So, let’s debunk the most common myths about solar farms and illuminate their true potential—a potential that is not just about sustainability but also about advancing our societies in more ways than one.

We’re answering these six common solar farm myths:

1. Do solar farms take land away from farmers?
2. Do utility-scale solar projects have poor water management?
3. Will solar power create enough jobs?
4. Are utility-scale solar farms ugly to look at?
5. Do solar farms produce “toxic” waste?
6. Does manufacturing the parts needed for solar power create Co2 emissions?

1. Do solar farms take land away from farmers?

Myth: “Solar farms would take up large tracts of land needed for crop production”

Reality: Advancements in solar technology have made it possible to build solar arrays on variable terrains and have reduced the need for land traditionally used for farming.

Notably, a recent pv Magazine article, shared that solar panels occupying just 1% of the land currently used for agriculture—or 0.5 million square kilometers—could power the entire Earth’s energy needs. Put another way, that would be like covering roughly 91% of France in solar panels.

Even more intriguing is the concept of agrivoltaics. By integrating solar panels with agricultural land, farms can actually increase their efficiency, benefiting both food production and energy generation. In other words, the same piece of land can produce food for our tables and energy for our homes—a revolutionary approach to resource optimization.

2. Do utility-scale solar projects have poor water management?

Myth: “Utility-scale solar projects have poor water management”

Reality: With proper care, planning, and innovative technology and strategies, knowledgeable project leaders have greatly mitigated these issues, paving the way for responsible water management.

While there have been issues with water management at a few—four out of the nearly one million solar sites built between 2021-2022—these appear to result from negligence or lack of an understanding of the landscape.

Grading the land for solar farms has been likened to typical road construction projects by experts like Annick Anctil, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State University, who notes that the runoff from building those four solar farms could have been avoided by careful planning and consideration.

The process of leveling land can be troublesome if not managed properly. However, innovative technology like ARRAY’s OmniTrack is specifically designed to tackle these challenges by requiring less leveling of the land. Add in mitigation strategies like planting appropriate ground cover and conducting proper hydrology studies, and modern solar projects can preserve the integrity of the surrounding environment.

These insights underscore the difference between responsible solar construction and those projects where lack of care has led to problems. ARRAY stands as an example of how solar energy can be harnessed responsibly, bridging innovation and environmental stewardship and lighting the way for sustainable solar energy developments.

3. Will solar power create enough jobs?

Myth: “Solar power does not create enough jobs”

Reality: The solar power industry is a job creator and driver of economic growth.

Shifting towards cleaner energy technologies isn’t just about protecting our planet—it’s a substantial opportunity for job growth. Solar farms provide construction, maintenance, and cleaning jobs throughout their lifetime as well as other skilled jobs in many associated industries.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (NZE Scenario)” forecasts the creation of 14 million new jobs in the clean energy sector.

Moreover, this isn’t a story of job loss but of job transformation, with approximately 5 million workers expected to transition from traditional fossil fuel sectors. An additional 16 million workers will have the opportunity to learn new skills and move into emerging clean energy segments. Renewable energy offers a dynamic, resilient, and future-proof job market teeming with opportunities for growth and advancement. With solar and other renewable technologies, we’re not just building a greener future but also a brighter future for employment.

4. Are utility-scale solar farms ugly to look at?

Myth: “Solar farms are an eyesore”

Reality: Solar farms are designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, offering an eco-friendly energy solution without compromising natural beauty. Unlike other energy plants or sites, utility-scale solar fields are mounted low to the ground and are less likely to interfere with the view of the horizon.

Newer solar farms feature solar panels that are designed and coated to reduce glare and even incorporate landscaping elements that enhance their surroundings, thus contributing positively to local aesthetics. This innovative approach is transforming perceptions and proving that renewable energy and natural beauty can coexist harmoniously.

And no, utility-scale solar energy farms will not severely decrease property values for surrounding homes. In fact, in the largest study of its kind, researchers looked at 1.8 million property transactions near solar farms in six states and found no drop in property values for homes more than a mile from the installation. Homes within a quarter-mile of some utility-scale solar farms saw a modest average property value decrease of 2.3%, still much smaller than the negative effects for homes located near places like landfills, fossil fuel plants, and highways.

5. Do solar farms produce “toxic” waste?

Myth: “Solar produces ‘toxic’ waste.”

Reality: Solar panels contain recyclable materials—and valuable components like silver and silicon—which can be separated and purified during the recycling process promoting a circular economy.

As the industry grows, companies that specialize in solar recycling are already starting to emerge. Which in turn will help mitigate waste and open up a new sector of green jobs, contributing to economic growth while protecting the environment.

6. Does manufacturing the parts needed for solar power create Co2 emissions?

Myth: “Solar power creates emissions from component manufacturing”

Reality: Solar power has a smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint than other competing energy sources.

Although no energy creation method is entirely carbon-free—yet—solar power is one of the most advanced in this category and associated emissions are decreasing over time. Even considering carbon capture, the lifetime carbon footprint of solar power is far lower than coal- or gas-fired power generation.

As the U.S. and other countries expand their solar manufacturing, fewer panels will be imported from countries that rely on coal-fired plants. This means reducing both logistics costs and carbon emissions—an impressive double win.

Solar power is not just the future—it’s the present.

