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Abstract
While reasonably accurate knowledge of solar radiation data at the location of interest is necessary for the design of any solar energy conversion system, the use of concentrating solar collectors implies that these systems only work with the direct solar irradiance. In the present study, by using a methodology based on simple equations, the total hourly, daily, monthly and annual direct radiations incident on four different oriented solar concentrators were calculated only from the recorded data of monthly mean daily global and diffuse horizontal solar irradiance for three different Algerian sites, in order to choose the best mode of tracking for concentrating solar thermal power systems and concentrating solar photovoltaic power systems applications. The model predictions were found to be consistent with ground measurements and prior studies of Kalogirou. It was found that the greatest energy gains were achieved by using full tracking. Furthermore, the model can be included for application to other Algerian and worldwide locations for estimating direct solar irradiance intercepted by a solar concentrator in different modes of tracking.