Published by : International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

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Study of Solar Tracking Angle for Dish Type

Concentrating Collectors
Falesh Mehta Sudhakar Vyas
Student, Student,
School of Mechanical Engineering School of Mechanical Engineering
VIT University, Vellore, India VIT University, Vellore, India

T Srinivas M Natarajan
Professor, Assistant Professor,
Department of Thermal and Energy Engineering Department of Thermal and Energy Engineering
VIT University,Vellore, India VIT University, Vellore, India

Abstract— The solar energy accumulated at the focal point of tilt angles ranges from latitude up to latitude plus 20 for
the concentrating collector for a whole day depends on how collectors operating with sufficient high solar fraction [2]. A
accurately it tracks with the position of the sun. The flux that mathematical procedure to compare the optimum tilt angles
incident on the solar collector throughout the year varies with
the relative position of the sun during different seasons of the
of collectors through monthly diffused radiation and actual
year. This paper focuses on the optimization of sun-tracking monthly diffused radiations has been proposed [3]. The best
angle for two axes as well as single axis mode of tracking for orientation for solar collectors is south facing [3]. The tilting
complete one year. Coding has been done for accurate angle of a solar collector should be appropriate to receive
optimization of this angle and also to present the graphical maximum solar radiation and to avoid shading [5]. The
results. Experimentation has been performed to analyze the
comparison between a fixed surface and two axes tracker under
optimum tilt angles increases during the winter months and
this optimized angle. After the experimentation has been done reaches a maximum of 62° in December and the optimum tilt
and graphs been obtained, conclusion can be drawn that two angle in June goes to a minimum zero degree [6]. The
axes tracker gives better efficiency than fixed axis and also azimuth angle, orientation, and tilt angle are some of the most
azimuth angle as well as zenith angle have their own advantages important aspects for the optimization of PV panels. The
varying on seasonal basis. Experimentation is performed at VIT
Vellore.
effect of various azimuth angles and orientations on solar
energy is very low when the panel slope is fixed [7]. The
optimum tilt angles for the periods January-March and
Keywords— Two axes tracking, Sun tracking angle, Solstice, September-December is the latitude of the location plus 16º
Equinox. while the optimum tilt for the period April-August is the
I. INTRODUCTION latitude of the location plus 20º [8]. For higher efficiency, the
design of collector should be such that the tilt angle can be at
There has been much advancement in the field of solar
least changed on seasonal basis [9]. Reference [12] has given
energy. The amount of energy supplied to the earth in one
day by the sun is sufficient to power the total energy needs of two different angles for summer and winter that, for summer
the earth for one year [4]. Solar collectors are one of the the optimum tilt angle should be 10 to 15 degrees less than
greatest improvements that have facilitated a lot in the latitude and for winter tilt angles should be 10 to 15
concentrating the sunlight for different purposes. But the degrees more than the latitude, which can be considered as a
problem is to keep the collector continuously oriented gap as some researchers later on found that the yearly average
according to the movement of sun i.e. tracking of such of optimum tilt is equal to the latitude of the site [11].
collector and also to optimize the sun-tracking angle regularly Azimuth angle calculations can be done and tilt of the panel
to obtain maximum solar radiation. Solar collectors can be with respect to south direction (for panel in northern
tracked by two kinds of approach, namely, active method and hemisphere) can be found out with good accuracy [13]. Later
passive method. on researchers found out that horizontal tracking along with
This tracking is of two type single axis and two axes. Single
zenith angle will give the best efficiency to the system. The
axis trackers have one degree of freedom that acts as an axis
more number of the adjustments per year the better are the
of rotation. The axis of rotation of single axis trackers is
either in E-W direction (horizontal tracking) or N-S direction energy benefits [14].
(seasonal tracking).Two axes trackers have two degrees of Optimization of the sun-tracking angle has been done to
freedom that act as axes of rotation. These axes are typically harness maximum solar radiation. The sun-tracking angle
normal to one another. Here both Azimuth and Zenith angles optimization on a parabolic dish collector for different hours
are being tracked, so such tracking becomes complicated. of a day throughout the year has been done. Graphs were
The formula as a function of latitude and local climate data obtained for Horizontal surface, Fixed surface, Seasonal
has been determined for optimum inclination [1]. Optimum tracking, Continuous tracking and Two axes tracking for

