Track to the Future with Array Technologies

That was the case for Array Technologies and First Solar, who had long been on good terms and chatted at trade shows but have now taken their collaboration to another level with Array's industry leading trackers and First Solar's state-of-the-art Series 6 modules. First Solar's Series 6 modules and their innovative SpeedSlots mounting feature now integrates seamlessly with the DuraTrack tracker using RapidClamp, said Lucas Creasy, Chief Technology Officer at Array Technologies, something that leads to far fewer trips to the field for repairs, “If you look at what drives site maintenance, having to go to a site and fix something, these are just huge costs our customers can face over the life of a project, and they're at the heart of what we do when we develop new projects,” Creasy said. “The great part of what we're doing with First Solar and the modular integration is that union, module and tracker, is robust and will require minimal, if not no, maintenance over the life of the project. That immediately helps the bottom line for our customer.” Not only is it easy to maintain the solutions, it's also surprisingly simple for technicians to install. “When you're out there and these guys are installing these modules on an 11-second jig, they feel very comfortable doing it. One of the things that they're able to do is they can forgo the use of a mounting jig or the need for any kind of alignment with that installation,” said Evan Nichols, Leader Power Plant Ecosystem at First Solar. “There's a lot of value in that time if you think about the amount of installation cost there is.” Those are just two of the ways that Array Technologies' partnership with FirstSolar is helping clients see serious return on their investment.

G'day, mates, and greetings from Down Under. Michael Corio, Sales Leader, Australia for Array Technologies, joined moderator Travis Rose on Track to the Future to talk about cleaning and mowing strategies for PV solar plants and how these tasks fit into a long-term strategy to reduce operations and maintenance costs.

Jose Luis Galo Ibañez, Lucas Creasy and Travis Rose joined host Tyler Kern to dive into that CAPEX vs. OPEX discussion, outlining how different projects approach finding a balance between upfront spending and spending over the life of a project for maintenance and more.

On this episode of Track to the Future, an Array Technologies podcast, representatives of Array and RINA Consulting teamed up to explore CAPEX vs. OPEX tracker costs for modern utility-scale PV power plant projects.RINA Consulting is an international, independent engineering consultancy providing expert services in a wide range of industries, including energy.

Array Technologies recently completed its ISO audits and ISO certification. This exciting step in Array Technologies' growth was the main topic of conversation for this episode of Track to the Future. Travis Rose, Vice President of Sales, North America at Array Technologies, moderated a discussion about ISO with Kris Weaver, Director of Array Operating System & Quality at Array Technologies, and Mike Brannock, Vice President of Operations for DQS.

On this episode of Track to the Future, an Array Technologies podcast, host Tyler Kern was joined by President of VDE Americas John Sedgewick, Array Vice President of Sales Travis Rose and Array Senior Product Manager Sanket Shah.The group tackled a key topic in utility-scale PV power plant design and operation – extreme weather risk mitigation, particularly as it relates to wind and hail, which can have catastrophic effects on production if left to wreak havoc.Hail and wind are of interest to every stakeholder in utility-scale PV plants, from EPCs to lenders, insurers, asset owners, operators and more, and the four dove into each of those particular groups to highlight how risk mitigation relates to them and expand upon risk mitigation best practices.

On this episode of Track to the Future from Array Technologies, host Tyler Kern and guests Ron Corio, Travis Rose and Sabah Mahmood explore a topic gaining serious traction in the world of utility-scale photovoltaic powerplants – retrofits and repowering. This increase in retrofit and repowering projects has been driven by the sheer amount of innovation in the solar energy industry. All components of a PV plant have felt the impact of these leaps in technology, from modules and storage to inverters, trackers and everything in-between. “Solar power plants evolve, and technology evolves,” Corio said. “There are a lot of different kinds of utility-scale systems out there, and some of them don't perform as well as others. … There's always an economic analysis to look at whether or not it makes sense to reinvest in a project and upgrade it.” By engaging in economically logical retrofit and repowering projects, PV plant operators can enjoy lower LCOE, increased yields, decrease in O&M costs and a plant that's more on-par with the state-of-the-art ones being constructed today. At OCI Solar Power's Alamo I solar farm, the decision to repower was made after just six years, with trackers being upgraded, bifacial modules installed and more. This improvement in overall operation aligns with Array's mission of helping solar plants optimize every aspect of their production and operation and maximize project returns.

The goal of any asset owner is to maximize that asset. With these words in mind, Jon Sharp, VP of Product Management for Array Technologies, popped by Track to the Future to talk about Array Technologies' innovative solar tracking solution, SmarTrack. “Solar tracking software improves asset performance by attempting to put more light onto solar panels or solar modules and minimize the negative effects of the sun's shading,” Sharp said. “And SmarTrack is a product that further improves upon these traditional tracking algorithms and adds new ones to the mix to achieve that goal.” Utility-scale solar plants are much larger today than they were several years ago. To generate power on a large scale, they need all possible advantages and solar gathering improvements they can get. “For these types of power plants, improving performance, even a little bit or by a few percent, can add many millions of dollars of life to the asset,” Sharp said. “That amount of cash flow can make or break the ability to finance some of these projects.” When planning arrays, Sharp said it is essential to consider several factors. Start with a reliable and intelligent design, choose a location and terrain that is favorable for solar gathering, and pick a tracking system that works well with the particular site terrain. Also, Sharp said it's critical to use quality equipment that maximizes uptime. “Uptime is every bit as important, or even more important, than optimizing energy output with software or other techniques.” The best tracking software available isn't going to do its job if the equipment isn't high-quality.

On this episode of Track to the Future, host Tyler Kern was joined by Array Vice President, Product Management Jon Sharp and Director of Product Innovation Kyumin Lee to discuss the data-validated best practices for using bifacial solar cells at PV power plants. Monofacial cells were the standard up until the last decade or so, when bifacial cells became more commercially viable. While reports that bifacial cells boost energy yield by as much as 20-30% are exaggerated, a third-party test conducted by Array in conjunction with PV Lighthouse and CFV Solar found that a 5-10% yield increase was certainly realistic. “One of the problems with the early days of bifacial testing was that the testing was done by research institutes and universities with small-scale setups. … All those things have resulted in very generous gain numbers in the order of 20 to 30%,” Lee said. “But what we are seeing now and what all the new modeling software are predicting is that for (large-scale installations), the number you should be expecting is in the range of 5 to 10%.” As a result of this field-tested PV research project, best practices and data inputs have been established that can help utilities, designers, solar developers, and owner/operators more accurately calculate and model power yield across the lifecycle of a utility-scale PV power plant. These best practices include things like optimal mounting height, width, spacing between rows, parameters to model performance in software solutions, and more that can help PV plants best understand their bifacial modules' performance. Further, modeling software like PVsyst can help these groups facilitate project planning and more confidently calculate yield, leading to more efficient bifacial modules and an understanding of how to get the most out of their potential. “People want to know how to use and how to model bifacial technology,” Sharp said. “So, Array Technologies, in conjunction with (independent labs and modelers) has taken a systematic approach to answering those questions realistically with field data, as well as a modeling tool corroborated with PVsyst modeling. “The conclusion is that PVsyst can be used with confidence. It's a tool that will give accurate results if you put the correct information into it.”