Quantification of canting errors: Technique combining camera vision with theoretical imaging.

Proper heliostat alignment is a crucial point for the optimal operation of Solar Power Tower plants. To quantify canting errors in heliostat facets, we propose a target reflection technique that uses computer vision to overcome the limitations of existing methods. In our approach, a high-resolution camera is mounted on the back structure of a target heliostat. The reflection of the object heliostat mirrors contains the reflection of the back structure with the camera. This paper explains the 7-step methodology that ends up with the comparison of detected and modelled reflected borders. Preliminary results in a lab-scale testbed show a technique's uncertainty of around 0.2 mrad, including the experimental error associated with the manual adjustment of facets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]