Optimal design of the solar tracking system

of parabolic trough concentrating collectors

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Li Kong1 , Yunpeng Zhang2 , Zhijian Lin3 , Zhongzhu Qiu2 , Chunying Li4, * and Ping Le5
1
Meteorological Bureau of Shanghai Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China; 2 Shanghai
University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China; 3 Shanghai Boyon New Energy
Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai 201600, China; 4 School of Architecture and Urban Planning/
BenYuan Design and Research Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518061, China; 5
Shanghai Hongqiao Business District Energy Service Co., Ltd, Shanghai 200335, China
............................................................................................................................................
Abstract
The present work aimed to select the optimum solar tracking mode for parabolic trough concentrating
collectors using numerical simulation. The current work involved: (1) the calculation of daily solar radiation
on the Earth’s surface, (2) the comparison of annual direct solar radiation received under different tracking
modes and (3) the determination of optimum tilt angle for the north-south tilt tracking mode. It was found
that the order of solar radiation received in Shanghai under the available tracking modes was: dual-axis
tracking > north-south Earth’s axis tracking > north-south tilt tracking (β = 15◦ ) > north-south tilt
tracking (β = 45) > north-south horizontal tracking > east-west horizontal tracking. Single-axis solar
tracking modes feature simple structures and low cost. This study also found that the solar radiation received
under the north-south tilt tracking mode was higher than that of the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode
in 7 out of 12 months. Therefore, the north-south tilt tracking mode was studied separately to determine
the corresponding optimum tilt angles in Haikou, Lhasa, Shanghai, Beijing and Hohhot, respectively, which
were shown as follows: 18.81◦ , 27.29◦ , 28.67◦ , 36.21◦ and 37.97◦ .

Keywords: parabolic trough concentrating collectors; parabolic mirror; solar radiation; solar tracking;
tracking mode

*Corresponding author: Received 6 August 2020; revised 10 August 2020; editorial decision 12 August 2020; accepted 12 August
qiuzhongzhu@shiep.edu.cn 2020
................................................................................................................................................................................

1. INTRODUCTION collectors. Depending on the number of tracking axes, the

tracking modes of parabolic trough concentrating collectors can
Energy is an important material basis for human survival and be classified as dual-axis and single-axis solar tracking modes.
development, and one of those energy forms, the solar energy, is a Dual-axis tracking requires the tracking of solar elevation angle
clean, green and inexhaustible energy source [1], making it one of and azimuth to keep the incident light consistent with the primary
the most ideal alternatives to fossil fuels today. However, existing optical axis in direction [2] and can be further divided into
photovoltaic (PV) power generation technologies are not well the polar axis-declination axis tracking mode and the elevation
suited to improving the incident photon-to-electron conversion angle-azimuth tracking mode. Single-axis solar tracking follows
efficiency of photocell significantly. In such a context, the focus of either one of the elevation angle or azimuth, which can be
research has shifted to concentrated solar power systems. accomplished by ensuring the incident light falls on the plane
At present, one of the priorities in developing parabolic formed by the primary optical axis and the focal line [3]. This type
trough concentrating collectors is to improve their efficiency in mainly includes the north-south tilt tracking mode, the north-
many ways, such as enhancing the machining precision of its south horizontal tracking mode and the east-west horizontal
reflecting surfaces and developing highly reflective materials, tracking mode.
etc. Notably, good solar tracking modes contribute greatly to At present, literature on dual-axis tracking modes account for
improving the efficiency of parabolic trough concentrating about 41.58% of all studies on the tracking modes of parabolic

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© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
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doi:10.1093/ijlct/ctaa065 Advance Access publication 3 September 2020 613
L. Kong et al.

trough concentrating collectors, while those on single-axis solar which we should first sort out the solar radiation receivable on the
tracking modes are about 42.57% [4]. By studying solar collector Earth’s surface before addressing the effects of different tracking
under dual-axis tracking modes and designing complex electric modes on the radiation-receiving capacity of parabolic trough
control circuit, Barakat et al. [5] found that dual-axis tracking concentrating collectors. Figure 1 shows the different tracking
modes improve energy efficiency by 20%. Also, in their exam- modes of solar concentrating collectors. By comparing the track-
ination of the dual-axis tracking modes, Fahim and Kang [6] ing modes and the daily direct solar radiation received by a par-
worked out the optical efficiency of such modes as 0.813% and ticular parabolic mirror within a year under different modes, the
that the annual average is 40.9% higher than that of the north- best tracking mode for parabolic trough concentrating collectors