The post The Reality of Solar Power: Debunking 6 Common Solar Farm Myths appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

It was such a great conversation. You can watch the full webinar embedded below or keep reading for some key takeaways from our discussion, including:

• recent changes in U.S. policy concerning utility-scale solar,
• guidance needed to unleash progress,
• thoughts on module availability,
• future of solar development,
• challenges surrounding severe weather, and
• some great questions from attendees.

Recent changes in U.S. policy concerning utility solar

The passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will help stabilize supply chain issues over the long run, creating increased optimism in developers and financiers.

Wood Mackenzie reported a 29% decrease year over year in deployment of utility-scale solar from 2021 to 2022.

Sylvia shared that two reasons for this are:

1. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
2. Start of an anti-circumvention investigation by the US Department of Commerce

These factors led to several gigawatts (GW) of modules being detained by Customs and Border Protection, and many projects were pushed to 2022 and 2023. These factors will continue to affect the industry in the short term, but analysts at Wood Mackenzie are confident they will work out in the long term.

Further guidance needed to unleash progress

Developers are trying to choose between the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) tax credit transferability, among other variables. Like how steel will be treated under the ITC, or what qualifies as “domestic source” for different materials, to name a few. Knowing which variables—or combination of variables—can be implemented can change each site’s projected revenues.

That’s why federal entities need to provide further guidance on various requirements. This guidance will help even out the supply-and-demand imbalance and fill in tax planning gaps for financing solar projects.

Thoughts on module availability

As suppliers fall in line with UFLPA compliance, production should ramp up this year or early in 2024. This will help stabilize the supply-and-demand imbalance.

Customers must look at designs with multiple modules because they can’t secure modules, or the modules may fall through. It’s been a challenge from a project timing perspective.

From a design and planning perspective, ARRAY works with customers who ask us to model around different module types because it’s possible they’ll get partials, or the modules may change.

We’ve seen demand for this kind of design go up exponentially. So, we’ve automated the way we do our designs to keep up with customer needs while ensuring the same quality of review for each design.

One ARRAY DuraTrack® advantage is that it’s fully module agnostic. By not predrilling holes in the tracker torque tube, it’s able to fit any specific module currently on the market. This allows us to confidently design around multiple modules knowing that the core bill of materials for the tracker won’t change.

Future of solar development: a prediction for next 3–5 years

From a developer’s standpoint, there’s no shortage of off-taker customers, but projects in ideal locations with flat, even land in mostly sunny places are less available. We need to continue to find cost-effective solutions to deal with ever-more-challenging terrain and subsurface conditions including the introduction of our new flexible terrain tracker, the ARRAY OmniTrack.

This new tracker allows one degree more flexibility in the north-south slope change with the torque tube. That allows our customers to cut down on costly grading and maintains the site’s natural foliage for a less invasive installation.

At ARRAY, we’re continuing to prioritize lower lead times and consistent deliveries for customers. We’ve expanded and locked in our logistics carrier and have alternatives in place if congestion issues arise.

We’ve expanded our supply base with multiple options, so we’re not relying on a single source. Not only are we able to do some of the manufacturing in-house, but we have manufacturing and suppliers around the world. Our global supply plan is essential to our ability to respond quickly to the unexpected.

Challenges surrounding severe weather

Large hail and 50-year winds are occurring more frequently, causing problems with the insurability of many sites. The entire industry needs to address this reality and develop technological solutions rather than addressing it through insurance alone.

Where other tracker companies fall short is that they rely on a lower angle degree stow position for wind, which is not necessarily best for hail. ARRAY’s wind mitigation position occurs at the highest tilt level, 52°, which is also optimal for hail. Using ARRAY SmarTrack software, this mitigation can happen remotely or manually to help protect our customer’s sites.

For projects in the North and Midwest U.S. regions, our SmarTrack system also has an active stow response in case of snow. It detects snow and moves to 52°. Once enough snow melts, it moves the tracker back to normal tracking with no damage to the modules.

Audience Question:

For tracker evaluation, have the operation and maintenance (O&M) needs been considered when comparing them to fixed-tilt racking?

Art shared that 15 years ago, EDF was nervous about trackers because of the O&M component. Now, most of EDF’s sites use trackers, and two of the reasons include:

1. trackers have led to better production, and
2. the ability to move and stow trackers during severe weather far outweighs any potential O&M costs.

Our goal with DuraTrack is zero maintenance. This includes design features like sealed gear boxes that don’t require lubrication and parts that are tested for the lifetime of the site. With their improved reliability, increased throughput, and the low cost of ownership of trackers, our trackers are more advantageous compared to fixed-tilt systems even in the kilowatt range.

ARRAY’s perspective on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the future

As Sylvia said during the webinar, “The panorama looks bright for solar despite the challenges around needing clarity from the IRS.”

The IRA is intended to drive interest in renewables—solar in particular—and create more U.S. jobs. So, it’s a good thing, but it’s complicated to navigate right now.

Creating a U.S.-based supply chain from scratch has been challenging for many companies. Thankfully, at ARRAY, we’ve been building our strong U.S. supply chain for 30+ years, which reduces risk for developers.

However, the government still needs to provide information on what is required for traceability to the entire industry. With that understanding, we can help customers and capitalize maximally on Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) benefits.

Overall, it’s an exciting time but also challenging. Everyone is ready to go and waiting for that starter pistol of clarity to go off.

Sign up below and be the first to know about ARRAY’s next webinar!

