A method for controlling the orientation of a solar module including a single-axis solar tracker orientable about an axis of rotation, and a photovoltaic device supported by said tracker and having upper and lower photoactive faces, including: measurement of a distribution of the solar luminance called incident luminance originating from the incident solar radiation coming from the sky to reach the upper face, said distribution being established according to several elevation angles; measurement of a distribution of the solar luminance called reflected luminance originating from the albedo solar radiation corresponding to the reflection of the solar radiation on the ground to reach the lower face, said distribution being established according to several elevation angles; determination of an optimum orientation considering the measurements of said distributions of the incident and reflected solar luminance; servo-control of the orientation of the module on said optimum orientation.

A measurement device which enables to determine the optimum angle values and orientations of collectors/cells and which enables to measure both direct radiation and diffuse radiation, essentially includes a main body; a solar cell which generates current from solar energy; an actuation mechanism which is adapted to move the solar cell in horizontal and vertical axis; an upper cover which prevents the sun beams reaching the solar cell by covering the upper part of the main body; a second cover on each one of the lateral walls of the upper cover; a current detector which measures the current generated by the solar cell, a control unit which includes a processing unit adapted to generate angle signals that will move the first motor and second motor and determine the optimum angle values according to current information corresponding to the angle signals and the angle information corresponding to the current information.

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 digital fluid heating system may include a solar collection system configured for focusing sunlight on a focal axis, an elongated flow element arranged and configured for transporting fluid along the solar collection system at the focal axis, and a flow-control assembly comprising a digitally controlled valve configured to control the flow of the fluid in the elongated flow element such that pathogens present in the fluid are substantially inactivated before the fluid exits the fluid heating system and at a maximized flow rate under the given energy providing conditions. The system may also include one or more digital controls and communication systems for remote and/or automatic control.

A solar rotational manufacturing system having a monitoring device, a controller, a heliostat having a heliostat controller, a rotational apparatus having a rotational controller, and a mold, wherein the monitoring device is configured to collect actual data regarding a characteristic of the solar rotational heating system and transmit actual data to the controller, the controller is configured to receive a reference parameter, an affecting parameter, and linking instructions, receive actual data from the monitoring device, compare actual data with a reference parameter, determine an affecting parameter to alter, and transmit alteration instructions to the heliostat controller and/or the rotational controller, the heliostat controller is configured to receive the alteration instructions from the controller and execute the alteration instructions, and the rotational controller is configured to receive the alteration instructions from the controller and execute the alteration instructions.

The present disclosure describes non-intrusive optical (NIO) characterization methods which efficiency measures optical errors (such as mirror surface slope error, mirror canting error, and heliostat tracking error) of a heliostat field. The methods utilize photogrammetry and deflectometry to analyze an image taken of a heliostat to determine optical errors and increase the amount of solar energy delivered by the heliostat to the 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.

One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving configuration input for a solar structure; the configuration input comprising (i) a geographical location, (ii) module configuration input, and (iii) reflector configuration input; identifying the position of the sun; determining an angle between the solar reflector and the solar module corresponding to a predetermined power gain for the solar module, wherein the determining comprises (i) identifying the corresponding area of the solar module that is illuminated by the solar reflector and (ii) totaling the contributions from each of the solar reflectors to calculate an irradiance for each solar cell; adjusting the angles of at least some of the solar reflectors with respect to the solar module to angles determined to correspond to the predetermined power gain using at least one actuator; and dynamically changing how the solar cells are electrically connected together to form a plurality of strings.

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.

A solar actuator comprises a top coupler, a bottom coupler, and a plurality of fluidic bellows actuators, wherein a fluidic bellows actuator of the plurality of fluidic bellows actuators moves the top coupler relative to the bottom coupler.