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south tracking modes. Bakos [7] studied the dual-axis tracking could be determined.
modes by tracking solar radiation at a tilt angle of 40◦ and noticed Daily solar radiation on the Earth’s surface can be calculated
an increase in the solar radiation received on a tracking surface as with daily direct sunlight radiation on a horizontal surface Hcb,d
much as 46.46% higher than that on a fixed surface. By improv- and direct sunlight radiation on a tilted surface H’cb,d . Based
ing a dual-axis concentrating solar collector, Khalifa et al. [8] on Hottel’s model, the horizontal direct sunlight radiation on
demonstrated that the dual-axis tracking system could enhance the surface Hcb,d can be obtained by integrating the horizontal
the energy gain of the collector by 75%. Chin et al. [9] introduced direct sunlight radiant intensity on the surface Icb,h between the
single-axis solar tracking to a planar PV system and enhanced horizontal sunrise angle ωr and the sunset angle ωs , followed by
its energy efficiency by 20%. Mao [10] studied the single-axis substituting the horizontal grazing angle θ i,h . The formula is as
parabolic trough collectors [11, 12] and found the thermal output follows [14]:
of the north-south tracking mode to be significantly higher than
the east-west tracking mode in summer and the other way around  ωs
12
in winter. Qu et al. [13] developed a 300 kw/h parabolic trough Hcb,d = · Icb,h · dω (1)
π ωr
concentrating collectors and introduced the north-south Earth’s
 ωs   
axis tracking and the rotational axis tracking, respectively, achiev- 24 Isc k
ing the average daily efficiency of 63% and 40%; the rotational axis = · · cos θi,h a0 + a1 · − · dω.
π Er 0 cos θi,h
tracking mode could reduce the average daily cosine loss by 10.3%
and enhance average daily collection efficiency by 5.0%.
As can be concluded from the literature review presented above, The direct solar radiant exposed on a tilted surface H’cb,d can
the dual-axis solar tracking modes receive more solar radiation. be obtained from the following formula:
However, such modes are of complicated structure and higher
cost, therefore less suitable for practical applications in compar-  ωs,β   
ison with its single-axis counterpart. Some researches on single-  24 Isc k
Hcb,d = · · cos θi,β a0 + a1 · − ·dω. (2)
axis solar tracking modes of parabolic trough concentrating col- π Er 0 cos θi,h
lectors have been done, yet the report on the optimal tilt angle of
the north-south tilt tracking mode has not been found. Therefore,
for the purpose of optimizing the tracking mode of the parabolic 1 Earth-Sun distance coefficient ER .

trough concentrating collectors, the current work applied Hottel’s Solar radiant energy reaching the Earth is inversely propor-
clear-day radiation model with an aim to study the amount of tional to the square of the Earth-Sun distance. Therefore, solar
direct solar radiation received by the parabolic mirror within radiant energy reaching the Earth is constantly changing. To accu-
a year under different tracking modes in Shanghai. After mak- rately calculate solar radiant exposure, we have to determine the
ing a comparative analysis, the north-south tilt tracking mode accurate distance from the Earth to the sun (Earth-Sun distance in
was studied separately, and the differences in the amount of short, denoted by r). Mean Earth-Sun distance is 1.496 × 108 km,
direct solar radiation throughout the whole year in Haikou, Lhasa, denoted by r0 . To avoid the lengthiness of measuring r with
Shanghai, Beijing and Hohhot under this tracking mode were specific unit of length, it is usually represented by the square
summarized to find the optimum tilt angle. of r : r0 , i.e. Earth-Sun distance coefficient ER , whose definition
is [15]:

 2
r
2. CALCULATION OF DAILY SOLAR ER = . (3)
r0
RADIATION ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE
The amount of usable solar energy on the Earth’s surface is the ER is defined as follows:
amount of solar radiation from the outer atmosphere projected
onto the Earth’s surface through the Earth’s atmosphere. The ER = 1.00423 + 0.032359 · sin θd + 0.000086 · sin 2θd
key to optimizing parabolic trough concentrating collectors is
to enable the collectors to receive of more solar radiation, for − 0.008349 · cos θd + 0.000115 · cos 2θd (4)

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 Optimal design of the solar tracking system of parabolic trough concentrating collectors

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Figure 1. Schematic diagram of dual-axis/single-axis tracking modes for parabolic trough concentrating collectors.

