A review on sun position sensors used in solar applications

This paper presents an overview of the current state of the developments in sun position sensors used in solar technologies such as photovoltaic modules, satellites, solar collectors and other applications. The working principles and geometric designs of several types of sun position sensors are discussed in detail. The studio considers the evaluation of the advantages and limitations of different design requirements such as accuracy, solar tracking errors, desired properties, field of view (FOV) and commercialization, and the evaluation of outer parameters that affect the performance of sun position sensors (climatic conditions: solar radiation, contamination, and temperature); in order to combine the technologies, increase the efficiency and expand the use of sun position sensors. On the other hand, it was determined that the main barriers that this technology faces are: cost-effectiveness, the operational range of temperature and the effective data transmission, so the future researches should be concentrated around these issues.