Patent ID: 6704607
Filing Date: 2004-03-09
Classification: F24S,Y02E

Abstract:
A method of controllably positioning a solar concentrator comprising:determining a vertical error and a horizontal error between a centerline of the solar concentrator and a sun reference vector; determining an elevation command and an azimuth command to compensate for the vertical error and the horizontal error, wherein determining the elevation command and the azimuth command comprises: determining respective errors generated by a plurality of error sources that contribute to at least one of the vertical error and the elevation error, wherein the plurality of error sources include at least one error source selected from a system elevation error group consisting of a gravitational residue error g, an elevation transfer function error e and an error r due to atmospheric refraction, and wherein determining the respective errors comprises determining a respective contribution to at least one of the vertical error and the horizontal error that is attributable to at least one error source selected from the system elevation error group and that is independent of any contribution from any error source outside of the system elevation error group; and determining the elevation command and the azimuth command at least partially based upon the respective errors generated by the plurality of error sources; and positioning the solar concentrator based upon the elevation command and the azimuth command in order to compensate for the vertical error and the horizontal error.