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Vol. 5 Issue 04, April-2016

different hours of a day. Next sunlight intensity at the focus III. DATA REDUCTION
of Fixed collector and Two axes tracking collector was Following formulas are being used to find various angles, like
determined periodically from 9 am to 4 pm daylight hours Sun-tracking angle, Azimuth angle, Zenith angle and Tilt
and results were compared. angle:
II. METHODOLOGY 1.
First of all, the location was defined by Latitude and 2.
Longitude, i.e. coordinates 12.9833° N, 79.1833° E. For each 3.
day, Declination angle and Solar hour angle was calculated. 4
Then for each day, sunrise time and sunset time was
calculated, and with that data, length of the day was
determined. Then Tilt angle, Zenith angle and Azimuth angle
was defined according the type of surface. Now the length of
the day was divided by 12 and for that time, Sun-tracking
angle was calculated. Later, two types of graphs were plotted
between watch time and Sun-tracking angle for each type of 5.
surface. First graph is made for four special days i.e. March
(Vernal) equinox, September(Autumnal) equinox, Summer 6.
solstice, Winter solstice. Second graph is made for whole Where, the value of integer n varies from 1 to 365.
year from 6 A.M. to Noon.
The experimentation day and location was defined. 3.1 Declination angle ( :
Experimentation has been done on two identical dish type The declination angle, denoted by δ, is the angle between
concentrating collectors, one was fixed and other was tracked the sun ray and equatorial plane. It varies seasonally as the
in dual axes manually. Pyranometer has been used to Earth is tilted on its axis of rotation and the Earth revolves
calculate the intensity of the light at the focal point of two around the sun. If the Earth was not tilted on its axis of
collectors. And a plot was made for experimental output. rotation, then declination angle would always be equal to 0°.
Fig. 1 shows the flow chart of the methodology. However, the Earth is tilted by 23.45°, so declination angle
varies plus or minus this amount. During summer solstice
declination angle is +23.45° in north of the equator and
during winter solstice its value is -23.45°. Declination angle
is 0° only during vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

3.2 Sun tracking angle ( ):

Sun tracking angle is the angle made by a ray of sun with
a line perpendicular to a surface. So when a surface directly
faces the sun, then Sun tracking angle becomes 0°. During
sunrise or sunset, for horizontal surface, Sun tracking angle
becomes 90°.

3.3 Zenith angle ( z):

The zenith angle is the angle between the sun and the
vertical to the horizontal surface. Zenith angle is measured
from vertical.

3.4 Latitude ( ):
Latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies position
of a point on the Earth's surface in the north–south direction.
Latitude is an angle ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90°
(North or South) at the poles.

3.5 Surface azimuth angle (γs):

It is the angle made by the horizontal component of
Fig. 1 sunray and the local meridian line. At the equinoxes, the sun
rises directly east and sets directly west regardless of the
latitude, thus making the azimuth angles -90° at sunrise, 0° at
noon and +90° at sunset.