The post Solar Developers and Tech Innovators Adapt to Policy Changes appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

The pandemic created logistical quagmires for many commercial industries — and solar is no exception. To mitigate the increasing cost of running a utility-scale solar project, many owners and operators have switched their focus from CapEx to operations and maintenance (O&M). This turning of attention to quality system components that perform better and last longer increases efficiency and reduces expenses in the long run.

Low Cost Needs to Meet High Sustainability

The use of solar trackers at new utility-scale solar sites has grown to over 70% in the United States. But while the increasing quantity of solar trackers in the field is driving the need to look deeper into O&M, other market forces are pushing the case to open up the books even further. Of course, owners or investors are always looking for ways to increase their ROI, but

the call to do so in sustainable ways has grown louder in recent years. For the industry to answer that call, Wood MacKenzie, formerly Greentech Media Research (GTM), estimates that utility solar plant costs need to be cut in half by 2030. But with the rising cost of materials and labor, not to mention shipping, how will site operators make that happen?

O&M to The Rescue

Pre-COVID, market costs were trending down. Commodities were stable, and electronics and logistics costs were steady for around 5–7 years. Now, almost two years into the pandemic, costs continue to soar — with no end in sight. It would be easy to blame COVID for all of the unpredictable challenges site operators have seen in their efforts to cut costs. But it wouldn’t be too far off. Many of the processes and protocols that used to run seamlessly have come to a halt. We are all familiar with the logistical nightmares of shipping container shortages, port congestions and global supply chain bottlenecks.

Companies are looking more at O&M as a viable cash-saving strategy to outsmart these challenges. Why? Because cutting CapEx can use less proven, lower-cost components, often presenting reduced reliability and even more cost-uncertainty. Besides, in a world where there are so many things we can’t control, it makes sense to reduce costs in an area where we can.

Engineered for Simplicity And Savings

Under normal circumstances, it’s important to utilize trackers that require fewer electrical and electromechanical components for operation to minimize risk and failure points. Under the current circumstances, reliability becomes even more critical. Labor costs are rising worldwide, so maintenance is more expensive. Global logistics is a significant issue, and getting new parts or modules is extremely difficult. Plus, relying on the accuracy or timeliness of an international supply chain is not ideal for any company right now.

ARRAY believes in “Engineered simplicity,” and that maxim is proving to be more relevant than ever. We’ve engineered our products to be tough but simple — fewer moving parts means fewer maintenance problems. If your trackers are more reliable, you’re less reliant on external parts or services. We’ve also been deliberate about our suppliers, building out the industry’s most robust domestic supply chain so the unpredictability of a global infrastructure doesn’t hamstring our customers.

Proven long-term asset performance and trusted reliability are important factors to consider, all of which contribute to achieving the lowest cost of ownership of a solar tracker system in the industry. To learn more about how ARRAY can help you lower O&M costs, click here.

The post How Keeping It Simple Can Lower O&M Costs appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

Competition for land is becoming more intense. Pastoral landscapes are ideal for both solar production and plant farming, putting major solar projects in direct competition with plant and animal farmers who have historically owned and managed the land.

Exploring possibilities for allowing the same plot of land to host both PV solar structures and cultivated plant life can lead to positive outcomes, including:

• Creating or boosting local ecosystems
• Fueling the local job market in rural communities
• Helping to solve projected food shortages
• Supporting water conservation
• Supplementing and stabilizing farmers’ incomes

We’ll explore these in this post. We’ll also discuss exactly how solar project developers can use single-axis trackers for this mutually beneficial setup.

What are Agrivoltaics?

The concept of co-developing land for both PV solar production and food crops or other plants dates back to 1981. The first prototype was developed in Japan in 2004 and the term agrivoltaics was likely first published in 2011. A decade later, there are agrivoltaic projects of different scales all around the world.

Rather than using gravel or paving the ground beneath solar arrays, these dual projects have grasses, pollinator plants, or food crops below. PV modules work optimally in a sunny, cool environment. Plant life naturally holds and releases water vapor into the surrounding air, which cools it. This harmonious arrangement means modules perform better and the right plant life can grow better, partially shaded by these technological structures.

Different countries experiment with crop categories and their capacity to thrive beneath solar arrays. Not all plants do well beneath the modules, but some species actually thrive in partial shade, and others can be planted beneath strategically spaced solar trackers.

At sites throughout the U.S., lettuce and other leafy greens, peppers, peas, and many other crops are being grown. One study showed even typically shade-intolerant corn grows well beneath PV solar trackers and modules. In France, experiments growing agrivoltaic vineyard grapes not only proved successful, but required less watering, as the grapes were able to hold onto moisture in the shade. Japanese agrivoltaic fields grow shade-hungry ginseng and coriander.

Projects of various sizes and compositions span across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Organizations in China and Australia are even using agrivoltaic practices to counteract drought and desertification.

How Agrivoltaics Work Out All Around

Rather than threaten a farmer’s livelihood, PV solar generation can offer additional income to farmers who lease their land and/or sell the energy produced. This can smooth out fluctuations in income due to weather unpredictability, to which farmers are typically subjected.

One study modeled an economic value boost of 30% for farmlands utilizing agrivoltaic crops over conventional crops. Another showed it could increase land use efficiency by 60 to 70%.

The shade provided by solar modules can actually establish a new microclimate that supports and sustains the local ecosystem through pollination and water retention.

