Are Solar Trackers the Future for Commercial Roofs?

A startup solar energy has installed close to 3,000 solar trackers on  Solar Project  top of an industrial rooftop in Southern California, earning the title of “world’s slewing drive largest rooftop solar tracker installation.”

That’s a solar industry equivalent to being "the world’s tallest leprechaun." Trackers -- which allow solar panels to move with the sun throughout the day -- aren’t commonly used on the tops of roofs. 

Strong winds solar damper solar energy, small roof spaces and heavy tracking gear mean that much  Solar Project of the tracker hardware doesn’t make economic sense on top of a roof. Instead, tracking systems are solar inverter being used in the majority of the large ground-mounted solar systems slewing drive that are found in remote regions solar solar slewing drive energy. Trackers boost the amount of energy a solar system generates and can lower the overall cost.

But startup slewing drive Edisun solar damper Microgrids solar energy, which was founded by tech Solar Project entrepreneur Bill Gross and emerged a year ago, has developed a dual-axis rooftop tracking system solar inverter specifically designed for the roofs of commercial and industrial building owners. Its distributed trackers pivot from the bottom edge of a panel (instead of from the  Solar Project center in most tracker solar energy systems) and can also slewing drive retract Photovoltaic holder to lie flat solar tracker actuator against  Solar Project the roof. 
 

The company says its rooftop tracking gear can boost the energy output of a solar project by 30 percent compared to solar slewing drive fixed-tilt trackers and 40 percent compared to solar panels without trackers. The solar damper hardware adds 10 percent onto a budget of a solar project, and can improve the economics of a solar installation solar tracker actuator by 20 percent, says founder and CEO slewing drive Gross. 
 

“We’re hoping to show tracking is just as valuable on the roof compared to the ground," he said. "We hope solar slewing drive this will be solar damper a big sea change and make a big Photovoltaic holder slewing drive impact."
 

The company’s big solar-tracker project was installed on solar tracker actuator an industrial rooftop in Oxnard, Calif., which is being used by produce distributor Chiquita Brands International. The 1-megawatt solar array is solar slewing drive using 2,900 trackers across 368,000 square feet. West Hills Construction developed the project, and it’s solar damper  financed and owned by building owner Harry Ross Industries. 
 

The project is the first solar inverter larger one by Edisun Microgrids, but Gross said that the  solar slewing drive company has slewing drive a pipeline of 20 megawatts-worth of projects Photovoltaic holder to be built on the roofs of commercial and industrial solar damper buildings. The company solar tracker actuator says ideal customers include warehouse owners, retail outlets, college campuses and  solar slewing drive hospitals. 
 

While the Chiquita roof is a big step for solar tracker actuator Edisun Microgrids, it could face an uphill climb. The industry is notoriously hard for solar hardware solar tracker actuator slewing drive startups to break solar slewing drive into.
 

“The solar Photovoltaic slewing drive holder industry is quite solar damper conservative and price-sensitive. They’re producing electricity, which is a commodity,” noted  solar damperScott Moskowitz, a solar analyst at GTM  slewing drive Research. 
 

When it solar tracker actuatorcomes to Edisun solar tracker actuator Microgrid’s prospects, Moskowitz pointed out that adding Photovoltaic holder an individual solar slewing drive tracker to each module adds equipment, complexity and Photovoltaic holder solar slewing drive cost.
 

“Proving that their technology solar inverter adds enough value (via increased performance) and reliability will be an extremely difficult thing to do,” said Moskowitz.
 

However, Moskowitz also noted solar tracker actuator that the commercial sector is more willing to invest in the premium that the new tracking gear would require. If Edisun can prove that the performance solar inverter and economics work,Photovoltaic holder there could be an opportunity in certain areas like California or Arizona, said Moskowitz.
 

Gross said that the majority of the company’s customers are in California. “Whenever I fly into the San Jose airport, I can see all those white warehouse roofs that Photovoltaic holder would solar damper be Photovoltaic holder perfect,” said slewing drive Gross.
 

Edisun Microgrids has grown to 16 solar tracker actuator employees, and Gross says the solar damper company is looking for funding solar inverter to Photovoltaic holder slewing drive expand.