The disclosure relates to a solar module, which includes a plurality of solar cells which are interconnected to generate a direct-voltage power at module terminals, and a receiving unit for receiving an accurate time signal. The solar module further includes a communication unit for the synchronous transmission of the received accurate time signal to an inverter. The inverter is connected to the solar module by means of direct-voltage lines. The disclosure also relates to an assembly that can be integrated into a solar module, and to an energy generation system having a solar module of this type.

A system and method for tracking the sun with a heliostat mirror is disclosed. The solar tracking system comprises: a camera configured to capture high dynamic range images of the sky, a plurality of cameras configured to capture images of the heliostat mirror, and a tracking controller. The images of the heliostat mirror include reflections of the sky. The tracking controller is configured to generate a circumsolar radiance map characterizing the brightness of at least a portion of the sky with the high dynamic range images. During tracking operations, the tracking controller is configured to estimate an orientation of the heliostat mirror; calculate coordinates of the portions of sky in the reflections in the heliostat mirror; estimate brightness levels of portions of sky in the reflections of the heliostat mirror based on the calculated coordinates and the radiance model; determine brightness levels of portions of sky in the reflections of the heliostat mirror based on the images from the plurality of cameras; generate an error measurement characterizing a difference between the brightness level estimated from the radiance model and the brightness level determined from the images of the heliostat mirror; search for an orientation angle of the at least one mirror that minimizes the error measurement; and re-orient the at least one mirror based on the orientation angle that minimizes the error measurement.

A solar tracking system is provided having a pivoting table driven for rotation about an axis of rotation through a rotational angle range. The pivoting table includes a longitudinally extending beam and a plurality of photovoltaic modules supported by and pivoting with the beam. The system also includes an actuator coupled to the beam for rotating the pivoting table about the axis of rotation through the rotational angle range. A controller is provided for activating the actuator to control rotational angular position of the table.

One or more embodiments of a system including a laser emitting device and a target is disclosed. The laser emitting device includes a connector configured to connect to a device having a flat top extending in a first plane and a flat side extending in a second plane, and a laser emitter connected to the connector such that when the connector is connected to the device, the laser emitter is configured to emit a laser in a first direction parallel to the first plane and the second plane. The target includes a body, a tray including at least one slit in a front side of the tray configured to allow passage of the laser into the tray, a neck connecting the body to the tray, and legs connected to the body and configured to support the body, neck, and tray.

One or more embodiments of a system including a laser emitting device and a target is disclosed. The laser emitting device includes a connector configured to connect to a device having a flat top extending in a first plane and a flat side extending in a second plane, and a laser emitter connected to the connector such that when the connector is connected to the device, the laser emitter is configured to emit a laser in a first direction parallel to the first plane and the second plane. The target includes a body, a tray including at least one slit in a front side of the tray configured to allow passage of the laser into the tray, a neck connecting the body to the tray, and legs connected to the body and configured to support the body, neck, and tray.

A solar actuator system comprising at least one actuator assembly. The actuator assembly includes: a top coupler; an angled bottom coupler having a top-end and respective first and second faces on opposing first and second sides of the top-end, the angled bottom coupler coupled to the top coupler via a one-degree-of-freedom joint between the top coupler and the angled bottom coupler; and at least a first and second actuator, with the first actuator disposed on the first side of the angled bottom coupler and the second actuator disposed on the second side of the angled bottom coupler.

A characterization device, system, and method for characterizing reflective elements from the light beams reflected in it. The device has two variable-gain detectors on a common structure, which can be portable or fixed, and for capturing light beams reflected by a reflective element, and from at least one processor characterizing the quality of the reflected light beams and evaluating the quality of the reflective element from its reflective capacity. Each detector has a lens for increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the reflected beam or beams, a light sensor on which the beam or beams captured by the lens are focused, an automatic gain selection system associated with the optical sensor, and a data communication device associated with the device itself. A characterization system and a characterization method for characterizing reflective elements from the quality of the light beams reflected in at least one reflective element or heliostat.

Solar array (1) comprising solar modules (3) distributed in rows (10), each solar module comprising solar collector (5) carried by a single-axis solar tracker (4), a reference solar power plant (2) comprising a central reference solar module and at least one secondary reference solar module, and a piloting unit (7) adapted for: piloting the angular orientation of the central reference module according to a central reference orientation setpoint corresponding to an initial orientation setpoint, piloting the orientation of each secondary reference module according to a secondary reference orientation setpoint corresponding to the initial orientation setpoint shifted by a predefined offset angle; receiving an energy production value from each reference module; piloting the orientation of the modules, except for the reference modules, by applying the reference orientation setpoint associated to the reference module having the highest production value.

The invention relates to a calibration method for a group of reflectors for concentrating solar radiation onto a radiation receiver, having the following steps: A) aligning the reflectors in order to at least partly expose a calibration surface to solar radiation reflected by the reflectors; B) modifying the intensity distribution of the radiation incident on the calibration surface by carrying out a pattern of movements by each reflector of the group, wherein at least one specified parameter for the pattern of movements of each reflector differs from the parameters of the other reflectors, said parameter being selected from the group: —movement frequency,—movement amplitude,—movement phase angle, and—trajectory of the solar radiation, reflected by the reflector, within the calibration surface; C) recording rows of pixels for a plurality of differently located location points of the calibration surface by at least one camera, each row of pixel having at least five temporally offset pixel recordings; D) ascertaining a spectrum for each row of pixels by transforming the row of pixels into the frequency domain; E) assigning a subset of spectra to the reflectors on the basis of the movement pattern parameter of the reflector; and F) determining at least one reflection target position for each reflector at least on the basis of the subset of spectra assigned to the reflector. The invention additionally relates to a calibration device for a group of reflectors for concentrating solar radiation onto a radiation receiver.

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.