pvlib / twoaxistracking

twoaxistracking is a python package for simulating two-axis tracking solar collectors, particularly self-shading.
https://twoaxistracking.readthedocs.io
BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
8 stars 4 forks source link

Backtracking and overhaul of geometry calculations #47

Open AdamRJensen opened 8 months ago

AdamRJensen commented 8 months ago

In a potential upcoming project, we've been asked to develop a backtracking strategy for two-axis trackers.

However, the twoaxistracking package has been developed on the simplifying assumption that all trackers are normal to the sun, which significantly simplifies the geometrical calculations.

If this project is granted, the geometry calculations will be overhauled to allow for trackers that are not normal to the sun. My initial idea is to add two additional arguments in order to be able to specify tracker position (surface_elevation and surface_azimuth). These two parameters could be optional, and when not specified default to true tracking, i.e., normal to the sun.

twoaxistracking.shaded_fraction(solar_elevation, solar_azimuth, surface_elevation, surface_azimuth, ...

The underlying code needs a major modification, where I'm imagining that the collector geometry has to be projected into the coordinate system normal to the sun.

Edit October 2024. It is unlikely to be added at the moment.