In one respect, disclosed is a device or system for solar irradiance measurement comprising at least two irradiance sensors deployed outdoors at substantially different angles, such that, by analysis of readings from said irradiance sensors, a direct irradiance, a diffuse irradiance, a global irradiance, and/or a ground-reflected irradiance are determined. In some embodiments the disclosed device or system is stationary and has no moving parts.

Certain aspects pertain to a cloud detector comprising a first detector module directed to a first region of the sky and a second detector module directed to a second region of the sky. Each detector module has a tube enclosing one or more sensing elements. The one or more sensing elements of the first detector module are configured to take weather condition readings from the first region of the sky. The one or more sensing elements of the second detector module are configured to take weather condition readings from the second region of the sky. In one aspect, the cloud detector is configured to detect cloud cover based on these weather condition readings. In some cases, the one or more sensing elements comprise an infrared radiation detector (e.g., thermopile) for measuring infrared radiation intensity and a photosensor element for measuring sunlight intensity.

An information processing method includes the steps of calculating information on object illumination light for illuminating an object based on spatial distribution information of illumination light and orientation information of the object, and correcting information on the reflected light so as to reduce influence of the object illumination light based on the information on the object illumination light and information on the reflected light from the object.

A daylight sensor for automated window-shading applications that incorporates at least one (and optionally more than one) of three aspects: an optimized Field-of-View (FOV), angle-diversity sensing (via at least two sub-sensors with different FOVs, whose outputs are processed in a particular way to yield the overall sensor output), and multi-spectral sensing (via at least two sub-sensors with differing spectral responses and, optionally, different FOVs, whose outputs are processed in a particular way to yield the sensor output). These aspects improve the correlation between the sensor output and the subjectively-perceived daylight level (especially under glare-inducing conditions, such as in the presence of low-angle direct sunlight), thereby enabling more effective automatic control of daylight admitted into a room.

The present disclosure relates to a light exposure monitoring system that includes a central control server; a plurality of indoor light exposure zones and a positioning system configured to communicate with the central control server to determine: a position (P) of an individual within the plurality of indoor light exposure zones, and a distance between a head of the individual and a floor within the plurality of indoor light exposure zones

A system and method for array level terrain based backtracking includes a tracker configured to collect solar irradiance and attached to a rotational mechanism for changing a plane of the tracker and a controller in communication with a rotational mechanism. The controller is programmed to determine a position of the sun at a first specific point in time, retrieve height information, execute a shadow model based on the retrieved height information and the position of the sun, determine a first angle for the tracker; collect an angle for each tracker in a plurality of trackers in an array; adjust the first angle based on executing the shadow model with the first angle and the plurality of angles associated with the plurality of trackers; transmit instructions to the rotational mechanism to change the plane of the tracker to the adjusted first angle.

Disclosed is a system for measuring solar radiation, with a camera having a hemispherical objective and light sensor, and a processor to: perform a geometric calibration of the camera establishing correspondence between coordinate systems of the image pixels and the camera; calculate the solid angle occupied by each pixel; perform a second calibration by comparing the theoretical position of the sun and its position in the image, establishing correspondence between the camera coordinate system and the cardinal points; calculate the angles between: each pixel and the zenith; each pixel and the azimuth; the sun and the zenith; and the sun and the azimuth; then each pixel and the sun. The next steps are: obtain a high-dynamic-range image of the sky; calculate the global horizontal irradiance, the direct normal irradiance, and the diffuse horizontal irradiance; and convert, into global horizontal luminance, direct normal irradiance and diffuse horizontal irradiance, respectively.

A photovoltaic module comprises at least one photovoltaic cell and one concentration optic device, to be illuminated by a light flux emitting at at least one illumination wavelength belonging to a band of wavelengths defined by a minimum wavelength and a maximum wavelength, the band of wavelengths being that of the solar radiation of the order of [380 nm-1600 nm]. The concentration optic device is a monolithic component and comprises at least one diffractive structure comprising subwavelength patterns, defined in a structured material; the patterns having at least one dimension less than or equal to the average illumination wavelength divided by the refractive index of the structured material; the patterns being separated from one another by subwavelength distances, defined between centres of adjacent patterns; the concentration optic device ensuring at least one focusing function and one diffraction function. A solar panel comprising the photovoltaic module is also provided.

Embodiments herein relate to a method for handling light source impairment. The position of a user's eye(s) when the user is inside the vehicle is obtained. The position of a light source outside the vehicle and an intensity of light from the light source in relation to the position of the user's eye(s) is obtained. Then, it is determined whether the user's vision is impaired by the light source. The determining is done based on whether there is a line of sight between the light source and the user's eye(s), and based on the intensity of light at the user's eye(s). It is determined whether at least one safety measure should be performed by the vehicle based on whether the user's vision is impaired by the light source.

In a sky monitoring system, comprising an image sensor, a wide-angle lens, a microprocessor, and a memory unit, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to take pictures of a sky scene, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to subdivide each picture of the sky scene into a group of patches and to determine one luminance value for each patch, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to calculate an output based on the luminance values of the patches, the image sensor, the wide-angle lens, the microprocessor and the memory unit are integrated into one single sky monitoring device thus making the sky monitoring system an embedded system.