On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions
Many current PV installations incorporate solar tracking systems that always seek to orient the surface of the modules as perpendicular as possible to the Sun (astronomical tracking). This position of the trackers is easy to calculate and allows to maximize the beam irradiance captured, which is by...
| Autores: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| Repositorio: | Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/55856 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2454/55856 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Diffuse irradiance model Horizontal single axis tracker Optimal tracking Analytical solution |
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On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditionsArrubla Irigoyen, MikelGarcía Solano, MiguelMarroyo Palomo, LuisGarcía Colomo, IñigoDiffuse irradiance modelHorizontal single axis trackerOptimal trackingAnalytical solutionMany current PV installations incorporate solar tracking systems that always seek to orient the surface of the modules as perpendicular as possible to the Sun (astronomical tracking). This position of the trackers is easy to calculate and allows to maximize the beam irradiance captured, which is by far the largest component of irradiance on a sunny day. However, under other sky conditions, this positioning strategy does not necessarily maximize the total irradiance captured by the PV modules and other tracking strategies could increase the PV generation at no additional cost. The proper design and evaluation of such strategies requires to know the optimum position of a PV tracker as a function of the sky conditions, but the analytical calculation of that position is still an open question in the state of the art. In this paper, two analytical expressions have been developed to calculate the optimal position of a horizontal single-axis tracker under any sky condition. One of them uses a new isotropic-diffuse transposition factor developed in this paper to consider the influence of adjacent trackers in the diffuse irradiance received by modules. All the expressions proposed here have been experimentally validated in a PV installation specifically designed to measure the optimal position of a horizontal single-axis tracker. The experimental results not only allow to determine which of the proposed expressions better approaches the measured optimal position, but also to properly compare their impact on the total irradiation received by the PV modules.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), Spain and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), European Union, under grant PID2019-110816RB-C21, and also by the Government of Navarra, Spain, which financed the hiring of the PhD student within the framework of the call for grants “Industrial Doctorates 2022”.ElsevierIngeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de ComunicaciónIngeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio IngeniaritzaInstitute of Smart Cities - ISC2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2454/55856reponame:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarrainstname:Universidad Pública de NavarraInglésinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-110816RB-C21© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/558562026-06-17T12:41:47Z |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| title |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| spellingShingle |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions Arrubla Irigoyen, Mikel Diffuse irradiance model Horizontal single axis tracker Optimal tracking Analytical solution |
| title_short |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| title_full |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| title_fullStr |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| title_full_unstemmed |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| title_sort |
On the calculation of the optimum position of a horizontal single axis tracker under any sky conditions |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv |
Arrubla Irigoyen, Mikel García Solano, Miguel Marroyo Palomo, Luis García Colomo, Iñigo |
| author |
Arrubla Irigoyen, Mikel |
| author_facet |
Arrubla Irigoyen, Mikel García Solano, Miguel Marroyo Palomo, Luis García Colomo, Iñigo |
| author_role |
author |
| author2 |
García Solano, Miguel Marroyo Palomo, Luis García Colomo, Iñigo |
| author2_role |
author author author |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoa eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritza Institute of Smart Cities - ISC |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv |
Diffuse irradiance model Horizontal single axis tracker Optimal tracking Analytical solution |
| topic |
Diffuse irradiance model Horizontal single axis tracker Optimal tracking Analytical solution |
| description |
Many current PV installations incorporate solar tracking systems that always seek to orient the surface of the modules as perpendicular as possible to the Sun (astronomical tracking). This position of the trackers is easy to calculate and allows to maximize the beam irradiance captured, which is by far the largest component of irradiance on a sunny day. However, under other sky conditions, this positioning strategy does not necessarily maximize the total irradiance captured by the PV modules and other tracking strategies could increase the PV generation at no additional cost. The proper design and evaluation of such strategies requires to know the optimum position of a PV tracker as a function of the sky conditions, but the analytical calculation of that position is still an open question in the state of the art. In this paper, two analytical expressions have been developed to calculate the optimal position of a horizontal single-axis tracker under any sky condition. One of them uses a new isotropic-diffuse transposition factor developed in this paper to consider the influence of adjacent trackers in the diffuse irradiance received by modules. All the expressions proposed here have been experimentally validated in a PV installation specifically designed to measure the optimal position of a horizontal single-axis tracker. The experimental results not only allow to determine which of the proposed expressions better approaches the measured optimal position, but also to properly compare their impact on the total irradiation received by the PV modules. |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2025 |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| format |
article |
| status_str |
publishedVersion |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv |
https://hdl.handle.net/2454/55856 |
| url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2454/55856 |
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Inglés |
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Inglés |
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info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-110816RB-C21 |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv |
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
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openAccess |
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application/pdf |
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Elsevier |
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Elsevier |
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reponame:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra instname:Universidad Pública de Navarra |
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Universidad Pública de Navarra |
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Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra |
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Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra |
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