Photovoltaic

Plants with Solar Trackers (Conventional and Thin Film)

Introduction to Technology

As the sun moves across the sky, solar collectors that can follow its path gather more light and therefore create more electricity. Abengoa Solar installs PV plants with tracking modules that follow the sun across either 1 or 2 axes. When 2 axis tracking is used, it is possible for the PV panels to follow the sun exactly, resulting in increased performance.

Requirements

Tracking PV plants often utilize conventional or thin film semiconductors since more expensive semiconductor technology is often not economically feasible. For tracking PV plants to be feasible, certain requirements must be met:

Favorable Weather:Economic feasibility and performance feasibility depends on the amount of radiation that falls onto the PV panels.
Topography: A flat surface eases the design and construction of a solar plant.
Grid connectivity: In order to take advantage of the electricity produced by a solar plant it must be able to easily connect to the electric grid.

1 axis sketch

2 axes sketch


1 tracker axis	2 tracker axes

Land Requirements for 1 MW Plants

The following table shows the total area needed to construct tracking PV installations of 1 MW capacity. Accompanying the area (in acres) are the length and width (in meters).