Tracker & Mounting Systems

Hot-dip galvanized steel promises improved robustness and durability. Nevertheless, there are shocking findings from photovoltaic mounting systems. Steel posts rammed into the damp earth only a few years ago have shown signs of heavy corrosion underground, compromising the stability of the entire installation. Both wrong material selection and incorrect grounding are the culprits of this expensive mistake. In this webinar we will look into real cases, clarify which mistakes have been made in the past and look at how they can be avoided in the future.

Ensuring the stability of solar tracking systems and modules during wind events is one of the top concerns of solar site owners, project developers, and EPC contractors. A poorly designed single-axis tracker can result in damage to solar trackers and modules, leading to costly downtime, insurance claims. Our webinar partner Array Technologies will detail its passive wind mitigation system, which allows individual rows to assume a 52° tilt position if winds pick up.

Trackers offer yield improvements of up to 20% depending on the location of the site. Dynamic wind loads can self-excite in result in failure modes like torsional galloping, flutter, or vortex lock-in. Reports of destroyed solar plants have made their way into the mainstream media even. There are solutions to this problem, and our webinar partner mounting-structure manufacturer Schletter has brought to the market a novel approach, its new single-axis tracker.

Next generation of wind tunnel testing can increase confidence for PV plant owners.

With the emergence of bifacial modules, tracker suppliers are in the process of figuring out the new optimal set-up with regard to tracker height, row spacing and tracking algorithms. The old paradigm of merely tracking azimuth position no longer applies.

In this webinar, we are joined by Soltec who believe they have a solution, and will share with you their expertise in tracking with bifacial modules. Colin Caufield, VP of Sales USA and Javier Guerrero, R&D Engineer PV from Soltec will present a summary of the results obtained from September 2018 to June 2019 at Soltec’s Bifacial Tracking Evaluation Center (BiTEC) in Livermore, California.

As developers are looking to install on hilly sites and sloped terrain for new projects, some are depending on tracker algorithms as a cure-all for undulating topography. Join our webinar to find out what combination of steps can be taken to mitigate energy loss.

In this pv magazine webinar we will discuss the necessity and complexity of establishing a bespoke wind design code for single-axis PV trackers. We will also clarify how project developers and asset owners can assess wind tunnel reports and validate findings.

The three most important influence parameters to achieve the longest life cycle of a solar tracking system are standard structural design, corrosion and wind stability. Can the tracker system be bankable for 30 years? And how does the wind stability relate to reliability?

In this pv magazine webinar, we will assess the impact of wind stability on bankability, and deep dive into a solution to improve wind stability.  Our webinar partner, IDEEMATEC will present their unique rope system as the solution, which increases reliability. The result: through structural measures the risk of torsional galloping is more or less eliminated.

Ensuring proper system design is key to installation success for rooftop solar PV project developers. K2 Systems says it streamlines the workflow with a new free software planning tool, automizing the planning process with information of different manufacturers in “cloud-based synchronicity”. In this pv magazine webinar, we explore the new feature.