Combination of Trackers and Bifacial Modules Set to Boom

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  • New analysis predicts more than 150 GW of tracker capacity will be installed in the next five years โ€“ around a third of all ground mount projects up to 2024.
  • Rapid growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and the better cost structures possible from combining trackers and bifacial modules are singled out as key trends.

Business intelligence firmย IHS Markitย says more than 150 GW of solar capacity will harnessย tracker technologyย up to 2024. While the U.S. is expected to remain the largest tracker market, rapid growth in other regions will drive the technology to feature in around a third of all new ground mount installations.

In itsย Global PV Tracker Market Report โ€“ 2019, IHS Markit forecasts an upsurge in installations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), led by growing demand for utility scale PV in southern Europe and the Middle East.

The report predicts increased competition in the region with dominant suppliersย PV Hardwareย andย Soltecย โ€“ which have taken more than half the EMEA market to date โ€“ ceding ground to European rivals such asย Convertย andย Ideematecย and with Trina Solar subsidiaryย NCLAVEย scaling up. U.S. giantsย Nextrackerย andย Array Technologiesย are also moving onto the two Spanish giantsโ€™ turf.

Regional breakdown

Despite rapid growth in the EMEA region, the Americas will continue to represent the largest market, led by installations in the United States andย Mexico. Asia may represent the smallest of the three mega-regions the report slices the market into but still has significant tracker expectations, withย Australia, China andย Indiaย all forecast to appear in IHS Markitโ€™s top ten tracker markets list and to account for a combined 30 GW of capacity.

Rising demand forย bifacial modulesย is also helping boost demand for trackers, thanks to their potential to boost panel output even further and drive down the cost per watt for tracker systems.

โ€œTheย cost delta between bifacial and monofacial modulesย has narrowed in recent years,โ€ reads the report. โ€œBy 2020-2021 IHS Markit forecasts the price gap will become relatively insignificant compared to the efficiency gains.โ€

Author: Mark Hutchins

This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.

 

 

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