Grasses, wildflowers, and other crops that don’t produce food directly offer a haven for pollinators such as butterflies, honeybees, and birds. Pollinators are responsible for an estimated 35% of the world’s food supply and are in danger of decline or extinction as habitats become scarcer, among other challenges.

Shading from solar modules supports water retention in soil and reduces water usage through less need for irrigation. A study by NREL showed water efficiency increases of over 150% and even double or triple fruit production through agrivoltaic practices.

How Trackers and Solar Developers Play a Role

Single-axis solar tracking systems can not only optimize the amount of sunlight modules absorb throughout the day, but their movement can also allow more sunlight through to the plants below (compared to fixed-tilt systems). They can also shield crops during hailstorms.

Of course, not every site can host an agricultural Garden of Eden beneath its panels, but doing so, when possible, can help offset the (already comparatively minimal) ecological impact of solar PV sites where cement or gravel are used.

Solar developers and investors can select “brownfields,” vacant or abandoned developed plots of land, for projects. Not only does this support ecosystems in previously dry, lifeless places, it can also stimulate the local job economy through employing local workers.

ARRAY Technologies and Agrivoltaics

The architecture of DuraTrackⓇ Hz3 makes it a more friendly option to the plant life below with a minimal amount of shading and a flexible ground coverage ratio. In addition to this, SmarTrack^TM eliminates backtracking and thus reduces shadowing against modules. This makes it a good option for projects to use a wider variety of plant species while also ensuring that energy production is still consistently optimized.

DuraTrack’s highly adaptable frame makes it ideal across different types of terrain. Depending on the configuration of the land hosting the structure, it can also be installed at different heights, which plays a role in how much light hits the ground as well.

RP Construction Services Inc. (RPCS) recently installed DuraTrack trackers in the first dual-use project in Monson, Massachusetts. The site, called Million Little Sunbeams, was designed with 20-foot row spacing at a height of 10 feet to allow sunlight to reach the crops below and for tractor access.

Agrivoltaics Help Solve Multiple Problems at Once

Combining both smart engineering and smart ecological practices can further align the technology used to create cleaner forms of energy with agriculture. From a practical standpoint, it helps chip away at some of the world’s biggest problems and mitigates the competitive trajectory of solar farm vs. food farm.

From a philosophical perspective, these solutions fuel life in more than one way, supporting major systems involved in producing both the food we need for life and the energy we need to live it, coexisting beautifully.  For a more in-depth look at the possibilities of agrivoltaics and ARRAY’s part in them, download this white paper: Solar Power + Agriculture: The Practices and Synergies of Agrivoltaics from our partner RPCS. 

The post Agrivoltaics (Practically Speaking) and Solar Tracking appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

Much of large-scale solar technology development happens behind closed doors. Engineers in laboratory settings, tucked away from sight, calculating and generating the next big solutions.

You may have seen the news about us launching our ARRAY Tech Research Center. In this post, we’ll share more details about exactly why this center is so groundbreaking and exciting.

The research center is a testing ground for engineers, developers, and EPCs to get hands-on experience exploring different challenges encountered on the ground at a site-by-site level.

The importance of this ground-level experimentation goes hand in hand with ARRAY’s perspective on covering all aspects of research. We’re believers in both modeling and testing in the real world. Rob Rowan, senior vice president of engineering operations at ARRAY, put it this way:

“It’s the difference between developing in a vacuum or modeling first and then testing in the real world. We’re not building and breaking until it works, [instead, we’re] modeling first to catch any obvious flaws and then testing in the lab and in real-world settings.”

The tech research center allows for this testing in a collaborative way. It allows time and a dedicated space to hear about customer challenges for individual sites and situations. This is important because it’s easy to think that we’ve thought of everything when we make an incremental change to a tracker or to a specific component on the tracker, but until you get that real-world voice from the customer, you don’t know for sure.

There are two sets of people who really benefit from the center. One group is developers and forward-thinking EPCs interested in things like future-generation trackers, looking at the interface with larger modules, etc. The other group is strictly EPCs who are interested in the constructability and the mechanics of essentially building a tracker.

Both of these groups tell us how much of a difference it makes to physically try out equipment and processes versus a proposal that is written in PowerPoint decks. It essentially brings theory to life and makes planning more tangible.

A Testing Ground for Specific Conditions

ARRAY’s vice president of strategic product marketing, Jon Sharp, used module size as an example of a problem we can troubleshoot at the center.

“One of the things we do at the research center is build our existing trackers and our future generation trackers, and we can then disassemble and rebuild, and come up with the most efficient way to install certain components.

“In the case of large modules, we can try assembling with different numbers of people on the crew, try assembling with the module on the ground, or on equipment, or something along those lines, and [then we can] figure out what we think is the fastest, safest, and most efficient way to install these different components,” Sharp said.

Using the center in this way makes tailoring solutions to specific people and their unique problems more precise.

Collaborative Problem-Solving in Partnership with Customers

Collaboration is a key aspect of the research center. Different approaches to procedures can be tested and compared, and pros and cons can be evaluated between engineers and customers to explore construction efficiencies.

Another example of how we’ve been collaborating recently is our work with EPCs who are either brand new or have construction experience but just haven’t built out solar before. This is happening a lot at the moment because there’s a capacity/supply shortage of EPCs in the industry right now.

There’s no substitute for getting out there and having EPCs put their hands on our tracker and see them actually built.

