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This article describes the option of creating a design with multi-row trackers - two or more trackers that are rotated by the same motor.
Frame and park settings
Under Frame and park settings, go to the Frame creation tab and choose or create a Single-axis tracker-type frame. Under Frame parameters, enable the checkbox "Multi-row trackers". In the right part of the window, two trackers with a mechanical linkage will be displayed.
In the Settings window, the amount of rows, motor position and the angle limits of the trackers can be defined:
Motor position: Here, we can select on which of the trackers the motor should be positioned.
For dual-row:
For multirow:
Maximum North-South slope (BETA) - this is the maximum angle difference permitted between two frames in the North-South direction. This is showcased in the illustration on the right side of the window.
In the above example, the N-S slope of table 1 should not differ by more than 2% from the N-S slope of table 2.
Maximum East-West slope, (GAMMA) - this is the maximum angle between two frames in the East-West direction. This is showcased in the illustration on the right
side of the window.
Once these parameters have been configured, the piling can be defined individually for the tables with and the tables without motors:
The last steps in the Frame and Park settings window consist of choosing the desired placement setup and configuring the park settings according to the project specifications.
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Area generation and civil analysis
Once the area gets generated, it will be filled with single-axis trackers arranged already in a dual-row pattern:
Layout information
In Layout information, the trackers will be counted individually, in the following plant there will be 896 single trackers, meaning 448 dual-row arrays, 448 tables with motors, and 448 without:
Civil Analysis
Frames that exceed either of the defined maximum angles will be marked in specific colors during generation. These colors can be changed according to the users needs. Example below:
More information about the angles can be obtained by opening the slope analysis tab of the Civil analysis window and clicking on Show details:
In the following picture, the frames are red because the N-S slope of table 1 differs more than 2% from the N-S table slope of table 2 (3.16%-0.67% > 2%):
Whereas in the following picture, the tables are red because the East-West slope between the tables doesn't meet the constraints (7.59% > 6%):
Currently, PVcase doesn't offer any corrective measures for tables where these constraints are not met.
However, the slope analysis, collision analysis, and Ground Grading can be used on the individual trackers as usual (please refer to the corresponding articles).
Electrical design
Electrical design for dual-row trackers can be done in the same way it is done for individual trackers.