A static multiple detector solar radiation sensor

Abstract

A small static solar radiation sensor comprising of 17 photodiode detectors deployed evenly on a hemispherical-member is proposed. The sensor is capable of measuring the intensity and time dependent of the solar radiation components on any desired inclined and oriented plane, including the distribution of the diffuse radiation in the sky. The sensor may also be used in solar tracking systems for pointing to the highest radiation intensity at any time. An inverted sensor may also measure reflected radiation from different objects. As a first design, the accuracy obtained is about 10 to 15 percent, depending of the solar radiation intensity, and the aiming is to improve the accuracy to about 5 percent. The objective was to construct a static sensor with small dimensions and of light-weight, detectors and hemispherical-dome hermetically sealed and machined close to a prototype product.