Reduce LCOE and long-term O&M costs in utility-scale installations

With nearly 12.5 GW of new utility-scale PV coming online last year and even more forecast in the future, it’s more important than ever to maximize output while minimizing CAPEX and OPEX costs of solar power plants that are moving us toward a clean energy future. Single-axis trackers are now predominant in utility-scale installations and have been found to increase production by up to 20%; however, there is more that can be done.

The majority of utility-scale installations use Nextracker’s NX Tracker, with its north-south orientation. With close to 50 GW of these systems installed, this single-axis tracker system is the market leader, according to Wood Mackenzie. The system is known for its LCOE-enhancing performance.

Shoals’ Big Lead Assembly (BLA) is one of the industry-leading solutions for electrical balance of system (EBOS), which minimizes wire runs and simplifies installation. Traditional BLA uses an east-west trunk bus cable, which runs parallel to the drive train in linked row trackers. However, with independent row trackers like Nextracker’s, this trunk bus cable blocks access to the full tracker row, thus impeding O&M.

In this pv magazine Webinar, we will explore how Shoals and Nextracker collaborated on Shoals’ new North-South BLA, with the trunk bus running parallel to the torque tube, optimized for use with Nextracker’s north-south NX Horizon, preserving the open row design of the tracker system and enabling equipment to traverse the rows unencumbered.

John Hass, chief product officer at Shoals Technologies Group, will show us how to simplify an EBOS installation to unlock ongoing solar field O&M savings. Greg Beardsworth, senior director, product marketing at Nextracker, will explain utility-scale solar best practices that lead to lower cost of energy (LCOE).

pv magazine Webinar content:

• Improved O&M efficiencies with open row approach compared with the blocked rows of a linked-row tracker architecture
• Advantages and disadvantages of an above grade, East-West running trunk bus cable; where this is a benefit and where it is a hindrance
• Reduction in O&M costs with a solution in which the trunk bus run north-south, parallel to the torque tube.
• Q&A

Questions can be submitted beforehand in the comments window when registering or in the chat during the live webinar. Anne Fischer, senior editor at pv magazine USA, will be the moderator of this webinar.

Registration for this pv magazine webinar is free of charge.