In which the day angle θ d can be obtained from the following 2 The grazing angle θ i under different tracking modes.

formula: Parabolic trough concentrating collectors can only collect

direct sunlight. When concentrating light, it needs an appropriate
2π (N − N0 + N) tracking mode to realize the maximum working efficiency. To
θd = . (5)
365.2422 calculate the direct solar radiation received by the parabolic
trough concentrating collector under different tracking modes,
Day of year N is defined as the sequence number of a date in a the grazing angle θi of these modes need to be worked out firstly.
year. January 1 is the 1st day of year, and December 31 the 365th The polar axis-declination axis tracking mode and the elevation
day of year in a common year and the 366th in a leap year, to name angle-azimuth tracking mode track the sun directly with two
just a few. rotation axes, thus guaranteeing direct solar radiation onto the
The initial value of day of year N0 can be worked out with the collector surface and the attainment of zero grazing angle θ i,d of
following formula: zero, as in the following formula [16]:
  cos θi,d = cos 0◦ = 1. (8)
(Y − SY)
N0 = 796764 + 0.2422 · (Y − SY) − INT (6)
4 The north-south tilt tracking mode sets the parabolic trough
concentrating collectors to a tilt angle of β with the ground along
The corrected value of day of year N can be calculated with the south-north direction and tracks the position of the sun with
the corrected time difference L acquired from the difference in the focal line as the rotational axis. It is called the north-south
longitude between the observing site and Greenwich as well as the Earth’s axis tracking mode when the tilt angle β equals the local
corrected time difference W between the time of observation and latitude ϕ. The grazing angle θ i,ns can be determined with the
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The formula is as follows: following formula:
cos θi,ns = cos δ · {sin2 ω + [cos(ϕ − β) · cos ω
W−L
N = (7) + tan δ · sin(ϕ − β)]2 } 2 .
1
(9)
24

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L. Kong et al.

The north-south horizontal tracking mode can be seen as a Table 1. Coefficients of correction based on climate types in Hottel’s model.
north-south tilt tracking mode with the tilt angle of β = 0◦ . Climate type r0 r1 rk
Substituting it into formula (9) and we obtain:
Subtropical 0.95 0.98 1.02
1 Middle latitude, summer 0.97 0.99 1.02
cos θi,nsh = cos δ · {sin2 ω + [cos ϕ · cos ω + tan δ · sin ϕ)]2 } . 2
High latitude, summer 0.99 0.99 1.01
(10) Middle latitude, winter 1.03 1.01 1.00
The east-west horizontal tracking mode sets the parabolic

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trough concentrating collectors from west to east, turning its
rotational axis to the east-west direction, around which the Hour angle ω is the angle between the meridian plane of the
collector rotates up and down to achieve the aim of tracking the observer and the meridian plane of direct sunlight, which is
elevation angle of the sun. The grazing angle θ i,ew can be obtained defined as the angle of rotation of the Earth per unit time. The
with the following formula: hour angle at midday is set to 0, that is negative in the morning
and positive in the afternoon. The Earth revolves on its own axis
 1 (360◦ ) once every 24 hours, i.e. 15◦ per hour. The integer hours
cos θi,ew = cos δ · cos2 ω + tan2 δ 2 . (11) S and minutes F of the moment of observation were introduced
to obtain the hour angle of the sun according to the following
 3 The extraterrestrial horizontal direct solar radiant intensity formula:
 
Ieb,h . F
ω = S+ − 12 × 15◦ . (16)
To work out the surface solar radiation, the extraterrestrial hor- 60
izontal solar radiant intensity Ieb,h must be obtained first, which
Calculation of the extraterrestrial horizontal direct solar radi-
shares the following relationship with the solar radiant intensity
ant intensity Ieb,h could be obtained as follows by substituting
at an arbitrary moment on the Earth’s atmosphere I0 :
formulas (13) and (14) into (12):
Ieb,h = I0 · cos θi,h , (12) Isc
Ieb,h = (sin δ · sin ϕ + cos δ · cos ϕ · cos ω) (17)
ER
where I0 can be calculated with the following formula considering
the dynamic Earth-Sun distance ER : 4 The horizontal direct solar radiant intensity on the Earth’s

