The global solar market continues to grow at a brisk pace, with almost 100 GW of new systems deployed in 2017, according to GTM Research. Utility-scale groundmount systems comprise by far the largest portion of the newly installed capacity, with single-axis trackers (SATs) chosen for the majority of those installations. The increasing popularity of trackers comes largely from their proven ability to harvest 15–25% more solar energy compared to fixed-mount systems. Pairing advanced photovoltaic (PV) technology such as bifacial modules with SATs is also attracting significant interest, given the even-greater potential energy gains.
Moreover, when trackers using bifacial modules are integrated with DCcoupled energy storage solutions, energy production that might be lost to inverter clipping can be captured, opening the door for further optimized system designs. As power purchase agreement (PPA) prices continue to fall, asset owners are looking for ways to harvest even more energy—and further maximize their financial returns—from their solar investments.