Patent ID: 8622056

Claim:
A solar power system comprising: one or more solar collectors, each solar collector comprising (a) one or more support structures for securely mounting the solar collector to a surface, (b) a reflective parabolic trough for concentrating solar energy along a focal axis and attached to the support structure(s) to allow rotation of the reflective parabolic trough around a longitudinal axis, (c) one or more receiver tubes attached to the reflective parabolic trough along the focal axis, wherein each receiver tube comprises (i) a metal tube having an inlet, an outlet and a solar absorption coating, and (ii) a transparent tube having a first seal and a second seal proximate to the inlet and the outlet of the metal tube to maintain a vacuum or hermetically seal the metal tube within the transparent tube, and (d) a motor operably connected to the reflective parabolic trough to rotate the reflective parabolic trough around the longitudinal axis; a solar tracking device having one or more sensors to control the motor to align each solar collector to maximize the solar energy collected by the one or more receiver tubes, wherein the one or more sensors comprise three or more photosensitive diodes disposed on the reflective parabolic trough such that when the reflective parabolic trough is properly aligned: at least a first of the photosensitive diodes is positioned within a center of a shadow cast by the receiver tube(s), at least a second of the photosensitive diodes is positioned within and near a first edge of the shadow cast by the receiver tube(s), and at least a third of the photosensitive diodes is positioned within and near a second edge of the shadow cast by the receiver tube(s); a fluid/vapor turbine having a drive shaft, a fluid/vapor inlet connected to the outlet of the receiver tube(s) and a fluid/vapor outlet connected to the inlet of the receiver tube(s); a generator connected to the drive shaft of the fluid/vapor turbine and having one or more electrical output terminals; and a controller connected to the motor, the solar tracking device, the fluid/vapor turbine and the generator to monitor and control the system.