Australia’s Utility-Scale Solar Boom: New Report Draws Attention to Technology Risk and its Financial Impacts
Significant O&M cost variations among solar tracker architectures
SYDNEY, Australia: Australia is home to one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world. With more than 80 percent of Australian utility-scale projects utilizing trackers, the technology is an important topic of discussion at this week’s Australia Clean Energy Summit in Sydney.
Today, Array Technologies released a regional report highlighting the impacts of tracker reliability on PV power plant viability and long-term asset value. Drawing on independent research and analysis from TÜV Rheinland, the report provides insights into the Australian PV market and a detailed investigation into the engineering, design and operation of centralized and decentralized tracker architectures.
The study found that Array’s centralized tracker architecture delivers levelized cost of energy (LCOE) savings of US $12.41-million on a 100-megawatt (MW) project when compared to decentralized technology over the lifetime of the system. This is largely due to lower scheduled and unscheduled maintenance costs, with decentralized architectures having thousands more components, such as batteries and motors.
“Array sites require vastly lower O&M simply because there are over 150 times fewer components that need to be maintained,” said Ron Corio, founder of Array Technologies,“This is particularly important for solar investments in the Australian market, where unscheduled maintenance callouts are costly, and component replacement is time consuming and logistically challenging.”
Array Technologies, the pioneer of solar tracking technology, has seen significant gains in the Australian market, quickly obtaining 38 percent market share according to Rystad Energy. In the last 18 months, Array Technologies has been awarded 15 projects, amounting to more than 1-gigawatt of new solar capacity.
“The Australian utility-scale solar market is booming. Our solar trackers are being installed across the nation, with the highest concentration in Queensland, but New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia are also adopting the technology at a fast rate,” said Jeff Krantz, senior vice president at Array Technologies, “Given this world-leading uptake of tracking technology, it is crucial for solar investors to be knowledgeable about the risks and financial impacts of the different tracker technologies on the market.”
To learn more about the impact of tracker reliability on utility-scale solar in Australia, please download the report here: http://www.arraytechinc.com/australia-tracker-report.
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About Array Technologies
Array Technologies, Inc. is the leading solar tracking solutions and services provider for utility-scale projects. With efficient installation and terrain flexibility coupled with high reliability, durability, and performance, Array delivers the best project returns in the industry. As the chosen tracker for more than 25 GW years of energy production, Array’s products have been optimized through unparalleled experience garnered over nearly three decades. Array Technologies is headquartered in the United States with offices in Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Australia. For more information, please visit http://www.arraytechinc.com
Source: arraytechinc
