I think those birds had an issue with the drone. That one buzzed it.. 2' away.. I must installed a dual axis tracker. I'm in it for the long run.. so yes, It's worth it.
Thanks for a very interesting video! A few thoughts on your analysis: Your installation costs are extremely low, about 1/3 of the $3/W which is the rule of thumb in the US for large systems. Is this realistic? Your installed cost for the tracker is only 26% more than the non tracking, this seems very low. Your maintenance costs on the tracking system of $1250 per year seem very low indeed for such a large system. You will have failures and they must be repaired promptly to maintain system efficiency, so you will have additional monitoring costs compared to a static system and I suspect the actual maintenance cost will be significantly higher than your estimate. Finally, your assumption that the ROI should be based on a fixed rated capacity as opposed to a fixed budget is interesting. From a financial project comparison perspective, unless you face a constraint in rated capacity, I would think you would compare the two ROI's based on a fixed budget, with the size of each system being driven by that budget. Thus the fixed system would be larger and you would be comparing $/KWH for two similarly priced systems. However, it may be that you were constrained by capacity instead, as for example many home solar installations are constrained in rated output by the local power company. This is the situation that I face, and I'm looking into retrofitting a tracking system now so as to actually generate a higher percentage of rated output. It would be great to publish your calculator and parameterize all of your inputs to the calculator so that we can try modeling systems with different assumptions. Thanks again!
Great analysis and a good point since once you are in this scenario you want to get more power even If upfront cost is more... you are still using it
We’ve been running duel axis for over 7 years doesn’t miss a beat and no cleaning of panels required
Interesting. Obviously good quality components and I assume a decent maintenance schedule.
I think those birds had an issue with the drone. That one buzzed it.. 2' away.. I must installed a dual axis tracker. I'm in it for the long run.. so yes, It's worth it.
Thanks for your input.
Thanks for a very interesting video! A few thoughts on your analysis:
Your installation costs are extremely low, about 1/3 of the $3/W which is the rule of thumb in the US for large systems. Is this realistic?
Your installed cost for the tracker is only 26% more than the non tracking, this seems very low.
Your maintenance costs on the tracking system of $1250 per year seem very low indeed for such a large system. You will have failures and they must be repaired promptly to maintain system efficiency, so you will have additional monitoring costs compared to a static system and I suspect the actual maintenance cost will be significantly higher than your estimate.
Finally, your assumption that the ROI should be based on a fixed rated capacity as opposed to a fixed budget is interesting. From a financial project comparison perspective, unless you face a constraint in rated capacity, I would think you would compare the two ROI's based on a fixed budget, with the size of each system being driven by that budget. Thus the fixed system would be larger and you would be comparing $/KWH for two similarly priced systems. However, it may be that you were constrained by capacity instead, as for example many home solar installations are constrained in rated output by the local power company. This is the situation that I face, and I'm looking into retrofitting a tracking system now so as to actually generate a higher percentage of rated output.
It would be great to publish your calculator and parameterize all of your inputs to the calculator so that we can try modeling systems with different assumptions.
Thanks again!
Thankyou. Fairly realistic but obviously installation costs do vary depending on many factors.
Does your annualized maintenance consider cleaning the dust off of the solar panels to increase the panels efficiency?
Yes it does. Particularly important if offering a PPA.
I didn't watch the entire video, but I don't like moving parts and a couple of mechanical failures could change the ROI greatly.
Cost benefit analysis. Moving parts, not the best BUT throw in time of use considerations and maybe trackers are the way to go.
goooot jooob!!!!
Cheers.
I disagree. I’ve tested this and can double the output by just manually adjusting my panels
Cost benefit analysis but if you are talking East West and North South, agreed.