As shown in Fig. 6, an angle plate, bended as a sector of a circle, is screwed at the front side of the collector prototype. Over this guidance a chain with a tensioning mechanism is led, which can be driven by a step motor over a gearwheel. The step motor is placed together with the control chip in a cabinet at the front side of the carrier. The control chip receives the sensors’ signal, which is placed on the top side of the collector. If the irradiation is not vertical to the aperture section, the control chip receives a differing voltage of the two photo cells insight the sensor which activates the tracking. The motor stops when the sensors’ signal is again equal zero.

The mentioned concept drives only one collector module, which was sufficient within the proto­type stage. But since every trough needs its own actuation, the concept is not capable for an ar­rangement of a number of collectors in a field. In addition the actuation, especially the combination of chain, gearwheel and step motor, is not capable for a serial production, since the concept con­tains too many single parts. Furthermore the chain has a slip which makes the tracking rather insuf­ficient if it is not clamped properly.

Planned optimization: As an optimized actuation, the new trough will be driven by a suspension link. These kinds of actuators, which are available as standardized components for tracking satel­lite antennas or big photovoltaic modules, have an adequate accuracy and enough power to drive several troughs. Each collector row is given an own suspension link and an own sensor. Thus, the rows operate autonomously and remain in operation, if one row is damaged or not in operation for attendance reason. A standardized component such as a PLC (programmable logical controller) will be used in the new concept.