Patent ID: 8011597

Claim:
A method for controlling a vehicle HVAC system to cool a vehicle cabin comprising: measuring a time of operation of the vehicle; determining an angle at which sunlight is entering the cabin; determining a measured solar azimuth—value—based on the angle at which sunlight is entering the cabin; determining whether to correct the measured solar azimuth—value—to a corrected solar azimuth—value, wherein the determination of whether to correct the measured solar azimuth value is—based—on—the measured time of operation; upon determining that the measured solar azimuth—value—is to be corrected, correcting the measured solar azimuth—value—to the corrected solar azimuth—value—based on the measured time of operation; determining a sun temperature based on at least one of the measured solar azimuth—value—and the corrected solar azimuth—value—; and operating the HVAC system in accordance with a predetermined algorithm based upon the determined sun temperature.