Installation and orientation of solar collectors for the efficient conversion of solar energy into thermal energy. The devices control the orientation of solar collectors and their necessity.
Proper orientation of solar collectors (direction and angle) increases their productivity. Earth's atmosphere absorbs and reflects a significant portion of solar energy. Therefore, the maximum amount of energy received at noon, when the direct rays of the flow is less than the entire atmosphere is delayed. In the northern hemisphere, the best direction at noon is true south, while the sun's rays fall perpendicular to the collector. A simple geometric calculation shows that the collector should be tilted toward the horizon by the amount of latitude + - 10 degrees. For example, a Kiev 50 ° 25 'north latitude, which means that the angle can be from 40 to 60 Celsius degrees .
Also, although the best performance of the collectors should be directed to the geographical south, a tolerance of 20 degrees east or west without increasing the surface area of collectors.
"Witness" (turning) a collector collects the sun for 20% of solar energy more than is strictly oriented to the south. However, this gain in performance does not pay the cost of construction of the tracking device (a system of tracking the sun's position and rotation of the collector). Usually it is advantageous to increase the area of the reservoir by 20%. It is much cheaper.