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 notes that 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 small and the landscape is highly fragmented and hilly. Additionally, 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 sees Solargik as well positioned with its self-developed, integrated software for planning, monitoring and controlling the trackers, and specifically for agri-PV sites, for optimising overall production (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 supplied Gonvarri Solar Steel last year in Italy, bringing its total 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, as well as 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, also supplied 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 initial rapid design assistance 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, not only can the energy yield of the system be simulated, but also the light incidence on the ground—meaning the 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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