Hi,
I am an engineer designing a solar water heater.  The design uses a 
reflector to reflect solar energy onto a tank.  I am trying to optimize 
the rflector design such that a maximum amount of energy is reflected 
onto the tank as the sun position changes throughout the day.  The 
reflector under consideration is fixed (non-tracking).

I would like to know if Povray could be useful for modeling candidate 
reflector geometries.

For example, if I define a tank object, reflector object(s), and a light 
source(the sun), will Povray not only show the light that shines 
directly on the tank from the sun, but also show the light that is 
reflected onto the tank by the reflector?

If the answer to the question above is true, than I could use a series 
of light positions to model the path of the sun through the day, and see 
the resulting reflector performance?

I am only interested in seeing the pattern of light that results from 
each candidate reflector geometry -- I do not need Povray to show light 
intensities that are exactly true to the physics.

As is probably obvious, I don't know much about Povray, but did use it 
years ago for a couple problems, and remember being favorably impressed 
by its capabilities.  I am hoping that a Povray "guru" can take a quick 
look at my problem, and tell me whether its worth relearning enough 
Povray to give it a try.

Thanks -- Gary

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