The reported intercept efficiency from the SolTrace flux simulation model is higher than that predicted by the Hermite method for the cylindrical receiver type. The difference can be substantial for very small fields and small receivers. The cylindrical receiver setup in SolTrace includes both the cylinder and a bottom "blocking" surface to prevent rays from entering the interior of the cylinder. Currently all rays that hit any surface in the receiver stage are being counted toward the intercept efficiency, and thus the rays intercepted by the bottom blocking surface are leading to an artificially high reported intercept efficiency when using the SolTrace flux simulation model. If only rays that hit the cylinder surface are counted, then the SolTrace intercept efficiency matches the Hermite method very closely.
The reported intercept efficiency from the SolTrace flux simulation model is higher than that predicted by the Hermite method for the cylindrical receiver type. The difference can be substantial for very small fields and small receivers. The cylindrical receiver setup in SolTrace includes both the cylinder and a bottom "blocking" surface to prevent rays from entering the interior of the cylinder. Currently all rays that hit any surface in the receiver stage are being counted toward the intercept efficiency, and thus the rays intercepted by the bottom blocking surface are leading to an artificially high reported intercept efficiency when using the SolTrace flux simulation model. If only rays that hit the cylinder surface are counted, then the SolTrace intercept efficiency matches the Hermite method very closely.