US PV tracker manufacturer Array Technologies has launched a suite of foundation-to-tracker solutions, dubbed Atlas, to improve the connections between Array trackers and foundations provided by APA Solar Racking.
APA is a subsidiary of Array, and the Atlas portfolio consists of two solutions to improve connections between the companies’ products. Atlas I removes steel beams and uses an adjustable rolled steel C-channel and bearing interface to connect foundations, such as a shortened W-beam, to the tracker, which Array says offers greater design flexibility; Atlas II connects engineering foundations with a dual-leg interface and bearing interface and is designed for use in what Array describes as “challenging soil conditions”.
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The latter solution also boasts an “integrated design with fewer connection points” that Array notes has 70% fewer components than the APA A-Frame foundation.
The company also describes this solution as “designed for challenging soil conditions,” which is becoming an increasingly common challenge in the solar industry; as developers look to install projects in new regions that could be exposed to uneven ground, unstable soil or extreme weather, there is a greater need for projects to be resilient to these physical risks.
Earlier this year, risk analysis first Renew Risk launched a “first-of-its-kind” model to assess the impacts of thunderstorms on US utility-scale solar projects, for instance, while testing from the US Renewable Energy Test Centre (RETC) has shown that many modules are ill-equipped to operate in damp heat environments in the long-term. This is to say nothing of hailstorms, which have long been understood to be a significant environmental risk for solar PV projects.
APA CEO Josh Van Deylen added that the new solutions replace a reliance on “steel piles that were never engineered as part of the tracker system”.
“Atlas changes that by bringing the foundation and tracker interface together in a purpose-built solution that helps customers install faster, source more efficiently and execute projects with greater confidence,” he said.
The news follows a number of new product launches from Array as it looks to expand its offerings for solar projects exposed to physical and climactic risks. Last week the company launched a 60-degree version of its DuraTrack single axis tracker in order to deliver better resilience, and last month added a two-row module format to its DuraTrack trackers.