surface Icb,h .
r0 2 Isc The horizontal direct solar radiant intensity on the Earth’s sur-
I0 = Isc · = , (13)
r ER face, Icb,h has the following relationship with Ieb,h and atmospheric
transparency τb :
where Isc is the solar constant, means the solar radiant energy Icb,h = Ieb,h · τb . (18)
received per unit time and per unit area on the plane perpendicu-
Hottel’s model introduced atmospheric transparency of solar
lar to the sunray at the border of the Earth’s atmosphere when the
radiation on clear days into calculation. In the formula, calcu-
Earth is at an average distance, with the value of 1367 W/m2 . The
lation of the atmospheric transparency τb of direct radiation is:
grazing angle of sunray on the extraterrestrial horizontal plane θ i,h
 
can be worked out with the following formula: k
τb = a0 + a1 · exp − , (19)
cos θi,h
cos θi,h = sin δ · sin ϕ + cos δ · cos ϕ · cos ω, (14)
where the utilization factors a0 , a1 and k are physical constants of
standard clear atmosphere with a visibility of 23 km, which can be
where ϕ is the geographic latitude of the observation site; the calculated by the following formulas respectively:
declination of sun δ is the angle yielded by the line connecting
the center of the sun and the Earth with the equatorial plane, a0 = ra · a∗0 (20)
which is changing every day (in fact, every moment). The value a1 = r1 · a∗1 (21)
of the declination of sun is zero at the equinoxes, and peaks
k = rk · k∗ , (22)
at the solstices, being plus and minus 23.442◦ , respectively. In
terms of the law of Earth’s revolution, the declination of sun is where ra , r1 and rk are coefficients of correction after considering
strictly known at any time. Therefore, δ can be obtained using the climate types, with values given in Table 1. Utilization factors a0 ∗ ,
following formula [17]: a1 ∗ and k∗ are related to elevation A, which can be obtained from
the following formula:
δ = 0.3723 + 23.2567 · sin θd + 0.1149 · sin 2θd
a∗0 = 0.4237 − 0.00821 · (6 − A)2 (23)
− 0.1712 · sin 3θd − 0.758 · cos θd + 0.3656 · sin 2θd
+ 0.201 · cos 3θd . a∗1 = 0.5055 − 0.00595 · (6.5 − A)2 (24)
(15) K ∗ = 0.2711 + 0.01858 · (2.5 − A)2 . (25)

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Figure 2. Changes of daily solar radiation in Shanghai area under different tracking modes.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 2. Comparison of annual direct solar radiation received by different
tracking modes in Shanghai (sunny day model).
The calculation of daily direct solar radiant exposure on a surface Tracking modes (%)
has been introduced above. Here, based on the above calculation,
Dual-axis tracking 100%
the direct solar radiant exposure received by a parabolic mirror
North-south Earth’s axis tracking 95.96%
under different tracking modes were studied in the following two North-south horizontal tracking 89.40%
aspects: East-west horizontal tracking 76.63%
North-south tilt tracking (β = 15◦ ) 94.46%
(1) Direct solar radiant exposure received by a parabolic mirror North-south tilt tracking (β = 45◦ ) 93.81%
per day under different tracking modes in a year at the same
place.
(2) Variation of the total direct solar radiant exposure received
by a parabolic mirror the whole year along with the change poor concentrating effect in most months and the smallest direct
of tilt angle under the north-south tilt tracking mode at solar radiation received from February to October compared with
different places—used to find the optimum tilt angle. other tracking modes.
Taking the amount of direct solar radiation received by the
trough solar reflector (mirror) annually under the dual-axis track-
ing mode as the benchmark, the total direct solar radiant expo-
3.1. Comparison of daily direct solar radiation under sure received in a year under different single-axis solar tracking
variable tracking modes modes was compared therewith, results of which are shown in
Shanghai (121.18◦ E, 31.22◦ N) was selected as the site, where the Table 2. According to Table 2, the total annual direct solar radiant
day-to-day direct solar radiant exposure under different track- exposures received under the included tracking modes are in the
ing modes was calculated and compared using Hottel’s radiation following order: dual-axis tracking > north-south Earth’s axis
model for clear days; results of the calculation are shown in tracking > north-south tilt tracking (β = 15◦ ) > north-south tilt
Figure 2. tracking (β = 45◦ ) > north-south horizontal tracking > east-west
As can be seen from Figure 2, advantages of the dual-axis horizontal tracking.
tracking mode lie in that the primary optical axis of the mirror can
be parallel to the incident rays of the sun at any time, i.e. the mirror
surface is perpendicular to direct sunlight at any time to maxi- 3.2. Optimum tilt angle for north-south tilt
mize the solar radiation received. In January, February, October, tracking mode
November and December, the north-south tilt tracking mode (tilt Given the same area of concentration, dual-axis tracking mode
angle = 45◦ ) enables the most solar radiation to be received, nearly receives the largest amount of direct solar radiation, followed by
same as the dual-axis tracking’s radiation-receiving capacity; in the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode. Though the dual-axis
March and September, the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode mode can receive more solar radiation; however, it has complex
delivers the most solar radiation. In April and August, the north- structure, thereby need high primary cost. Consequently, single-
south tilt tracking mode (tilt angle = 15◦ ) can collect the most axis solar tracking modes, which deliver simpler structures and
solar radiation; in May, June and July, the north-south horizontal lower cost, are more suitable for practical application. Most estab-
tracking mode behaves the best in receiving solar radiation. The lished trough-thermal-power-generation-based power plants
east-west horizontal tracking mode shows the worst results, with applied single-axis solar tracking modes. The aforementioned

