Tracking formulas and strategies for a receiver oriented dual-axis tracking toroidal heliostat
- Key Laboratory of Solar Thermal Energy and Photovoltaic System of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Beijing 100190 (China)
- Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Jilin 130033 (China)
A 4 m x 4 m toroidal heliostat with receiver oriented dual-axis tracking, also called spinning-elevation tracking, was developed as an auxiliary heat source for a hydrogen production system. A series of spinning-elevation tracking formulas have been derived for this heliostat. This included basic tracking formulas, a formula for the elevation angle for heliostat with a mirror-pivot offset, and a more general formula for the biased elevation angle. This paper presents the new tracking formulas in detail and analyzes the accuracy of applying a simplifying approximation. The numerical results show these receiver oriented dual-axis tracking formula approximations are accurate to within 2.5 x 10{sup -6} m in image plane. Some practical tracking strategies are discussed briefly. Solar images from the toroidal heliostat at selected times are also presented. (author)
- OSTI ID:
- 21320549
- Journal Information:
- Solar Energy, Vol. 84, Issue 6; Other Information: Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved; ISSN 0038-092X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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