feature ideas

Feature ideas

This page contains a list of several ideas for new features for the software that haven't yet been assigned to a project.

• Feature enhancements to the SolTrace engine to better integrate with SolarPILOT. These enhancements include:
  • A simple model for atmospheric scattering
  • Improved technology-specific performance metrics
  • Useful simulation structures such as virtual elements and compound element geometries that ease the definition of receiver apertures and internal surfaces
• Improved API functionality
• Support for user-specified receiver and heliostat geometries. This enables evaluation of non-rectangular heliostats and receivers with more complex geometry than flat-plate or cylindrical.
• Improved heliostat aim-point strategies. Target both the computational efficiency of the aiming algorithms and the uniformity of the resulting receiver flux distribution. Advanced aiming strategies should support multi-zone flux limitations.
• Improved plotting and data processing functionality. Develop a widget that allows interactive simulation via a field plot interface such that individual heliostats or groups of heliostats that can be evaluated and manipulated.