We can see the light bulbs going off in their heads as they visualize how they can build these sites. They’re taking notes; they’re thinking about how they’re going to stage the different material on the sites. We’re not only hearing the voices of existing customers, but we’re also working with new customers, especially as new EPCs enter the marketplace. We’ll only see more of that over the next two years.

Jon Sharp hit on the possibility for the center to work as a training ground for installers: “With no time pressures [and] no production schedule, the center is a space where engineers can relay information on how things are intended to fit together and where installers can try it out in real-time.”

Rob Rowan said he sees the center standing out as a hub of innovation for future-gen PV tech as a whole. This is happening through extending our collaborative efforts not only to customers, but also to suppliers and partners.

He also summed up the importance of collaboration nicely when he talked about how the ability and willingness to collaborate over the next five years and beyond will separate the true innovators in the utility PV industry from those who are willing to carry on with the status quo.

Intersection of the ARRAY Tech Research Center and the Future of Utility PV Tech

When asked, Jon Sharp talked about the short-term outcomes of the research happening at the center. He noted how, considering that utility-scale solar development cycles can run anywhere from six months to three years, projects that are only just now being conceptualized by developers will benefit when it’s time to break ground. They’ll benefit from the exact actions we’re taking today at the research center.

“They’re planning their price points three years from now to be lower; they’re planning for their installation efficiencies to be better. And they’re banking on people [working in companies] like ARRAY coming to the forefront with better ways to do things by the time those lines intersect a couple of years out,” said Sharp.

Since one objective of the research center is to showcase new technology, the tech in the center will constantly evolve. It will become a rotating site for the freshest ideas and their real-world applications.

“We’re also prioritizing looking at things on a component level in addition to an overall new product level. Incremental changes in tracker advancements, as well as improvements on components, are all important.

“Those incremental updates are really crucial. They’re key for our customers from an efficiency standpoint, and for us from a cost standpoint. The overall market is driving decreases in costs. One way to do that is to make our existing tracker and our existing components less costly by refining them,” Sharp continued.

Making Connections That You Just Can’t on Zoom

This quote below from Jon Sharp gives a clear picture of what we’re doing at the research center and why we’re so thrilled about it:

“This research center is in close proximity to our engineers, [and] it really just affords them an opportunity to go try things, [and perhaps try again] and fail, and [it] really gives them a laboratory to improve our technologies going forward.

“And that’s really important. It’s one thing to do it in a lab and on a computer, but it’s a lot different when you put a hard hat, a set of safety goggles, and safety shoes on, and you go out and you have to install things. It really allows our engineers a great place to be creative.

“Our customer base is excited about it; it’s a great place to talk about ideas, and there’s nothing like looking at the actual hardware to bounce ideas around, because your brain will see things in the real world that it won’t see on a Zoom meeting or something else. It really puts some reality around the creative process for our customers and ourselves.”

The post Real-World PV Tech Development at the ARRAY Tech Research Center appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

Traditionally, tools that help operators, investors, developers, and EPCs assess the long-term profitability and total cost of ownership of such projects were hard to come by or nonexistent. Now, there are proven ways to forecast and implement strategies geared toward the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

Getting out of the traditional, CapEx-focused mindset is key. If the majority of a project’s focus is aimed at reducing upfront spending, key questions are left unanswered. What if, post-warranty, a tracker fails? What impact do operating expenses have on long-term profitability?

The history of utility-scale PV solar development is littered with projects that took this CapEx focus and placed much less emphasis on operating expenditure. This has led to higher than predicted operations and maintenance (O&M) costs, decreased plant efficiency, hamstrung disaster recovery resiliency, and lowered profitability.

The selection of the right partners – and the right single-axis solar tracker – can eliminate those negative outcomes.

How Leading Single-Axis Trackers Save PV Plant Projects Money in the Long Run

There’s a common misconception surrounding high-quality single-axis solar trackers like the ARRAY DuraTrack® HZ v3–because they lead the industry in quality and performance, they must also lead the industry in expense, particularly capital expenditure.

In fact, the opposite is true.

ARRAY retained RINA Consulting to act as an independent engineer and perform a lifetime cost comparative assessment of popular single-axis tracker architectures.

RINA leveraged its independently developed PVTrax® cost modeling tool to prepare a case study for a 100 MW sample project.

The assessment found that:

• Net Present Value (NPV) increases over $1.3 million for asset owners using ARRAY trackers
• ARRAY’s centralized architecture lowers LCOE over the plant’s lifetime
• Total lifetime OpEx is reduced by 42% compared to modeled distributed row architectures
• Energy output is elevated compared to trackers using distributed architectures, and
• ARRAY trackers exhibit 7% lower lifetime tracker costs than other trackers modeled

This OpEx improvement is critical for both aging PV plants and new construction. For aging plants, repowering and retrofitting strategies can help raise asset performance and offset higher O&M costs, rising insurance premiums from an inability to withstand damage from extreme weather events, and diminishing power production.

It also empowers new plant projects to more effectively keep pace with lifespan expectations surrounding projects in the current PV plant landscape.

Meeting Lifespan Expectations and Moving Beyond Warranties

This long-term mindset is important moving forward, as definitions of the useful life of plants have now exceeded common warranty periods.

Jose Luis Galo, RINA’s solar technical lead, commented on this shift toward longer-term expectations in the consultant’s report.

“Solar assets are now expected to run beyond 30 years,” he said. “As the PV industry faces increased pressure from lower PPA contracts, stakeholders are increasing their focus on lifetime costs.”

