Mass-Manufactured, Air-Driven Trackers for Low-Cost, High-Performance Photovoltaic Systems
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Energy Research and Development Division FINAL PROJECT REPORT Mass-Manufactured, Air- Driven Trackers for Low- Cost, High-Performance Photovoltaic Systems Gavin Newsom, Governor July 2020 | CEC-500-2020-046 PREPARED BY: Primary Authors: Leila Madrone Gwen Rose Sunfolding, Inc. 1040 Mariposa St San Francisco, CA 94107 Phone: 1-866-763-5364 https://www.sunfolding.com Contract Number: EPC-14-025 PREPARED FOR: California Energy Commission Silvia Palma-Rojas, Ph.D. Project Manager Jonah Steinbuck, Ph.D. Office Manager ENERGY GENERATION RESEARCH OFFICE Laurie ten Hope Deputy Director ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION Drew Bohan Executive Director DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as the result of work sponsored by the California Energy Commission. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Commission, its employees, or the State of California. The Energy Commission, the State of California, its employees, contractors, and subcontractors make no warranty, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this report; nor does any party represent that the uses of this information will not infringe upon privately owned rights. This report has not been approved or disapproved by the California Energy Commission, nor has the California Energy Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the infor- mation in this report. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was made possible in part by funding from the California Energy Commission. Special acknowledgements are extended to Sunfolding’s partners on this project: iii PREFACE The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Energy Research and Development Division supports energy research and development programs to spur innovation in energy efficiency, renewable energy and advanced clean generation, energy-related environmental protection, energy transmission and distribution and transportation. In 2012, the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) was established by the California Public Utilities Commission to fund public investments in research to create and advance new energy solutions, foster regional innovation and bring ideas from the lab to the marketplace. The CEC and the state’s three largest investor-owned utilities—Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Edison Company—were selected to administer the EPIC funds and advance novel technologies, tools, and strategies that provide benefits to their electric ratepayers. The CEC is committed to ensuring public participation in its research and development programs that promote greater reliability, lower costs, and increase safety for the California electric ratepayer and include: • Providing societal benefits. • Reducing greenhouse gas emission in the electricity sector at the lowest possible cost. • Supporting California’s loading order to meet energy needs first with energy efficiency and demand response, next with renewable energy (distributed generation and utility scale), and finally with clean, conventional electricity supply. • Supporting low-emission vehicles and transportation. • Providing economic development. • Using ratepayer funds efficiently. Mass-Manufactured, Air Driven Trackers for Low Cost, High Performance Photovoltaic Systems is the final report for the Sunfolding project (Contract Number EPC-14-025) conducted by Sunfolding, Inc. The information from this project contributes to the Energy Research and Development Division’s EPIC Program. For more information about the Energy Research and Development Division, please visit the CEC’s research website (www.energy.ca.gov/research/) or contact the CEC at 916-327-1551. iv ABSTRACT Sunfolding designs and manufactures simple solar trackers using high volume, low cost manufacturing to create a solar tracking system powered by air. The result is a single-axis tracker that lowers the levelized cost of electricity by making solar power plants easier to design, faster to install, and smoother to operate. The objectives of this project were to (1) investigate techniques to reduce installation and implementation time and material costs and (2) gather and analyze environmental and operating data to assess manufacturing and system performance. The culmination of the project was a 300-kilowatt demonstration field at Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications in Davis, California. The results demonstrate that the technology has met or exceeded industry standards for tracking accuracy, uptime, and availability. Sunfolding’s single-axis tracker features: a modular design that fits into irregular-shaped sites, enabling flexible site layouts that can add up to 20 percent more capacity on a site and lower fixed costs; and only three components, which reduces installation time by half and lowers maintenance requirements by having 95 percent fewer maintenance locations. Using the air-driven technology rather than traditional trackers, Sunfolding’s team estimates a 20 percent improvement in the levelized cost of electricity and a 26.7 percent increase in the internal rate of return on a 100-megawatt site. By lowering project costs and the levelized cost of electricity, the air-driven tracker improves project profitability for customers and, by extension, lowers the cost of electricity to ratepayers. Keywords: solar, photovoltaics, single-axis tracking, modular air-driven trackers, mass- manufacturable trackers Please use the following citation for this report: Madrone, Leila, Gwen Rose. 2020. Mass-Manufactured, Air-Driven Trackers for Low-Cost, High-Performance Photovoltaic Systems. California Energy Commission. Publication Number: CEC-500-2020-046. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... iii PREFACE ........................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 Sunfolding Background ..................................................................................................2 Sunfolding Tracker Overview ..........................................................................................2 Project Purpose ................................................................................................................3 Project Process ................................................................................................................3 Project Results .................................................................................................................3 Technology Transfer Activities ...........................................................................................4 Benefits to California ........................................................................................................4 Conclusions and Next Steps ..............................................................................................4 CHAPTER 1: Scale-Up, Design, and Procurement ..................................................................7 Test Site Development......................................................................................................7 Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Selection .......................................................7 Site Preparation ...............................................................................................................7 Plant Design ....................................................................................................................8 Tracker Design .................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 2: Installation .................................................................................................... 10 Installation Process ........................................................................................................ 10 Documentation .............................................................................................................. 10 Installation Manual ...................................................................................................... 10 Construction Documents .............................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 3: Testing and Verification .................................................................................. 11 Sunfolding Test Program ................................................................................................ 11 Field Testing .................................................................................................................. 11 Instrumentation ............................................................................................................. 11 Environmental Data Collection ......................................................................................... 12 Wind........................................................................................................................... 12 Temperature ..............................................................................................................