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Complete Solution of Sun Tracking for Heliostat

Article  in  Communications in Theoretical Physics · September 2008

DOI: 10.1088/0253-6102/45/1/033

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Commun. Theor. Phys. (Beijing, China) 45 (2006) pp. 165–166

c International Academic Publishers Vol. 45, No. 1, January 15, 2006

Complete Solution of Sun Tracking for Heliostat

CHEN Ying-Tian,∗ LIM Boon-Han, and LIM Chern-Sing
Department of Astronomy and Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

(Received April 14, 2005)

Abstract A general solution of sun tracking for an arbitrarily oriented heliostat towards an arbitrarily located target
on the earth is published. With the most general form of solar tracking formulae, it is seen that the used azimuth-
elevation, spinning-elevation tracking formulae etc. are the special cases of it. The possibilities of utilizing the general
solution and its significance in solar energy engineering are discussed.
PACS numbers: 42.15.-i, 42.15.Fr, 42.79.Ek
Key words: solar tracking, azimuth-elevation, spinning-elevation, optical aberration, heliostat

The basic mathematics of sun tracking for heliostat has
remained unchanged for many decades. It is mainly the
azimuth-elevation tracking formulae[1] with two axes of
rotations. However, following the earlier arguments made
by Harald Ries[2] and Zaibel,[3] Chen et al.[4] made dif-
ferent move. They analyzed that if one of the rotational
axes of heliostat can be made aligning with the target,
the optical aberration can be reduced considerably with
tiny segment corrections along the rows and columns of
a mirror array. With this change of structure, a newly
published spinning-elevation sun tracking formula has to
be applied to replace the traditional one. New heliostat
with dual function of tracking and focusing has brought
many new applications[4−10] in the advancement of effi-
ciency and cost. We further consider: Are there any other
tracking methods which have been excluded by our study?
Can we have a general solution of sun tracking for all kinds
of heliostat to simplify and unite the designs of controller
in solar energy collection? We believe the complete solu-
tion published here will serve this purpose. The solution,
which should be the final one, can be used to build a uni-
versally applied controller for all forms of heliostat with
an arbitrary orientation on the earth.
Sun tracking formula for a heliostat with a fixed tar-
get on the earth involves a sun vector (incident sun ray), a
target vector (reflected ray) and a heliostat normal vector.
However, unit position vector of sun is usually described in
earth-center coordinate system (earth-center frame) while
the unit position vector of fixed target is most conveniently
expressed in earth-surface coordinate system (earth sur-
face frame). For computing the individual rotation angle
of each of the two axes attached to heliostat, it is necessary
to perform the calculation in Heliostat-center coordinate
system (Heliostat Frame). To study the vector rays from
the sun and how they reflect into an arbitrarily located
target on the earth with the orbital movements of the
sun, the coordinate transformation method was utilized
in our previous articles.[4−7] The same method is used in
this article to obtain the complete solution of sun-tracking
of an arbitrarily oriented heliostat towards an arbitrarily
located target on the earth, which is
βH = arcsin (A/2 cos θi ) , (1)
ρH = arcsin (B/2 cos θi cos βH ) , (2)
where

A = − sin α(cos Φ cos δ cos ω + sin Φ sin δ) − cos α sin ζ cos δ sin ω + cos α cos ζ(− sin Φ cos δ cos ω
+ cos Φ sin δ) + sin α sin λ + cos α sin ζ cos λ sin φ + cos α cos ζ cos λ cos φ ,
B = − cos ζ cos δ sin ω + sin ζ(sin Φ cos δ cos ω − cos Φ sin δ) cos ζ cos λ sin φ − sin ζ cos λ cos φ ;
and the incident angle of sun ray,
θi = 0.5 arccos(C) , (3)
where
C = − sin λ(cos Φ cos δ cos ω + sin Φ sin δ) − cos λ sin φ cos δ sin ω + cos λ cos φ(cos Φ sin δ − sin Φ cos δ cos ω) .
In the above, α is altitude angle of one of the axes of heliostat, ζ is azimuth angle of the same axis, λ is target angle
of target, φ is facing angle of target, Φ is latitude, ω is solar hour angle, and δ is declination of the sun.
Since the above formulae are the general solution, special cases can naturally branch into two categories: non-
arbitrarily orientated heliostat with an arbitrarily located target (defined heliostat case) and an arbitrarily oriented
∗ Corresponding author, E-mail: ytichen@ustc.edu.cn
166 CHEN Ying-Tian, LIM Boon-Han, and LIM Chern-Sing Vol. 45

