pv magazine Webinar | Can a tracker be as stable as a fixed tilt?

Initiative partner: Schletter

Getting the best of both worlds! A claim made by mounting-structure manufacturer Schletter, which has brought to the market its new single-axis tracker. Trackers offer yield improvements of up to 20% depending on the location of the site. Allowing the module row to pivot around a central axis, however, renders the structure inherently less stable. Dynamic wind loads can self-excite in result in failure modes like torsional galloping, flutter, or vortex lock-in. Reports of destroyed solar plants have made their way into the mainstream media even.

There are solutions to this problem, and our webinar partner Schletter has brought to the market a novel approach. The tracker design features circular saw-like arches below the module rows, connecting the outer ends of the purlins to the posts. This increases torsional stiffness, and because the arch locks into each post, torsional loads are dissipated into each post instead of accumulating in the torsional shaft along the row. Stable-as-a-fixed-tilt is what manufacturer Schletter says about its system.

Join our webinar, where Cedric Zapfe CTO at Schletter, will explain the design in more detail and talk us through its features. Aside from improved wind stability capabilities, the new system also benefits from individual row motors to enhance tracking of uneven terrain. Cedric will also showcase the slightly tweaked bifacial version of the new tracker. We will also be joined by Gabriel Dechant, responsible for the construction of the system at Schletter, who will provide us a deeper dive into mechanical functions of the design, and wind laboratory expert Hans Ruscheweyh, who will share his insights in wind stability, and how increased torsional stiffness will help mitigate the effects of dynamic wind loads.

Join us, together with our moderator, Marian Willuhn, for your deep dive in next-generation tracker architecture.

Webinar Content:
• New tracker design detailed explanation
• Wind-related failure modes
• Stable-as-a-fixed-tilt? Let the engineers talk
• Bifacial design adaptation

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This webinar was recorded on 10 December 2019.