In short, that means that PV plant projects are entering into an arena where long-term estimates regarding how design-phase choices will impact uptime, risk, O&M costs, warranty considerations and plant profitability are front and center. They can make or break a project’s viability.

Single-axis trackers are especially important in these assessments as, despite typically accounting for 12 – 15% of a modern PV plant project’s capital expenditure, they can have a much greater impact on long-term operations and maintenance, reliability, and profitability than that percentage suggests.

Trackers are literally the “foundation” of the plant, and tracker failures, particularly in extreme weather, will negatively impair other components like modules.

Inverters are central points of failure, as they consolidate a large chunk of DC power, but they can be addressed with a focused recovery effort since the quantity across the plant is low. New generation modules represent a major capital expense but have shown an ever-increasing resiliency.

Mounting systems, specifically single-axis trackers, have an even higher material count than modules across the site when all of the required parts and pieces are considered, yet they do not have as much operational history. This means they exhibit the largest risk of asset underperformance – and that they should receive commitment and attention to match during the design phase.

Contact ARRAY Technologies Today

The history of utility-scale PV solar development points to an overwhelming focus on a project’s capital expenditure, with operating expenditure, although analyzed, a distant second.

This has had a dramatic long-term profitability influence on CapEx-focused projects in terms of higher than predicted O&M costs, plant efficiency, plant disaster recovery, weather resiliency, and, ultimately, profitability.

ARRAY is committed to acting as a trusted partner early in the life of a PV plant project to ensure that its design-phase choices and CapEx dollars support the modern mission of extending productive lifespans of these projects to 35 years or more.

To learn more about how ARRAY’s single-axis trackers contribute to that mission, download the RINA report today.

The post After the Warranties: The Importance of OpEx Over CapEx for Utility-Scale PV Solar appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

As this “claiming” of ideal sites continues, developers will see a rise in project placement in less-than-optimal locations that require more design forethought and, nearly always, some amount of land grading to optimize power yield.

Grading to overcome challenging site terrain can bring oversized expenses and time investment, potentially hamstringing projects before they even begin.

With thoughtful design and leveraging single-axis trackers with high tolerances for challenging, undulating site terrain, excessive grading can be avoided.

Over-Grading Costs You Money and Time

Site grading adds a costly and time-consuming step to an already complex timeline. Worse, “over-grading,” so to speak, can result from choosing a sub-optimal tracker design that can unnecessarily drive-up project costs.

The time spent grading may even overshadow hard costs, particularly when research needs to be completed regarding the potential environmental impact of site alteration.

A recent study from the University of Michigan of select solar projects in California put some numbers to the average grading needs of a utility-scale PV plant project. Of the six projects studied, none needed fewer than 1,000,000 cubic yards of grading work completed, and the highest required upward of 8,000,000 cubic yards.

1,000,000 cubic yards of soil is the equivalent of 972,000 tons. 8,000,000 cubic yards of soil is approximately 7,776,000 tons. Project Managers faced with a civil engineering effort of this scale can do the math in their heads on the high cost of site grading.

To put one project’s grading effort into a fantastic visual, the University of Michigan study details that if one project’s substantial pre-build earthwork “were placed onto a football field, the mound of soil would be over a mile in height.”

Let’s look at a real-world project example. A recent ARRAY Technologies project spotlights the value a tracker with high terrain flexibility can offer. A decentralized tracker was estimated by civil engineers to require the following grading requirements for their tracker:

• Cut – 637,000 Cubic Yards
• Fill – 251,000 Cubic Yards
• Net – 386,000 Cubic Yards of Cut

ARRAY’s centralized and flexibly linked DuraTrack single-axis tracker was able to eliminate a vast amount of this grading requirement. Here was the estimate of the grading effort from ARRAY’s engineers, using DuraTrack:

• Cut – 243,000 Cubic Yards
• Fill – 114,000 Cubic Yards
• Net – 129,000 Cubic Yards of Cut

The decentralized tracker required 160% more grading. This additional effort would have required 25,700 additional dump truck trips to move the cut on site or to a distant disposal site.

The reason? DuraTrack’s extreme terrain flexibility allows for a more precise analysis of how the plant’s energy production will be affected by grading­­ – calculating when “over-grading” is unnecessary.

The bottom line is this – while some amount of grading is almost certainly unavoidable, adding more grading than necessary to a project significantly affects the project budget and timeline.

Terrain Flexible Single-Axis Trackers Eliminate the Grading Roadblock

When assessing a potential utility-scale PV site, it is essential to get your tracker vendor engaged as early as possible, as the foundation of power plant tracker selection is key to adapting to terrain challenges.

By using flexible, single-axis solar trackers designed to handle challenging site terrain, utility-scale PV plants can optimize power production while mitigating the expensive process of grading a site to produce more ideal conditions.

This translates directly into profitability for PV plants, and terrain flexibility empowers developers to more easily optimize layouts to increase energy production without significant disruption.

ARRAY Technologies DuraTrack^® HZ v3 delivers terrain flexibility and optimized production yield in several ways:

• Power density is optimized by eliminating “module dead spaces” caused by motors and bearings, minimizing the gap between modules and allowing for an increase in the area where panels can be mounted.
• Linked, articulated drivelines accommodate different site slopes without requiring grading to make a site flatter.
• Engineered simplicity – fewer moving parts – reduces overall component failure risk and increases reliability over the 30+ year lifespan of a modern PV power plant, lowering overall cost of ownership.