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L. Kong et al.

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Figure 3. The annual amount of direct solar radiation varies with the tilt angle under the north-south tilt tracking mode.

Table 3. Hottel sunny day radiation model calculated parameters. Table 4. The best tilt angle of five cities by the north-south tilt tracking
mode.
Location Longitude Latitude Altitude/km Climate type
Location Latitude Optimal Latitude minus
Haikou 110.32◦ E 20.03◦ N 0.015 Tropical inclination optimal inclination
Lhasa 91.14◦ E 29.65◦ N 3.65 Subtropical
Shanghai 121.48◦ E 31.22◦ N 0.004 Subtropical Haikou 20.03◦ 18.81◦ 1.22
Beijing 116.46◦ E 39.92◦ N 0.04 Temperate zone Lhasa 29.65◦ 27.29◦ 2.36
Hohhot 111.74◦ E 40.84◦ N 1.05 Temperate zone Shanghai 31.22◦ 28.67◦ 2.55
Beijing 39.92◦ 36.21◦ 3.71
Hohhot 40.84◦ 37.97◦ 2.87

research also found that, among the single-axis solar tracking

included tracking modes was measured based on Hottel’s clear-
modes, the north-south tilt tracking mode receives more direct
day model. The results show that the solar radiations received are
solar radiation than the north-south Earth’s axis tracking mode in
in the following order: dual-axis tracking > north-south Earth’s
7 months of a year. Therefore, the north-south tilt tracking mode
axis tracking > north-south tilt tracking (β = 15◦ ) > north-
was studied separately to find the tilt angle β optimum that would
south tilt tracking (β = 45◦ ) > north-south horizontal tracking
lead to the largest direct solar radiation. The following part stud-
> east-west horizontal tracking.
ied five typical cities, namely Haikou, Lhasa, Shanghai, Beijing and
Dual-axis tracking modes can receive more solar radiation;
Hohhot, with Hottel’s model (Table 3). Figure 3 shows the varia-
however, they have more complex structures and higher cost.
tion curve of direct solar radiation received by the trough reflector
On the other hand, single-axis solar tracking modes have the
under the north-south tilt tracking mode in those five places.
lower cost and hence more suitable for practical applications. The
As shown in Figure 3, the annual direct solar radiation received
annual solar radiation-receiving capacities of the north-south tilt
by the trough reflector under the north-south tilt tracking mode
tracking mode at variable tilt angles in the range 0 to 90◦ were
in these five places peaked at a certain tilt angle between 0◦ and
calculated to clarify its optimum tilt angles. The results indicate
90◦ , i.e. the optimum tilt angle of the collector is specifically listed
that the solar radiation-receiving capacity of such tracking mode
in Table 4.
is closely related to local elevation and latitude. In five typical
cities selected herein, the optimum tilt angles of the north-south
tilt tracking mode are 18.81◦ , 27.29◦ , 28.67◦ ,36.21◦ and 37.97◦ ,
4. CONCLUSION respectively.

The present work first introduces calculation methods of direct

solar radiation on the Earth’s surface and the grazing angle θi of ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
parabolic trough concentrating collectors under different tracking
modes. To investigate differences in trough collector’s concentrat- The authors would acknowledge our appreciation of financial
ing capacity at the same place under different tracking modes, the supports from Shanghai Science and Technology Commission
annual amount of direct solar radiation in Shanghai under the (18020501000).

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