heliostat with non-arbitrarily located target (defined target case). The famous case of the former is azimuth-elevation
tracking and the famous case of the latter is spinning-elevation tracking. Their differences are actually made from
setting different conditions to the parameters: α, ζ and λ, φ in the above equations. Therefore, we can show that
some of the established forms of solar tracking formula can be extracted from it with the conditions listed in Table 1.
Derivations have been carried out to confirm that with different conditions, the derived formulae are indeed the same
as those published ones.

Table 1 The conditions to obtain the established tracking formula using the complete solution published in this article.

Category Name Conditions Major Advantages

Defined Heliostat Azimuth-Elevation α= −90◦ , ζ= 0◦ Vertical mounted

Polar-Mounted α = Φ , ζ = φ = 180◦ Nearly single axis tracking

Defined Target General Spinning-Elevation λα , φ = ζ Minimum aberration effect

Latitude-Oriented λ = α = Φ − 90◦ , φ = ζ = 180◦ Maximum solar power collection;
minimum aberration effect
Polar-Oriented λα = Φ , φ = ζ = 180◦ Single axis tracking minimum;
aberration effect

The publication of the above complete solution of solar tracking formula is not only in its mathematical interests;
the application in solar engineering could be more significant. There are two possibilities of utilization which may alter
our traditional approaches in the practice of solar energy:
i) Specific method of sun tracking and the structure of heliostat are two related parts of the integral design of solar
collector. A further study of the complete solution may give us more hints to change our present structure of heliostat
to improve the feature of harnessing solar energy. Along this line, Chen et al. has moved forward in the direction of
defined target case.[4−9] We hope there may be more studies in this respect.
ii) The complete solution has provided a universal solution for the various control of different heliostat, which
usually costs considerably for the project. If a universal micro-chip based on Eqs. (1) ∼ (3) can be made in a large
quantity, they would become a cost-effective controller for all heliostats on the earth. What we need is only to input
in seven parameters for individual heliostat, which are α, ζ, λ, φ, Φ, ω, and date to initial the tracking (represents the
instantaneous declination angle of sun, δ. We hope this would be one of the steps to achieve cost-effectiveness in the
application of solar energy for our nature.

References [6] Y.T. Chen, et al., J. of Solar Energy Engineering 126

[1] C.E. Moeller, T.D. Brumleve, C. Grosskreutz, and L.O.
Seamons, Solar Energy 25 (1980) 291.
[2] H. Ries and M. Schubnell, Solar Energy Materials 21
(1990) 213.
[3] R. Zaibel, E. Dagan, J. Karni, and H. Ries, Solar Energy
Materials and Solar Cells 37 (1995) 191.
[4] Y.T. Chen, et al., Solar Energy 71(3) (2001) 155.
[5] Y.T. Chen, et al., Solar Energy 72(6) (2002) 531.
(2004) 1.
[7] Y.T. Chen, K.K. Chong, B.H. Lim, and C.S. Lim, Solar
Energy Materials & Solar Cells 79 (2003) 1.
[8] Y.T. Chen, et al., J. of Solar Energy Materials and Solar
Cells, 80 (2003) 305.
[9] Y.T. Chen, et al., Solar Energy 79 (2005) 280.
[10] Y.T. Chen, B.H. Lim, and C.S. Lim, Solar Energy (2006),
In Press.

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