Computation of the Solar Energy Captured by Different Solar Tracking Systems

There are many ways to maximize solar energy input to solar collectors. A theoretical study was carried out for different solar tracking systems. This study was based on calculation of solar radiation energy collected by different systems using measured global and diffuse radiation on a horizontal surface and measured beam radiation. The layouts of these systems are a fixed system facing south and tilted 40 degrees a vertical-axis tracker, a 6 degrees tilted-axis tracker, and a two-axis tracker. The theoretical results were compared with the practical solar energy measured from the installed systems in the test field. The annual precision values obtained from the present study are 5.36%, 9.07%, 7.92%, and 5.98%, respectively. The analysis also showed that this precision value changed from month to month according to the accuracy of the measurements, nature of the solar radiation, and weather conditions.