Mechanical solar tracker

A mechanical solar tracker, comprising:

• a frame;
• an elevation cam with an elevation cam surface, the elevation cam attached to the frame;
• a rotation drive mechanically coupled to the frame;
• a collector carriage coupled to the rotation drive, the collector carriage configured to rotate circumferentially around a vertical axis;
• a collector connected to the collector carriage;
• a hinge coupled between the collector and the collector carriage, the hinge configured to rotate the collector about a horizontal plane at a pivot point;
• and
• a cam follower coupled between the collector and the elevation cam, the cam follower configured to translate, based on a surface input from the elevation cam surface, rotation of the collector about the pivot point;
• a cam-follower travel rod attached to the collector and configured to rotate with the collector about the pivot point;
• a cam-follower travel rod sleeve attached to the cam follower and configured to move a distance, q, along the cam-follower travel rod, the minimum q being QLow and the maximum q being Qhigh;
• where q is defined as:
• q=QLow+(QLow+QHigh)*q′;
• q′=|d−n|/n;
• d is the number of days from a specified day within a year;
• n is the number of days for which cam-follower travel rod is configured to move in a single direction;
• the collector carriage is configured to rotate circumferentially around the vertical axis on a ring, the ring having a radius, R;
• the cam follower has a length, P;
• the elevation cam surface is defined as an array of x, y, and z surface points, the surface points being a function of a azimuth angle, ψT, and an elevation angle, αT, of the collector, where:
• x is a horizontal distance extending from the vertical axis in a first direction;
• y is a horizontal distance extending from the vertical axis in a second direction, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction;
• z is a vertical distance from the pivot point;
• x=r*cos(ψT);
• y=r*sin(ψT);
• r=R−r′;
• and
• r′=q*sin(αT)+P*cos(αT);
• wherein the collector carriage and cam follower are configured to track the sun's direction, by tracing the elevation cam surface with the cam follower, as the sun moves across the sky over a period of time, the elevation cam surface being configured as a function of a latitude location of the mechanical solar tracker.