Articles | Volume 13, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5855-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5855-2020
Research article
 | 
06 Nov 2020
Research article |  | 06 Nov 2020

Solar tracker with optical feedback and continuous rotation

John Robinson, Dan Smale, David Pollard, and Hisako Shiona

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Cited articles

Chevallier, F., Deutscher, N. M., Conway, T., Ciais, P., Ciattaglia, L., Dohe, S., Fröhlich, M., Gomez-Pelaez, A., Griffith, D., and Hase, F.: Global CO2 fluxes inferred from surface air-sample measurements and from TCCON retrievals of the CO2 total column, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L24810, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011gl049899, 2011. 
De Mazière, M., Thompson, A. M., Kurylo, M. J., Wild, J. D., Bernhard, G., Blumenstock, T., Braathen, G. O., Hannigan, J. W., Lambert, J.-C., Leblanc, T., McGee, T. J., Nedoluha, G., Petropavlovskikh, I., Seckmeyer, G., Simon, P. C., Steinbrecht, W., and Strahan, S. E.: The Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC): history, status and perspectives, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4935–4964, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4935-2018, 2018. 
Downey, E. C.: XEphem: Interactive Astronomical Ephemeris, Astrophysics Source Code Library, ascl:1112.013, available at: http://ascl.net (last access: 4 November 2020), 2011. 
Franklin, J. E.: Solar absorption spectroscopy at the Dalhousie Atmospheric Observatory, PhD Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2015. 
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Short summary
Solar trackers are used by spectrometers to measure atmospheric trace gas concentrations using direct-sun spectroscopy. The ideal tracker should be sufficiently accurate, highly reliable, and with a longevity that exceeds the lifetime of the spectrometer which it serves. It should also be affordable, easy to use, and not too complex should maintenance be required. We present a design that fulfils these requirements using some simple innovations.