Skip to main content Back to top

Terrain-following trackers (TFT)

Updated

Introduction

Terrain-following trackers (TFT) represent a revolutionary advancement, enabling the successful deployment of solar energy on sites previously considered unviable.

Terrain-following trackers are a subtype of single-axis trackers that can adapt to the contours of the land, reducing the need for extensive earthwork and grading.

Terrain-following trackers provide several key benefits:

  • They can lower the project costs and risks, as well as minimize the environmental impact of solar power plants on sites with sloped, uneven, and challenging terrain.
  • They simplify pole design as a consistent height can be applied across the installation.
  • They also enable higher power density and energy yield by maximizing the use of available land.
     

You can generate terrain-following trackers in the same way as you would generate other single-axis trackers.

 

Working with terrain-following trackers

Generate the TFT

  1. Under Frame and Park Settings, choose a single-axis tracker type frame preset.
  2. Select the checkbox next to Terrain following trackers.
  3. Input the number of joint gaps/cardan joints.

The terrain-following tracker will be generated with a hinge/cardan at each joint gap.

Adjust pole layout (Custom piling)

In Custom piling, you can adjust the joint layout by modifying the number of PV modules in each Group within the Frame preset. You can also change the motor's position.

You can use the option Place piles at joints or define the pole distances manually.

 

Next, open the Settings and adjust them to match the specifications of the tracker.

 

Adjust mechanical constraints

The angle between each bay is a mandatory setting. All other constraints are optional and will only be applied if they are explicitly selected.

You will see the following mechanical constraints: 

  • Maximum angles between section parts
  • Maximum allowed angle at motor hinge
  • Maximum total slope per wing
  • Maximum torque tube section slope
GM_Terrain-following-trackers_Mechanical-constraints.gif


 

Maximum angles between section parts

This represents the angle change between bays (or section parts of the TFT).

Maximum allowed angle at motor hinge

It represents the angle at the motor hinge.

Maximum total slope per wing

It represents the slope angle difference between the motor center and outer points.

Maximum torque tube section slope

It represents the slope of each bay of the TFT. The slope of each TFT part can't be higher than this slope.


Once the TFT layout has been generated, you will get indicative frames for the ones that don't respect either one of the constraints. 

If the front view is taken, the exact slope angle delta between the segments can be seen:

 

When placing the TFT frames, PVcase Ground Mount does a lot of pole length iterations in the background in order to minimize ground grading. If the angle to be respected is very low, this can significantly increase computing time as the number of iterations will increase.



To learn more about TFTs, visit the following articles:

 


​

Related articles