New trackers on the block

The global tracker market is predicted to crank up from under $1 billion in sales last year to $8 billion in 2020. That’s a big pie for market leaders to share. The ENF solar database lists a surprising 196 companies that claim the capability of supplying a PV tracker. Of these, a dozen or so seem to routinely gain headlines as they win new contracts. Nonetheless, over the past year or so, a small but rising number of new or reoriented companies have appeared in the Americas market. Which will survive the boom years before consolidation comes remains to be seen.

Tracking in broad portfolios

Trackers may be viewed as a logical step for PV racking companies seeking to grow more vertical, but the engineering demands for a robust design can be onerous. One company with a strong engineering background that has added a tracker – the FS Track-2 – is Schletter, based in Shelby, North Carolina, serving the U.S. market. “Performance risk is something of a barrier to entering the tracker market, but if you can demonstrate that your system can overcome risks, then you’ll get business,” notes David Wallerstein, the Strategic Sales and Product Manager for Schletter, in Santa Clarita, California. Schletter has already supplied its trackers for a 55 MW plant at Ohad, in the Negev Desert of Israel.
“Unlike some large tracker companies that have moved toward proprietary component design, we use a control system that is very well understood and commercially available, so that takes a lot of risk out of operation,” says Wallerstein. “We also use 100% galvanized steel that is simple to install with no field welding,” he adds. The Schletter tracker is expected to gain UL certification very soon, after which U.S. sales should quickly follow. The system has already been certified by TÜV Rheinland and other outside engineering firms, he adds.
Another PV company with a broad portfolio now producing a tracker- The Balance On Tracker – is Shoals, based in Portland, Tennessee. “Not unlike the past cases for adding some of our other component lines, we went into the tracker

market because our customers asked us to,” says Jason Whitaker, the company Chief Technology Officer. “We started off doing boxes and combiners, then fixed-tilt, now trackers: We are so intertwined with such a multitude of solar companies, EPCs and asset owners, that when we were asked to bring a tracker to market, we could skip all the sales and marketing jargon,” he adds.
“The first version hit the market about two and a half years ago, and we have since then been making modifications, not due to necessity, but rather in terms of configuration needs for different installers,” Whitaker says. Dean Solon, the CEO of Shoals comments, “We are bringing a best-in-class U.S. solution, in which the tracker and all our other products are an integrated solution made of U.S. parts.” The company has wind tested its tracker, sought out Black & Veatch analysis and UL listing.
Among first Shoals tracker installations are about 10 sites in Japan. “In a year, 50% of our tracker business will be coming from abroad and 50% will be domestic U.S. For 2016 we expect up to 700 MW of trackers,” notes Whitaker.

Design helps differentiate

One new design in the U.S. marketplace comes from Big Sun, based in Taipei, Taiwan, which utilizes stranded aviation wire and pulleys to position its tracker, as well as to hold it in full stow position against big winds. “The Big Sun iPV dual-axis solar tracker features a unique cable-driven mechanism which is simple to maintain and will help to lower the capital and O&M costs,” said Summer Luo, Chairman of Big Sun, in a recent deal announcement. The company has been showing its tracker at U.S. PV shows over the past year or so.
In November, Big Sun announced an 840 kW dual-axis project that it calls “the world’s largest rooftop dual-axis solar power station.” The project is being installed atop a food facility in Pingtung County, Taiwan, “to be able to resist extreme weather conditions suchas typhoons in Taiwan.” The company’s EPC subsidiary, Topper Sun, is developing the project with Chailease Finance. “Besides local installations, iPV solar trackers have been delivered for projects in many countries such as China, Japan, and Luxemburg,” Luo said.
An even more visually striking new design is that of smartflower (see pp. 44–46), based in Vienna, which has developed a 2.3 kW peak dual-axis tracker with retracting flower petal-shaped panels. Apart from the striking appearance, the two meter panel is only 2 mm thick, and the EVA encapsulated glass is capable of bending and eliminating traditional over-heating concerns. The entire assembly comes in one crate and is pre-assembled. One version of the tracker folds itself down into a ground case, discouraging overnight tampering.
With a planned April or May launch in the U.S., smartflower is following a successful EU launch 18 months ago and a current global footprint of 20 countries. With an anticipated U.S. sale price of around $10,000, the graceful tracker may become as “eco-iconic” as the Tesla parked in owners’ driveways, suggests Alexander Swatek, the CEO and Founder of the startup. With a five year warranty, he expects sales in the United States to be financed via operational leases with buyout options, like cars. At a weight of 670 kg, the smartflower also could adorn a flat roof. One buyer has started a solar garden with five units thus far.

Recent Americas appearance

One global player that has recently penetrated the Americas is Rome-based Convert Italia, an energy development conglomerate that has both single and double-axis trackers. Convert’s 100 MW Carrera Pinto PV plant in Chile’s Atacama Desert – its first large plant in the Americas – is scheduled to start up next week with TRJ single-axis trackers, according to company co-owner Oliviero Armezzani. Convert also has an LCPV single-axis pilot plant in California, which it developed four years ago with Solaria, of Freemont, also a partner for current EU LCPV installations.
Also an EPC, Convert is now developing a 260 MW merchant PV plant at Ituverava, Bahia state, in Brazil, for Enel Green Power, that is expected to lead to additional plants in that country, notes Armezzani. Bahia’s Câmara de Comercialização de Energia Elétrica (CCEE) has signed a 20 year PPA for the plant power. To help supply the Ituverava plant, Convert set up a Brazilian subsidiary, Convert do Brasil, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state. The plant may also export regionally. Outside of the Americas, Convert is active in India, South Africa and Europe, and it reports to having developed close to 500 MW of tracker installations cumulatively.
Similarly, Optimum Tracker, based in Meyreuil, France, has recently launched in the U.S. market, following a variety of single and double-axis installations in France and South Africa. One strong differentiator for the company’s system is its Opti-SkyControl, which uses a 360 degree camera controlled by an algorithm, enabling real-time analysis of the sky.
The Opti-SkyControl system triggers the repositioning of the panels to optimize production in diffuse light conditions, after making cloud cover predictions according to the mass, opaqueness and speed of the clouds. The net result can be increased production from 0.4%-2.0% per month, notes Valerie Blecua-Bodin, the company’s General Manager North America, based in Seattle.

Exports from the Americas

One new tracker company from the Americas that is planning to export its product is Morgan Solar, of Toronto, which is focusing on dual-axis concentrated PV plants to supply the Arabian Gulf nations. The company’s Savanna tracker supports CPV or standard PV modules. The company’s Light-guide Solar Optic (LSO) innovation is a patented, ultra-thin concentrating optical structure made from acrylic and glass components that internally traps and redirects sunlight onto a high efficiency PV cell at the center of the optic.
“We’re getting traction in Ontario where we have a strong price advantage, and for projects in a few other regions,” notes Nicolas Morgan, the Vice President of Business Development for the company. “Since our system has no foundation, it is also attracting interest from landfill projects,” he notes.
“The biggest difficulty with entering the tracker market is definitely bankability. It took longer than we would have liked to reach the point where financing groups were willing to underwrite projects, but it’s encouraging that we’ve reached that milestone,” notes Morgan. The company has attracted investment from EnerTech Holding Company KSCC, a subsidiary of National Technology Enterprises (NTEC), based in Kuwait City, for installations in the region. Morgan is also supported by investors including Iberdrola, Enbridge, The Frost Group, Turnstone Capital, and other venture capital and private equity firms.