US-based leading tracker supplier Nextracker, backed with a 3 GW installed base in Europe, promoted its NX Horizon-XTR tracker and the proprietary software TrueCapture.

NX Horizon-XTR is a terrain-following solar tracker designed for undulating sites. With over 3 GW deployed worldwide, it’s an advanced all-terrain solution breaking the “straight-line row” design constraint by conforming to natural ground contours. This allows trackers to adapt to the ups and downs of north-south slope undulations, enhancing installation flexibility. The NX Horizon-XTR employs a terrain-based approach, making solar projects on difficult sites economically feasible. Its terrain-following capability saves significant earthwork, estimated at 1,000 to 3,000 cubic yards per MW. Extending a single pier’s length is relatively affordable, but a 100 MW solar farm requires approximately 25,000 foundation posts.

The tracker significantly minimizes land disturbance by up to 90% and achieves pier weight savings of 5,000 to 9,000 lbs per MW. It simplifies permitting and re-vegetation requirements, reduces tracker-related grading by up to 90% on undulating terrain, thus mitigating schedule and environmental risks, and lowering project CapEx and OpEx. By combining NX Horizon-XTR with Nextracker’s TrueCapture software, losses related to shade and mismatch are reduced, leading to increased energy production and economic performance.

The text is an excerpt from TaiyangNews New Solar Products Overview H1/2023, which can be downloaded for free here.