Trackers

Hello and thanks for spending your last day of January reading the pv magazine morning brief. Today we’ll take a gander at Atlas Renewable Energy’s deployment of NEXTrackers TrueCapture Control System in Latin America, APA Solar Racking launching the TITAN Series Racking System, Delta complying with rapid shutdown requirements using Tigo and all else that came across our desks in the world of solar.

NEXTracker has sued Sunlink for infringing on a patent for a balanced solar tracker clamp, and a separate patent describing the broader support system of a single axis tracker.

LONGi bifacial solar modules were included as part of a fully-financed 224 MWdc solar project in Georgia, with NEXTracker suggesting it’s a first for the technology in the United States on a large-scale financed project, with 750 MW already following in their book of business.

Ideal Energy has installed a single-axis tracker, 1.1 MW DC solar plant with NexTracker’s largest flow battery project to date: a 35 unit, 350 kW / 1.1 MWh Avalon Battery vanadium flow system.

SmarTrack by Array Technologies, looks to optimize solar electricity production using machine learning algorithms in complex terrains.

Australian real estate developer Lendlease is pushing forward on a 200 MW solar power project. No electricity off taker has been noted, but the project has secured town approval and a tax abatement.

As a further sign that solar is going mainstream across the United States, a new report by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs finds that southeastern states hosted 40% of the utility-scale solar installed nationally in 2017. Interconnection queues have swelled to 188.5 GW of utility solar capacity, eight times more than installed capacity.

California’s NEXTracker has acquired key IP from French company Optimum Tracker to “fortify” its current offerings, while opening opportunities for further platform growth.

In this interview, RPCS founder & President Eb Russell explores the factors behind how trackers are taking over the utility-scale solar market, as well as giving insights on the solar contracting business in the wake of the Section 201 tariffs.

E.ON’s first move into the Texas solar power market is a 100 MW-AC solar project located in West Texas. The company announced an agreement to sell 50 MW-AC worth of the output to SK E&S Co, one of South Korea’s largest energy companies.