PASADENA, Calif., April 23, 2008 -- Optical Research Associates (ORA) is expanding the capabilities of LightTools, its illumination design and analysis software, with solar-design utilities that enable engineers to create virtual prototypes of solar collection systems and analyze system performance and energy efficiency.

"Increasing investments in clean energy technologies have led to renewed research into innovative ways to improve solar collection products," said Robert Hilbert, president and CEO of ORA. "We are pleased to offer customized design solutions that help engineers in this industry develop more efficient solar energy systems faster."

LightTools solar design utilities enable the modeling of nonimaging concentrators, including compound parabolic, elliptical and hyperbolic concentrators, as well as involute concentrators. These components can be used to to create virtual, prototype solar collectors for photovoltaic and heating systems. Users can create and incorporate a sun model in a solar collection system prototype, including direct and diffuse sunlight. and load insolation data by location, latitude, longitude and time zone for highly accurate measurements of radiation incident on a solar collection system.

LightTools supports insolation data created using a global meteorological database provided by Meteotest's Meteronorm software (version 6.0), which is available through ORA and ORA software distributors. User-defined insolation data files are also supported.

Users can simulate the movement of the sun across the sky and evaluate the amount of optical power striking a solar collection system at a certain time of day, perform a solar day scan to calculate a system's incident solar and electrical power, or evaluate the impact of atmospheric particulates on a system's energy output.

For more information, visit: www.opticalres.com; e-mail: info@opticalres.com

Optical Research Associates
3280 E. Foothill Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107
Phone: (626) 795-9101
Fax: (626) 795-0184

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