Described herein are technologies pertaining to computing the solar irradiance distribution on a surface of a receiver in a concentrating solar power system or glint/glare emitted from a reflective entity. At least one camera captures images of the Sun and the entity of interest, wherein the images have pluralities of pixels having respective pluralities of intensity values. Based upon the intensity values of the pixels in the respective images, the solar irradiance distribution on the surface of the entity or glint/glare corresponding to the entity is computed.

An electronic device may be provided with a display mounted in a housing. A directional ambient light sensor may measure the intensity and direction of ambient light. The ambient light sensor may be mounted in alignment with a light sensor window formed in an inactive area of the display. The ambient light sensor may be formed from detectors on a semiconductor substrate. Incident light angle restriction structures may define openings for each detector. Each opening may be configured to allow light with a different range of angle of incidence values to be passed to a respective one of the detectors. The ranges of acceptance angle for adjacent detectors may overlap. A sensor may produce a diffuse light reading by processing ambient light data from a diffuse light detector and a directional light detector. The diffuse and directional light detectors may be formed on a common semiconductor substrate.

Disclosed is a sensor shield for use in a multi-shelf merchandise display unit including a plurality of sensors mounted on a wall of the unit and opposite a source of illumination, in which each sensor corresponds to a single shelf and in which the shelves are at least semi-porous to the illumination. The shield comprises i) a plate having a length that is sufficient substantially to reduce or prevent incident illumination from the shelf above reaching the sensor; and ii) means to attach the plate to casing of or around the sensor or the wall of the unit. The plate is opaque to the illumination detected by the sensor. Also disclosed is a method to reduce the interference of light in a multi-shelf merchandise display unit from shelves above a shelf on which stock levels are being measured and a method for monitoring stock levels in a retail display cabinet by measuring light entering the retail display cabinet.

A photodetector device and an optical encoder device that can suppress level variation of a detection signal are provided. A photodetector device of one embodiment includes: a light receiving unit including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements; a selector circuit that selects a first photoelectric conversion element group and a second photoelectric conversion element group, in the light receiving unit; a differential amplifier that outputs a detection signal in accordance with a difference between a first output signal of the first photoelectric conversion element group and a second output signal of the second photoelectric conversion element group; and a correction unit that corrects the detection signal based on the first output signal and the second output signal.

An electrical receptacle assemblies and methods for assembling and mounting toolless receptacle assemblies to a housing of a luminaire. The receptacle assembly includes a rotatable receptacle that has an insert portion with an electrical face configured to mate with a photoelectric device and includes an outer ring portion that has a mounting face opposite the electrical face. The mounting face is configured to mount on the housing. A locating mechanism of the receptacle assembly is configured to orient the rotatable receptacle on the housing in a desired direction for optimal positioning of the photoelectric device. A locking base is configured to receive at least a portion of the insert portion. A releasable retention member if configured to couple to the locking base and the insert portion of the rotatable receptacle for securing the receptacle assembly to the housing.

The present invention relates to alternative equipment for solar energy prospecting with a focus on low cost, low complexity in installation, operation and maintenance, and high reliability. A low-cost solarimetric station consists of compact equipment capable of providing global irradiance measurements and estimates for direct and diffuse components, as well as hemispheric photographs, with acceptable levels of uncertainty. The pyranometer periodically provides global irradiance information to the system, and the camera records photos of the sky. Using machine learning algorithms, and based on that information, the equipment provides estimates for direct and diffuse irradiance components. The equipment has other meteorological sensors, GPS, and wireless communication facilities. The equipment has an energy supply and management system consisting of a photovoltaic module, charge controller, and battery, which provide the energy necessary for the station to operate.

A system comprises a photodetector array (PDA) including a plurality of imaging pixels configured to generate electrical signals indicative of an imaged scene, and an integrated circuit (IC) operatively connected to the PDA to receive the electrical signals from the imaging pixels to form image data.

An apparatus includes a light senor having directional sensitivity. The light sensor includes multiple light sensitive elements disposed below the same aperture. Each of the light sensitive elements has a respective field of view through the aperture that differs from the field of view of the other light sensitive elements. Signals from the light sensor can facilitate determining the direction of incoming light.

A waveguide structure includes a first surface having a first width, a second surface having a second width, the second surface being opposite to the first surface, and a sidewall surface connecting the first surface and the second surface. The first width is greater than the second width.

An optical sensor device includes an optical filter, an optical element, and an optical sensor that includes a plurality of sensor elements. The optical filter is configured to pass, to the optical element, first light beams that are associated with a first subrange of a spectral range and that impinge on the optical filter within a first incidence angle range; and to pass, to the optical element, second light beams that are associated with a second subrange of the spectral range and that impinge on the optical filter within a second incidence angle range. The optical element is configured to cause, based on receiving the first light beams, the first light beams to be directed to a first region of an optical sensor; and to cause, based on receiving the second light beams, the second light beams to be directed to a second region of the optical sensor.