One of the simplest and most cost-effective solutions to maximise energy capture is panel washing. “We design, engineer and monitor each of our installations to ensure industry-leading performance. Data from our installations shows that we are consistently overproducing estimates from programs such as PVSyst by 4-9% each month,” said Bill Taylor, PV Tracker CEO.
“In the design of every one of our power plants, we incorporate serviceability, which includes an automatic wash mode, into the layout. This capability is unique to the PVT 6.0DX tracker, and it decreases our customer’s annual O&M costs,” Taylor continues.
At one array owned by rice producer, Red Top, when energy production decreased due to accumulated dust from the rice drying process, a washing was scheduled with PV Trackers. Using web-based software, PVT was able to facilitate the cleaning from their Operations Centre in Bend, Oregon, by sending positioning instructions to the field of trackers. The PVT Site Master software positioned the trackers in a nearly-vertical orientation to allow room for a water truck with a high-pressure washer to drive between the rows of trackers. Washing was completed at a rate of 15 seconds/ tracker during off-peak hours, requiring no down-time. PV Trackers provides a quick, cost-effective solution to washing panels that is unique to the solar industry.
“In this economy we are always looking for ways to decrease our rice production costs, so a 10% increase in energy production substantially helps the bottom line. PV Trackers made it easy to schedule and operate our panel washing,” said Steve Cribari, VP of Operations for Red Top Rice Growers, Inc.
PV Trackers is an optimal solution for ground-mounted commercial and utility-scale solar projects. In comparison to a fixed-rack system, PV Trackers PVT 6.0DX dual-axis trackers increase MWhr production around 40%. Other services provided by PV Trackers include: site evaluations; project feasibility studies; assistance with permitting; installation training; commissioning support; remote site monitoring and 24/7 security.
PV Trackers’ headquarters, which houses an advanced research and development facility, is located in Central Oregon with manufacturing done domestically in the US.
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