (or hard-to-access) farms, to automate, save money, reduce human mistakes, increase efficiency, or scale the solutions to very large scales or areas, e.g., for repair, operation, calibration, testing, maintenance, adjustment, cleaning, improving the efficiency, and tracking the Sun.

A high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump detection testbed, comprising: three pressure sensors, three electric shut-off valves, two flow sensors, two electric adjustments, and two temperature sensors, and also comprising a molten salt storage tank, a motor, a high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump, a plurality of groups of insertion electric heaters, a first multipoint thermocouple, a second multipoint thermocouple, a preheating hole, a molten salt injection port, the test device can install a variety of models of molten salt pump, pipeline can use reducer to connect different types of molten salt pump, molten salt tank height can also meet the depth of different molten salt pump, a variety of models of molten salt pumps are used for tests, which are versatile and easy to use.

A high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump detection testbed, comprising: three pressure sensors, three electric shut-off valves, two flow sensors, two electric adjustments, and two temperature sensors, and also comprising a molten salt storage tank, a motor, a high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump, a plurality of groups of insertion electric heaters, a first multipoint thermocouple, a second multipoint thermocouple, a preheating hole, a molten salt injection port, the test device can install a variety of models of molten salt pump, pipeline can use reducer to connect different types of molten salt pump, molten salt tank height can also meet the depth of different molten salt pump, a variety of models of molten salt pumps are used for tests, which are versatile and easy to use.

An innovative portable reflected light sensor for non-destructively measuring characteristics of performance enhancement coatings applied to substrates such as solar photovoltaic panels is described. The innovative portable sensor provides a light source and a photodetector for measuring light incident on a substrate surface from the light source, and reflected to the photodetector. The spot size of the illuminated region of the substrate is at least 1 cm.sup.2 in area, thus averaging over a relatively wide portion of the substrate surface relative to existing fiber optic devices. A single measurement may then be representative of the coating. The innovative portable reflected light sensor is adapted to measure substrates in the field, and is especially adapted for assessing coating quality during the coating process. The innovative sensor also comprises a signal processing circuit that performs analysis of the measurements and feeds back status of the coating to the operator for coating process control.

A robotic controller for autonomous calibration and inspection of two or more solar surfaces wherein the robotic controller includes a drive system to position itself near a solar surface such that onboard sensors may be utilized to gather information about the solar surface. An onboard communication unit relays information to a central processing network, this processor combines new information with stored historical data to calibrate a solar surface and/or to determine its instantaneous health.

The invention, in some embodiments, relates to solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, the invention relates to liquid-air transpired solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, the invention relates to thermal energy transfer systems that comprise solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments of the invention, methods of constructing solar energy collectors are provided.

The invention, in some embodiments, relates to solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, the invention relates to liquid-air transpired solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments, the invention relates to thermal energy transfer systems that comprise solar energy collectors, and methods of use thereof. In some embodiments of the invention, methods of constructing solar energy collectors are provided.

A system for providing a contour map of the surface of a heliostat from reflected sunlight using a fly's eye camera. The system includes an entrance screen configured to receive sunlight reflected by said heliostat; an array of imaging apertures extending across the entrance screen, each aperture forming an image of said heliostat from a different viewpoint to provide a plurality of heliostat images; one or more digital cameras configured to view all of said plurality of heliostat images; an image processor configured to map out from the plurality of heliostat images a location of sunlight delivered to the entrance screen to obtain a plurality of maps, and to provide, based on centroids of said maps a tip and tilt of each said subsection The reflecting surface profile of the heliostat is obtained by integration of the subsection tilts across all the subsections.

A system for providing a contour map of the surface of a heliostat from reflected sunlight using a fly's eye camera. The system includes an entrance screen configured to receive sunlight reflected by said heliostat; an array of imaging apertures extending across the entrance screen, each aperture forming an image of said heliostat from a different viewpoint to provide a plurality of heliostat images; one or more digital cameras configured to view all of said plurality of heliostat images; an image processor configured to map out from the plurality of heliostat images a location of sunlight delivered to the entrance screen to obtain a plurality of maps, and to provide, based on centroids of said maps a tip and tilt of each said subsection The reflecting surface profile of the heliostat is obtained by integration of the subsection tilts across all the subsections.

A high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump detection testbed, comprising: three pressure sensors, three electric shut-off valves, two flow sensors, two electric adjustments, and two temperature sensors, and also comprising a molten salt storage tank, a motor, a high-temperature long-shaft molten salt pump, a plurality of groups of insertion electric heaters, a first multipoint thermocouple, a second multipoint thermocouple, a preheating hole, a molten salt injection port, the test device can install a variety of models of molten salt pump, pipeline can use reducer to connect different types of molten salt pump, molten salt tank height can also meet the depth of different molten salt pump, a variety of models of molten salt pumps are used for tests, which are versatile and easy to use.