Technological innovation and increasing investments drive the solar tracker marketWords: Niketan Arawade, Research Analyst, Adroit Market Research

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Global energy consumption is steadily increasing, with an average increase in energy demand twice the year before. The demand was primarily met by fossil fuels, followed by renewable energy sources. In the year 2018, renewables accounted for more than 25% of global electricity supply capacity and this share is expected to increase significantly in the coming years.

Niketan Arawade

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The growing awareness about multiple advantages of solar energy such as cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits over fossil fuels is enabling governments to establish utility grade solar plants to power national grids. In addition to rising energy demand, the falling costs of solar power generation and ambitious environmental policies are encouraging new solar plants to be established.

The solar trackers are a key component in solar power system as much as PV cells and others. Initially, the fixed solar panels were used for only small-scale commercial or residential applications. However, as the popularity and demand for solar energy increased, new utility-scale commercial solar plants were established. Such solar plants required highly efficient solar tracking systems to ensure maximum energy output, hence there was a requirement of solar tracking systems capable of collecting solar energy throughout the day irrespective of the sun’s position. Ever since different type of solar trackers and tracking systems are used to orient solar panels towards the sun at all hours of the day. Today, solar trackers and

solar tracking systems have become are critical components of utility-grade solar power plants.

The solar tracker market is one of the most lucrative market generating $3.90 billion in the year 2017 alone and expected to continue to grow at a cumulative average growth rate close to 25% from 2018 to 2025, according to the research study published by Adroit market research in December 2018. The same study specifies that the market value for solar trackers will cross $25 Billion in value by 2025.

This market is directly dependent on establishing new utility-grade solar plants as the adoption of solar trackers for residential or commercial use is currently lower. The factors such as rising energy demand, heavy consumption and decreasing reserves of fossil fuels are encouraging the establishment of new solar plants as an alternate energy source. Most importantly, rising environmental awareness and government initiatives to encourage the production of solar energy in major countries will significantly fuel the demand for solar trackers.

The most recent example of a government

initiative to encourage solar energy production includes the International Solar Alliance between India and France announced in March 2018.This alliance will primarily focus on offering subsidies to new solar power projects to increase solar infrastructure in India. Similar government initiatives are ongoing across the regions, specifically in Asia, Latin America, and Africa which will subsequently fuel the market for solar trackers in the respective regions.

Other key factors driving the market for solar trackers are consistently falling costs of solar panels and significant advancement of solar technology. Internet of things (IoT) is the major technology impacting the solar power generation industry. The integration of IoT in solar tracking is proving to be highly efficient in terms of improved field coverage and higher energy output.

In addition, the IoT based tracking solutions offer effective on-field resource management and also reduce the cost of field operations. Most leading solar tracker vendors are already offering IoT based solar tracking solutions. For instance, in 2017,

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NEXTracker Inc., a leading solar tech company launched TrueCapture, an intelligent solar tracking system which leverages the IoT platform. The company claims to offer 2 to 3% more energy gains compared to traditional tracking systems.

In general, solar trackers are categorized into two primary design categories; single axis, and dual axis. Dual axis trackers are highly efficient in comparison with single-axis trackers capturing in an average 35% more solar energy in the day time. Still, dual axis trackers are costly compared to single-axis ones. Adroit market research analyst estimated that the market share for single-axis trackers was higher than dual axis trackers in the year 2017.

However, the demand for dual axis trackers is increasing consistently due to its higher energy output capturing capabilities and operational efficiency despite being costly. Recently planned solar power plants are expected to invest primarily in dual-axis solar trackers.

On the end user side, they are mainly used for commercial and industrial utility-scale installations. However, the consistent decline in the cost of solar technology, especially of solar panels and favorable government initiatives, will boost the adoption in the residential segment. The demand for electricity is consistently

increasing and the utility sector is now shifting its focus towards renewable energy sources from traditional fossil fuels-based power generation. Governments are introducing stringent regulations to avoid ever-increasing carbon emission which is enhancing the establishment of large-scale solar power plants, positively benefiting the solar tracker market.

In terms of regional landscape, the United States witnessed the largest installations of solar trackers in the last few years. Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions are the second and third in terms of solar tracker installations respectively. This market is also experiencing strong growth in Latin America, specifically in Mexico and Brazil. The Asian market is driven by new solar plant installations in China, India, and South Asian countries such as Indonesia. These countries are strategically investing in new and utility-scale solar power plants to offer ever-growing energy demand, which will further accelerate the market for solar trackers. Similarly, African and Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE, Egypt, and Morocco are currently investing heavily in new solar installations.

The notable vendors in the solar tracker market are NEXTracker, Array Technologies, and Soitec. The NEXTracker held the largest market share in 2017, accounting for almost one-third of global solar tracker market.

Array Technologies and Soitec are second and third respectively in terms of global market share. Other key vendors in the market include SunPower, Hao solar, Smarttrak, DEGERenergie, Grupo Calvino, Powerway, Scorpius Trackers, Abengoa, Titan Tracker, and Mecasolar. The leading vendors are primarily focusing on new product launches with technological and mechanical advances.

In the future, the vendors offering solar trackers with advanced technology, long term reliability, and cost-effectiveness will lead the market.

https://adroitmarketresearch.com industry-reports/solar-tracker-market

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About Niketan Arawade

Niketan has more than 4 years’ experience in the market research and the consulting industry. He has been part of multiple consulting and market research projects in technology, electronics, automotive and energy domain.

He enjoys writing about new technologies, innovation, and developing markets across the industries.

He currently works for Adroit Market Research.

‘Other key factors driving the market for solar trackers are consistently falling costs of solar panels and

significant advancement of solar technology. Internet of things (IoT) is the major technology impacting the solar

power generation industry. The integration of IoT in solar tracking is proving to be highly efficient in terms of improved field coverage and higher energy output.’