According to Eliav Rodman, Senior Director Marketing, the Israeli manufacturer Solargik has already completed or is currently constructing around 300 MW of tracker projects in Italy. He says the company’s main advantage in the country lies in its compact trackers, equipped with short tables and small drive motors, which can be flexibly adapted to uneven terrain. In Italy, unlike Spain, land parcels tend to be smaller and the landscape is highly fragmented and hilly. In addition, solar installations on agricultural land are permitted primarily in the form of agri-PV.
Solargik’s flexible tracker design is well suited to these conditions, including systems for vineyards that can be elevated to heights of over 7 metres. Rodman also says the company is well positioned with its self-developed, integrated software for planning, monitoring and controlling trackers, and specifically for agri-PV sites, for optimising overall production of electricity and crops with corresponding visualisation. The software is offered on a yearly subscription basis.
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More than 500 MW of trackers were supplied by Gonvarri Solar Steel in Italy last year, bringing its total installed capacity in the country to over 1 GW, Marcos Voces Dominguez from the Global Marketing & Business Intelligence unit told pv Europe. The Spanish manufacturer offers a multi-product platform featuring single- and dual-row trackers, tracking control systems and fixed mounting structures for both ground-mounted and rooftop installations. The company also provides trackers designed for uneven terrain and for agri-PV applications, with heights ranging from 30 centimetres to 2.1 metres, along with planning and monitoring software. Companies such as SL Rack (Germany), Energy5 (Poland) and numerous Italian providers also presented tracker solutions for agri-PV at KEY.
Hans-Christoph Neidlein
Virto Solar from Belgium specialises in software solutions for designing and monitoring commercial rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems. Several packages are available: Virto Max for rapid initial design with yield simulation for sales support, Virto CAD for engineering larger systems including cabling, and Virto Core for rooftop installations by partner companies such as Esdec (which also includes Schletter) or Van der Valk. For agri-PV applications, the software can simulate not only the system’s energy yield but also light incidence on the ground and thus the potential yield of agricultural crops, according to Jerry Michels, Customer Success Team Lead, in conversation with pv Europe at KEY in Rimini. (hcn)
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