DuraTrack^® is flexible enough to handle uneven terrain, eliminating the need for grading, helping contractors, engineers, EPCs, and asset owners increase project profitability and long-term value.

Combining DuraTrack with ARRAY’s software solution, SmarTrack  aids in navigating complex terrain, allowing for optimal backtracking, low-light module adjustments, and advanced machine learning related to row height differences and uneven site terrain.

Flexibly Linked Single-axis Solar Trackers: The Best of Both Worlds

Improved utility-scale PV power plant design, and improved bankability, results from finding the right balance of equipment and grading. When that balance is struck, even non-ideal sites can produce tremendous results.

Finding the sweet spot where both grading and foundation design are optimized is, in some cases, a million-dollar question – and it is one that is often made without proper due diligence, based on industry myths, or using site data from previous projects that may be inappropriate.

An often-misunderstood concept is that centralized solar tracking solutions aren’t flexible or able to contour with natural undulations in the land. ARRAY’s elegant tracking solution provides harmony between the flexibly linked single-axis architecture while relying on the natural savings that come from reduced parts when compared to a decentralized tracking solution.

ARRAY engineers help clients optimize a plant design that answers the challenge of finding the right ­– and most cost-effective – balance between tracker layout vs. grading.

How does ARRAY help EPCs and developers answer the grading question? ARRAY trackers offer extremely high tolerances for terrain flexibility. DuraTrack allows for up to 40% grades in the east-west direction and 26% in the north-south direction. Additionally, post reveal heights are, from a design perspective, practically limitless, and typically determined by budget and wind requirements. This flexibility allows project engineers and designers to more accurately optimize tracker and grading costs.

To learn more about how we can help you optimize your design regardless of how challenging the terrain, contact us today.

The post ARRAY’s Solar Tracker Terrain Flexibility Helps Curb Grading Costs, Optimize PV Plant Projects appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

A safety issue in utility-scale PV projects that’s NOT often discussed is extreme weather risk to a partially completed power plant. Typically, the build phase for utility-scale plants is three months or longer. During that time, plant components are pieced together to an exacting workflow by skilled laborers to ensure a safe, efficient, and error-free build.

But there are still risks.

Take tracker systems for example. Depending on the design, many single-axis trackers can’t enable built-in weather risk mitigation technology until AFTER construction is almost complete or until the project is commissioned and operational. That efficient workflow to ensure safety and speed up project delivery with decentralized trackers can leave them exposed during the crucial construction months, especially to wind and hail events. As anemometers, wireless networks, power supplies, charge controllers, batteries, and motors wait to be connected, there’s a vulnerability to wind and hail.

Active stow response is the culprit here. Trackers that rely on this weather risk strategy leave structures and installed modules at risk waiting for thousands of parts to be connected and powered.

If your site encounters wind and hail during that three-month or longer build phase, the risk of damage pre-commissioning is real. And insurers and lenders are becoming more sensitive to this risk. The recent hardening of commercial insurance markets in the U.S. points this out.

If you are constructing with a tracker system that relies on active stow to mitigate wind and hail events, how does waiting for the tracker’s active stow activation affect your risk tolerance?

Are you willing to tolerate that risk exposure for 60 days? 90 days?

How do you mitigate this vulnerability until the active stow is functional?

Are lenders, financiers, or insurers willing to tolerate this build phase risk?

ARRAY Technologies answers these questions with a patented passive response technology.

Our passive mechanical wind mitigation is fully functional beginning with the proper assembly of the FIRST row. ARRAY Technologies’ philosophy of engineered simplicity means no waiting for the installation of literally thousands of more components. Requiring 167 fewer parts on average than a tracker with an active stow response, ARRAY’s design also reduces risk by vastly reducing components that over time will have a failure rate that’s proven to reduce uptime and production over the 30+ year expected lifecycle of a modern PV power plant.

ARRAY engineers spend a lot time thinking about wind speed, hail response, and eliminating the probability of wind and hail damage to our trackers, both during construction and after commissioning.

Download our white paper “Wind and Hail Risk Mitigation and the Firming of Commercial Insurance Markets for Utility-Scale Solar Power Plants”  to learn more about our patented passive weather risk mitigation technology and how we can help reduce your weather risk.

The post What’s Your Risk Tolerance During Construction of a Utility-Scale PV Solar Power Plant: Active Stow vs. Passive Mitigation appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

The plant has created hundreds of local jobs and become a beacon in the march toward innovation and sustainability, promising to generate approximately 1.2 TW/h of solar energy annually. To put it in perspective, that’s enough to power more than 100,000 U.S. homes. And it’s driven by ARRAY Technologies.

Enel Green Power, the operator of the Roadrunner solar farm, selected ARRAY DuraTrack® single-axis solar trackers for their utility-scale photovoltaic solar plant, helping the plant’s incredible number of bifacial solar panels live up to their expansive power-producing potential.

More About Roadrunner

When complete, the Roadrunner solar farm will sprawl over an incredible 2,770 acres and have an oversized impact on our shared environment by avoiding the emission of over 800,000 tons of CO2 per year.

And the energy produced at Roadrunner is already set to be leveraged by some true titans of the food service and cleaning product industries, with Mondelez International signing on for a 12-year, 65MW power purchase agreement and The Clorox Company for a 12-year, 70MW power purchase agreement.