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IV. RESULTS
Graphs are obtained for above mentioned 5 conditions. For
each condition, two graphs are there, the first graph is subplot
of Sun-tracking angles Watch time (from sunrise time to
sunset time) for two equinoxes (i.e. Vernal Equinox, 21st
March and Autumnal Equinox, 22nd September) and two
solstices (i.e. Summer Solstice, 21st June and Winter Solstice,
21st December). This graph is made to get sunrise time and
sunset time for four special days and sun-tracking angle
profile for the same. The second graph is Sun-tracking
anglevs No of days. Second graph is plotted from 6 A.M to
Noon. And from Noon to 6 P.M. is the mirror image of the
graph with respect to x-axis. This graph is made to obtain the
sun-tracking angle profile for different time throughout the
year.
Fig. 2
4.1 Horizontal Surface:
Fig. 2 shows Tilt angle, Surface Azimuth angle, Zenith angle
and Sun-tracking angle.
Graphs were made for sun-tracking angle for 5 following
conditions:
1. Horizontal surface ( : Here the surface is
horizontal, so the tilt angle is zero. Sun-tracking angle
will be equal to zenith angle because the normal to the
horizontal surface and the tracker coincide.
2. Fixed surface ( : Here the surface is tilted, and tilt
angle is equal to latitude. And horizontal component of
the normal to surface is always parallel to the meridian
line; hence surface azimuth angle is zero.
3. Seasonal tracking ( : Here the altitude of sun is
tracked, so tilt angle is equal to zenith angle. And
horizontal component of the normal to surface is always
parallel to the meridian line; hence surface azimuth angle
is zero. In this tracking system, tilt angle has to be
changed once in a day, and tracking is done on single
axis.
4. Continuous tracking ( : Here the tilt angle is
Fig. 3
constant and equal to latitude. In this tracking system,
solar azimuth angle has to be changed throughout the From fig. 3, sun tracking angle is shown for four different
day, and tracking is done on single axis. days on horizontal surface. It can be observed that, in
morning hours, the sun-tracking angle is higher because sun
5. Two axes tracking ( : Here both tilt angle and rises in the east direction and thus makes large angle with the
solar azimuth angle are tracked. Tilt angle is equal to the line normal to the surface. And is reaches its lowest value at
zenith angle and solar azimuth angle is equal to the noon because elevation is higher and azimuth angle is zero.
surface azimuth angle. In this tracking system, solar Then sun-tracking angle gradually increases and reaches at
azimuth angle has to be changed throughout the day and maximum value in evening because sun sets in the west
tilt angle has to be changed every single day, and direction and thus makes large angle with the line normal to
tracking is done on two axes. the surface. At noon, value of sun-tracking angle is equal to
the latitude on both the equinoxes. During summer, at noon,
sun-tracking angle is little bit lower than the latitude, because
of the higher altitude angle. During winters, at noon, sun-
tracking angle is little bit higher than the latitude, because of
the lower altitude angle. For both the equinoxes, i.e. fig. 3(a)
and fig. 3(c), sunrise is at 6 A.M and sunset is at 6 P.M., so
the day length is 12 hours. Also for summer solstice shown in
fig. 3(b), the day length is more than 12 hours and for winter
solstice shown in fig. 3(d) day length less than 12 hours.

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Fig. 6
Fig. 4
From fig. 4, it is observed that throughout the year, sun From fig. 6, it can be observed that, sun-tracking angle is
tracking angle is higher in the morning and continuously almost same for all days for all the time except noon time.
decreases till noon time and then it increases till evening. It Sun-tracking angle reaches its highest values during summer
can be said that for horizontal surface, the value of sun- and winter Solstice, and minimum value during Vernal and
tracking angle is higher in winter than summer hence more Autumnal Equinox. Because tilt angle is equal to latitude
solar energy can be harnessed in summer than winter. angle, at noon time during equinox, the sun-tracking angle
will be very low.
4.2 Fixed Surface:
4.3 Seasonal tracking:

Fig. 7
Fig. 5

From fig. 5, sun tracking angle is shown for four different

days on fixed surface. Fig. 5(a) and fig. 5(c) have linear
change in the angle, because tilt angle is kept as latitude angle
so during equinoxes change in sun tracking angle is 15° per
hour. For summer and winter solstice, i.e. fig. 5(b) and fig.
5(d) respectively, change of sun tracking angle is not linear
and its value is higher as compared to fig. 5(a) and fig. 5(c)
during noon time.

