A new solar tracking technology is increasing energy production by 30% per day, adding to the return on investment of rooftop solar arrays.
Edisun Microgrids, a solar technology company, and West Hills Construction, Inc. announced a partnership to develop up to 20 MW of commercial and industrial rooftop solar projects utilizing Edisun’s rooftop tracking technology. The first project developed under this partnership is a 1.0 MW solar array installed on 368,000 square feet of a 528,000-square-foot cold storage industrial building in Oxnard, Calif. The project utilizes more than 2,900 trackers, making it the world’s largest rooftop tracker installation. The solar power generated by the PV Booster installation will benefit HRI’s tenant Chiquita Brands International.
PV Booster works by tracking the sun throughout the day. It increases energy production by 30% and enhances project economics by 20% when compared to conventional fixed-tilt installations. This helps increase return on investment.
“While all companies would benefit by using PV Booster on their projects, there are three types of customers who would benefit the most,” Bill Gross, CEO and founder of Edison Micrograms, told Energy Manager Today. “The first of these is organizations with large, flat open roofs like warehouses and distribution centers. These customers have the best economics when choosing PV Booster. The second group is customers that are limited by regulation or their utility to a specific size installation. These customers are able to get 30% more energy from a system at the maximum size. The third is customers in regions with time-of-use utility rates. Since the system enables maximum solar power generation during the late afternoon hours, these customers will see even stronger financial returns.”
The installation is financed an owned by Harry Ross Industries, the owner of the building.
“We are longtime supporters of solar energy, both for its environmental and economic benefits,” said Robert Ross, managing partner, Harry Ross Industries. “The addition of PV Booster technology to our Oxnard facility made sense for a number of reasons, in particular because it required less investment to get the same output as a stationary system. It’s also vitally important to HRI that we provide the most environmentally friendly facilities to our tenants. We are confident that we’ve accomplished this mission by deploying Edisun’s cutting edge technology.”
According to Edisun and West Hills, PV Booster solves many challenges that historically prevented trackers from being deployed on commercial and industrial rooftops, including, most importantly, the wind. Through its low profile, high strength design, PV Booster renders the wind a non-issue.