For Mondelez, this energy will be enough to produce half of the Oreos produced in the U.S. annually, and Clorox’s PPA represents around half of the company’s 100% renewable energy goal, which it originally hoped to achieve by 2025.

The project is also driving growth “at home,” with Enel Green creating local jobs, making investments in local education and emergency response initiatives, and generating approximately $60 million in new tax revenue over the life of the project.

The Upton County, Texas project was also integrated into an operating wind project area, meaning that the land is contributing to the world’s clean energy efforts in more ways than one. This integration is a model for the future of such projects.

Add it all up, and Roadrunner has done something extraordinary, converting a landscape being used for very little into an integral part of the world’s push toward sustainable, renewable energy.

“This milestone emphasizes the scale of Enel Green Power’s capability to develop, build and operate projects across diverse geographies and technologies in the U.S.,” said Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America. “We continue to aggressively pursue opportunities for growth in North America, capitalizing on strong C&I demand for sustainable power and accelerating the transition to a carbon-free economy.”

Why ARRAY?

With so much potential for Roadrunner’s bifacial solar modules to power that march toward true sustainability, Enel Green needed solar trackers to provide proven performance and real, consistent results.

Enter the ARRAY DuraTrack® single-axis solar tracker.

DuraTrack is the result of three decades of field-tested design improvements, allowing it to fulfill ARRAY’s mission of bringing the solar industry innovations that power real advancements by becoming the most durable, reliable tracking system under the sun.

Featuring streamlined installation thanks to a single-bolt module clamp and forgiving tolerances, the DuraTrack doesn’t sacrifice performance, offering flexibly linked architecture that maximizes power density and promoting uptime with an innovative use of far fewer components than other options and a failure-free wind management system.

Put it all together, and the DuraTrack delivers the industry’s highest power density, cutting-edge terrain adaptability, greater reliability and absolutely zero scheduled maintenance.

For massive projects like the Roadrunner solar farm, that translates into:

• 99.996% Uptime
• 7% Lower LCOE
• 31% Lower Lifetime O&M

These savings and the performance guaranteed by DuraTrack trackers are integral to fulfilling Roadrunner’s mission to not only lead the way toward a more sustainable future but invest in the local community and ensure the operation is as future-proof and scalable as possible.

It’s simple – when you choose to leverage the best and most innovative technology available, you ensure you’re ready for whatever lies ahead.

Contact ARRAY Today

ARRAY has been manufacturing solar projects in Albuquerque, New Mexico since 1989 and has supplied more than 10 gigawatts to commercial and utility-scale projects around the globe, displaying a proven track record of success as pioneers in the solar power industry.

With a specialized focus on solar trackers, ARRAY has positioned itself as a true partner in efforts to boost return on investment and lower LCOE, and we’re ready to help you do just that.

Contact us to learn more about the DuraTrack single-axis solar tracker or request a quote today.

The post ARRAY Technologies and DuraTrack® at Roadrunner Solar appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.

The massive Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid distributes energy to the biggest state in the continental U.S. Through large-scale utility projects and tracker design options that meet individual site needs, ARRAY has helped solve some Texas-sized problems.

Step back and think about the fact that ERCOT holds its place among just two other power grids in the entire 48 lower states. The Lone Star State maintains its own grid to steer clear of federal oversight. It’s clear that Texas still has a little Wild West running through it.

However, the unique situation of ERCOT running an independent grid offers both advantages and disadvantages in terms of energy production and distribution. Solar is playing a part in smoothing out the disadvantages.

The State of Texas Utility Power 

In 2019, Texas saw a 13% increase in energy rates over the 2018 average while the rest of the country saw a decrease. It was a brutally hot summer that sent energy demands through the roof and tested the limits of the independent grid.

ERCOT delivers power to a large portion of Texas and, on occasion in the past, to other nearby grids. Through its history, the indie grid has sent power out to Oklahoma and imported power from Mexico during looming or active blackouts. This has led to messy legal issues and insecurity.

The good news is that things are changing. 2020 already looks better due to more renewables, including a significant increase in online solar.

Renewable Goals and LCOE

Despite being born of oil, Texas is now a state that’s embracing solar in the 2020s. Austin Energy and other utilities across the state have major goals for renewables. Austin is shooting for 65% renewables by 2027. Widescale solar is playing a major part in hitting those numbers.

At ARRAY, our focus is always on making more efficient systems and lowering the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for project developers. Helping increase a project’s ROI means ARRAY helps create more clean solar energy in Texas and around the world.

Our thoughtfully designed trackers are populating one of the largest bifacial solar plants in the Americas (in Texas) along with many other design deployments to maximize sun capture in the Lone Star State. We have to say, it feels great to be part of the solution.

A fast-growing population and prosperous business environment challenges Texas’s power grid, and severe weather events like hail, tornadoes, and flooding make logistics and construction challenging. On the other hand, Texas has so much space and access to transmission lines that in many ways it is ideal for major solar sites. Getting those sites up and running quickly and making sure they are secure in extreme weather (including wind and hail) is where ARRAY trackers really make all the difference for successful utility-scale developers and site owners.

How does contributing over 2GW of solar trackers to some of the most significant solar projects on the ground in Texas feel? It generates some Texas-sized feelings of pride.

Travis Rose, Vice President of Sales–North America for ARRAY Technologies, is both a Texas resident as well as a graduate of the University of Texas.

The post Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including the Power Challenges appeared first on ARRAY Technologies.