Fig. 8

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From fig. 8, it can be observed that, sun-tracking angle is 4.5 Two axes Tracking:
lower compared to the Fixed surface during the month of
January, February, March, September, October, November
and December. During the month of April, May, June and
July, the sun-tracking angle is higher than Fixed surface. That
means, if solar energy is used during winters (for water heater
etc.), then Seasonal tracking is beneficial over Fixed surface
solar collector. And if solar energy is used during summer
(for solar refrigeration etc.), then Fixed surface solar collector
is beneficial over Seasonal tracking.
4.4 Continuous tracking:

Fig.11

From fig. 11, it can be observed that, sun-tracking angle is 0°

for all four days. And as the sun-tracking angle is 0°, we get
maximum output.

Fig. 9

From fig. 9, sun tracking angle is shown for four different

days on Continuous tracking. On winter solstice shown in fig.
9(d), sun tracking is higher than other days during noon time,
because altitude of sun is lower during winter.

Fig. 12

From fig.12, it can be observed that, sun tracking angle is 0°

for all the time throughout the year. And as the sun-tracking
angle is 0°, we get maximum output. Comparing fig. 12 with
fig. 10, fig. 8, fig. 6 and fig. 4 , it can be found that for Two
axis tracking sun-tracking angle is minimum and equal to 0°,
that means sunrays strikes the normal to the surface. So sun-
tracking angle is optimized in Two axes tracking.
Fig. 10
V. EXPERIMENTATION
From fig. 10, it can be observed that, sun tracking angle is Intensity of sunlight at the focal point of two geometrically
lower than the Fixed surface. And, sun tracking angle is identical parabolic solar collectors has been compared on 18th
almost constant for a particular time throughout the year. Feb 2016, periodically from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. at Vellore. Fig.
Comparing fig.8 and fig. 10, it can be concluded that 13 shows two concentrating type collectors, one collector was
Continuous tracking is better than Seasonal tracking during manually tracked in two axes (two axes tracking) and the
summer and Seasonal tracking is better than Continuous other was fixed. The accurate angular orientation of both the
tracking during winters. collectors is done manually.

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Fig. 13 Fig. 16

For Fixed surface, on 18th Feb 2016 at Vellore, Azimuth

angle is zero throughout the day, which can be seen from fig.
15and tilt angle is equal to latitude angle (12.9833 °)
throughout the day, which can be seen from fig. 16.

Fig. 14
Fig. 14 shows the Intensity of light at the focal point of the
collectors on 18th Feb 2016. It can be observed that Two axes
tracking gives better output than the Fixed surface. The
maximum intensity is achieved at 13:00 hours for Two axes
tracking and Fixed surface. Maximum percentage difference
in intensities of Two axes tracking and Fixed surface is
54.24% which occurs at 12:00 hours. Fig. 17

For Fixed surface and Two axes tracking, Azimuth angle and
Tilt angle were calculated for different time on 18th Feb 2016.

Fig. 18

For Two axes tracking, on 18th Feb 2016 at Vellore, fig. 17

Fig. 15 shows Azimuth angle profile and this angle was manually
tracked. Fig. 18 shows Tilt angle profile and this angle was
also manually tracked.

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VI. CONCLUSION
The value of sun-tracking angle for five different conditions
for different time for whole year has been found out. For
experimentation, Azimuth angle and the Tilt angle was
calculated for the Fixed surface and the Two axes tracking.
And through experimentation, it was found out that the Two
axes tracking is overall better than the Fixed surface, which
could be predicted from sun tracking angle profile of the Two
axes tracking and Fixed surface. The seasonal variations of
intensity are also compared .Experimentation results showed
that maximum intensity was achieved at 13:00 hours for Two
axes tracking and Fixed surface. And maximum percentage
difference in intensities of Two axes tracking and Fixed
surface was 54.24% which occurs at 12:00 hours.

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