MULTIPLE PARABOLIC TROUGH SOLAR COLLECTOR HAVING A FOCUS-TRACKING PIPE ARRAY

摘要

A trough collector for solar energy, with multiple parallel troughs preferably being contained within a single unit. The collector does not use conventional azimuth tracking in order to keep the sun's rays directed toward the parabola's focus as the sun moves across the sky. Instead, the relative position between the collecting device (preferably a conductive tube containing a circulating working fluid) and the plane of symmetry for each collector is adjusted so that the collecting device remains within the focal zone of the collector as the sun traverses the sky.