Stow the right way for your solar installation: minimize yield losses and increase energy production

Not all wind-mitigation strategies for solar tracker systems are equal, and the difference can really show in a project’s revenues. Strong wind gusts whipping over a solar field featuring trackers can cause serious concern to the owner.

On the one hand, and this has been talked about much in the industry, the structure can fail, causing damage to modules and the tracker itself. To prevent this, trackers move the module into an angle, called stow, that allows them to cope with high wind speeds much better. But the way a tracker goes into stow can greatly impact yield losses.

In this pv magazine Webinar, we will offer insights into a smarter, more efficient approach to managing wind-induced challenges in utility-scale solar projects. The partner of the webinar, tracker manufacturer Array Technologies, will highlight the company’s recently developed tool to calculate wind stow energy losses.

From Array Technologies, we will be welcoming Todd Andersen, chief engineer, mechanical systems to provide a technical overview of Array’s wind mitigation strategy and how it sets itself apart from its competitors. Todd brings over 20 years of experience in renewables, including a career at GE Wind, where he designed some of the world’s tallest multi-megawatt wind turbine support structures. Joining Todd from Array is Cody Norman, VP, applications engineering. Cody will show how Array applies its technology to a specific project, catering to their customers’ needs.

And from testing and certification body DNV, Will Holmgren, team lead, solar energy assessment special projects, will join the webinar to discuss DNV’s assessment of Array’s method of calculating energy losses for both passive and active wind stow.

Webinar content:

• Difference between active and passive stow: Detailed insights into how wind stow can be modeled for both passive and active wind stow and how ARRAY’s algorithm improves the accuracy of energy loss calculations.
• ARRAY’s approach: Discover how Array’s passive wind stow technology provides an effective alternative to multiple active stow methods by significantly reducing energy production losses.
• Evidence-based validation: Review key findings from a third-party study by DNV demonstrating the superior performance of passive wind stow strategies.
• Implementation insights: Learn why it is important to account for wind stow production losses when calculating site energy production, particularly for active wind stow trackers.

Attendees will be invited to participate in an interactive Q&A session during the webinar, moderated by Marian Willuhn, pv magazine senior editor.

The registration for this webinar is free of charge.