Soltec: The Evolution of Trackers to Conquer the Market

Soltec Trackers Evolution

Since 2009, Soltec has been supplying trackers, innovating new solutions and product upgrades to adapt with  market needs. It is the third largest manufacturer and supplier of solar tracking equipment for PV plants worldwide. The company offers cost-effective high-yield equipment with high-tolerance installation features, and the proven reliability to meet project criteria of schedule, cost and quality. Here’re the tracker offerings journey:

 

SA Series

Soltec launched the first generation of single-axis trackers, SA Series. After a few projects and installations, SA-Series upgraded to use a central motor to move several rows of PV modules using an AC Motor, a Gearbox, Chain-sprocket with elevation arc and Crank with connecting rod. 

 

Solar Fighter

The Solar fighter tracker was developed targeting the residential and commercial markets. A micro-tracker with a movement equivalent of a single-axis solar tracker but using two parallel alternative axes. This system also integrated a micro-inverter which made the whole unit a plug & play solution for PV tracking module.

The Solar fighter tracker used a dedicated Tracker-Controller with a microcontroller instead of the typical industrial PLC.

Also used new patented algorithm for moving single-axis trackers to the optimal position taking into account the orientation and tilt of the roof where it was to be mounted.

 

The movement was performed by a 24V DC motor with gearbox and the axis alternation was performed with solenoids which unlocked the axis to be released according to the desired movement.

 

The Solar fighter, offered a wireless interface to central Gateway where it was possible to configure, visualize and control the behavior of the units. There was also an APP for Android and iOS for the same purposes.

 

SF Utility

The SF-Utility took the distributed concept of independent trackers to the utility market. The first design was self-powered and wireless  like the Solar fighter. 

SF-Utility was Soltec’s first utility scale tracker to use a dedicated electronics design for the Tracker-Controller instead of PLC. The first design used 3x landscape configuration and later the design shifted to 4x landscape and 2-in-portrait.

 

The SF-Utility with 2-in-portrait configuration has improved the cost effectiveness of the tracker making it one of the most competitive in market when it was launched. It was the most agile tracker with installation of up to 17% North to South slope and unlimited East to West slope. Besides, the SF-Utility reached better into plant corners and contours, leading to increased yield potential of irregular land. The SF-Utility provided a range of enabling foundation solutions; from landfill-reclaim to deeply-frozen ground conditions. String Runner solution was also included to manage and protect PV cabling inside the torque tube. It also avoids rear shading by the cables when combined with bifacial PV modules. 

 

First SF-Utility Bifacial

The first SF-Utility bifacial tracker was used at an experimental bifacial site in the La Silla plant (Chile) of Enel Green Power. Soltec took the challenge to optimize the performance of commercially emerging bifacial PV technology in 2015. ‘La Silla’ was the solar project with the first bifacial tracker specifically designed to mount bifacial panels at a utility scale plant. This PV plant is located in a remote moorland  of the Atacama Desert (Chile) and powers an astronomical observatory. Every element of the plant was integrated into the SCADA system: inverter, tracker, video surveillance, weather station, pyranometer, etc., to monitor any adverse situation.

 

Present offerings of Soltec: SF7, SF7 Bifacial, SF7 Tandem and SF8 SF7

The SF7 was launched in 2017, the design was optimized to improve the total installation cost including the installation time and man hours. The drive system, assembly of torque tubes and simple support were the most significant improvements.

With zero gap SF7 allowed complete module to fill in plants by eliminating arrays-gaps over motor pile. SF7 needs 54% less piles per MW, 15% less parts count and 58% less screw than the rest of the trackers in the market. 

 

SF7 also includes an automotive type quick-connect PV source circuit combiner, called DC Harness and a String Runner that manages high-protection cabling of PV source circuits. All these product features enable, installations with fewer parts and a lower installation labor cost.

 

SF7 Bifacial

SF7 Bifacial tracker took inspiration from the experience of La Silla PV plant and the SF7 main design to develop the most dynamic tracker for bifacial technology. Along with the launch of SF7 Bifacial, Soltec inaugurated BiTEC, the first Bifacial Tracking Evaluation Center in the world. It is located in Livermore, California (USA), and its objective is to analyze bifacial parameters in order to implement the bifacial solar tracker and achieve higher bifacial generation for PV plants.

 

 

After two years of research BiTEC data indicates that individual bifacial modules on SF7 Bifacial solar tracker achieve up to +15.7% Bifacial Gain under high albedos, while the Bifacial Gain compared to trackers in one-in-portrait is +2.1%.

 

SF7 Tandem

In early 2020, Soltec launched SF7 Tandem, the first tracker on the market to be linked in a 2-in-portrait (2P) configuration every two rows. The characteristics of this solar tracker combine the best of the 2P trackers with the best of the tworow trackers, while reducing installation and operation costs.

 

The SF7 Tandem has a cardan that acts as an axle to join both trackers and is installed at a height of 1.8 meters, allowing vehicles to pass between the trackers. In this way, maintenance and cleaning of the power plant can be carried out more quickly, easily, and effectively regardless of weather and climate conditions.

 

With 20% fewer components, 45% less drives and 50% fewer engines in the tracker controller than a 1P tracker, the SF7 Tandem is faster to install. This results in reduced costs and installation times.

 

SF8

In October 2020, Soltec launched its latest single-axis tracker, the SF8. Presented as the largest single-axis tracker in the market, the SF8 aims to revolutionize the photovoltaic market with its new minimum 2x60 configuration and 4 to 6 strings.

 

The SF8 reinforces its structure to facilitate installation and favors high performance on any terrain. A reinforced torque tube with a new, improved geometry, together with an autonomous self-stow system contributes increased tracker resistance to adverse weather conditions. In addition, the SF8 tracker increases the rigidity of its structure by 22% more than the previous generation of Soltec trackers. It also has 5.16% fewer parts per module than the previous generation of Soltec trackers, thus increasing cost and installation efficiency. 

 

The new SF8 has an innovative full-wireless system allowing complete plant and inter-tracker communication, now being used for present Soltec offerings.

The SF8 is specially designed for larger 72 and 78 cell modules, an increasing market trend.

 

- Karishma Dadgar, Regional General Manager India, Soltec