How to Choose a Solar Tracker?

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Solar Tracker

LCOE is a critical metric for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of different solar tracker systems¹. A company that demonstrates significant LCOE reductions and ensures long-term financial benefits for your solar project should be chosen. Innovations that can help reduce maintenance costs and maximize energy production, ensuring the system operates efficiently and effectively helps in reducing operational expenditures (OPEX). Products that are designed to eliminate inefficiencies, excess materials, and reduce production costs by embracing lean engineering principles can help reduce capital expenditures (CAPEX). Lowering the LCOE makes solar energy more cost-competitive with traditional fossil fuel-based electricity generation, such as coal or natural gas and becomes a more attractive option for utilities and businesses looking to hedge against future energy price fluctuations.

Navigating the selection of a solar tracker requires careful consideration of multiple factors listed below, each crucial to maximizing energy production efficiency, minimizing operational costs, and ensuring long-term reliability of the system.

Land Undulation – Due to limited availability of flat land, solar developers often face the challenge of installing projects on uneven and hilly terrains, necessitating costly land grading for accommodating solar structures. This grading significantly impacts project feasibility and costs; while some trackers require extensive leveling and can result in increasing expenses, others designed for uneven terrain can reduce costs and minimize land disturbance. Assessing grading requirements ensures the selection of an economically and environmentally sustainable tracker, such as FTC Solar’s Voyager tracker, which utilizes an efficient grading approach capable of reducing cut and fill by up to 20% compared to competing solutions.

Terrain-specific backtracking – Trackers with terrain-specific backtracking capabilities adjust positioning based on site topography, optimizing energy capture and reducing shading losses. By minimizing shading and maximizing exposure to sunlight, the SUNPATH solution can increase yields up to 6.1%. This enhances tracker versatility, making them suitable for diverse locations and environmental conditions, thereby improving overall solar project efficiency and adaptability.

Weather requirements – Trackers should be designed to handle local weather extremes, such as high winds, heavy snow, or intense hail. Weather-resistant trackers will maintain optimal performance and reduce downtime caused by environmental factors, ensuring a more durable solar installation. This necessitates adherence to local wind speed regulations and the implementation of effective wind stow strategies. FTC Solar’s zero stow strategy aligns perfectly with these requirements by enabling trackers to dynamically adjust panel tilt angles in response to varying wind speeds, ensuring uninterrupted energy generation.

Module Compatibility – Module sizes and weights have significantly grown in recent years. With a substantial market share expected for large and ultra-large frame modules, trackers need to be robust to ensure long-term structural integrity with these new sizes. Additionally, as module technology and efficiency improve rapidly, repowering projects may occur within shorter periods of 5-10 years. Therefore, tracker systems must be adaptable to facilitate repowering without requiring any structural modifications. The Pioneer trackers are designed to operate seamlessly with a diverse array of modules, regardless of their manufacturers, sizes, or configurations. This ensures that the trackers remain versatile and adaptable, effectively accommodating advancements in module technologies and projects involving repowering.

Installation Time – Trackers that are quicker and easier to install can reduce labor costs and project timelines, leading to faster commissioning and energy production. With labor expenses contributing significantly to project expenditures—recently, an 8% increase in utility-scale costs has been attributed to rising labor expenses²—efficiency gains from streamlined trackers become crucial in maintaining project economics. These gains can help mitigate the impact of labor shortages by making each installation more productive and reducing the overall demand for manual labor per unit of energy produced. The slide and glide technology employed by FTC Solar optimizes the installation process by simplifying component assembly, reducing labor requirements, and ensuring consistency in installation quality.

O&M Costs – Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs are significant factors in the overall lifecycle cost of a solar tracker. A tracker that offers low maintenance requirements and costs will ensure long-term financial viability of the project . The SUNOPS platform aids in this goal by providing advanced monitoring and control capabilities, which helps optimize performance, minimize downtime, and streamline maintenance activities, thereby reducing O&M costs over the life of the solar tracker.

Local Content Requirements and Supply Chain Effectiveness – Some regions may have regulations that mandate the use of locally sourced materials and components, which can impact the choice of trackers. Reliable supply chains become crucial for meeting this requirement and maintaining project timelines. We are cognizant of the same and by partnering with diverse suppliers and manufacturers globally, FTC Solar has the ability to adapt the supply chain to include locally sourced materials and components as required, ensuring regulatory compliance while maintaining flexibility in tracker design and deployment.

Generation Profile Advantage Against Fixed Tilt – The generation profile advantage of trackers compared to fixed-tilt systems should be assessed. Trackers can offer higher energy yields of up to 10-25% by following the sun’s path, leading to increased energy production and a better return on investment compared to fixed-tilt systems. The below graph shows the energy yield comparison between FTC Solar’s Voyager+ (2P tracker) against the fixed tilt system.