Solar Tracker Market Expansion Driven By Global Players And Regional Growth

• Ideematec shipped 5.5 GW globally, ranking 10th in 2023 with 5 GW capacity, while JSolar increased shipments from 2.3 GW in 2022 to 2.8 GW in 2023, aiming for 3 GW in 2024

• US-based Nevados, specializing in difficult terrains, shipped 650 MW in 2023 and aims for 3 GW in 2024

• Antaisolar and Scorpius are seeing rapid growth, with Scorpius aiming for 600 MW by 2024 following its acquisition by Gensol Engineering.

TaiyangNews' previous article on the top solar tracker companies listed in Wood Mackenzie's report highlighted Ideematec, JSolar, and Antai as the next in line. The rest of the company details were based on TaiyangNews' Solar Trackers Market Survey (see Global Solar Tracker Market Sees Significant Growth).

Germany’s Ideematec, with a global presence spanning 30 countries across 6 continents, has successfully shipped over 5.5 GW of trackers worldwide. The company, which says it has an annual production capacity of over 5 GW, was the 10th largest global supplier of trackers in 2023, according to WoodMac, based on a 2% share. For the TaiyangNews survey, like last year, it has provided data for 3 products.

A new entrant to our survey, China’s JSolar claims it shipped trackers worth 2.303 GW in 2022, increasing to 2.772 GW in 2023. It forecasts reaching 3 GW in 2024. The company claims it holds a 3% share of the total global tracker market. In WoodMac’s list, it ranks 11th with a share of 2%. JSolar’s production capacity stands at 10 GW, distributed across its Chinese manufacturing bases in Zhangjiagang (4 GW), Inner Mongolia (3 GW) and Tianjin (3 GW). It has plans to expand by an additional 4 GW in the US. Its key markets include MENA, Latin America, and Europe.

Antaisolar is a young but technically advanced company from China. With a strong background as a mounting solutions supplier, Antai ventured into the trackers business in 2019. While the company has not provided the shipment numbers for 2023, Antai has achieved cumulative PV mounting system shipments of 33.2 GW according to its website. According to WoodMac, it was ranked 12th globally in terms of shipments with a 3% market share, which amounts to about 2.8 GW. Antaisolar has a production capacity of 600 MW per month, which can be scaled up to meet the demand for large-scale projects. On top, the company also has cooperation agreements in place with local raw material suppliers in leading markets. However, Antai’s major focus areas are Latin America and Europe. The following companies, which have provided information on their products for our survey, are not listed in the WoodMac 2023 shipments ranking:

Nevados is a fairly new tracking company specializing in developing trackers for challenging topography. The US company focuses on core competencies such as engineering, intellectual property, sales and marketing. It does not own any manufacturing facilities. However, Nevados said it is committed to using domestic content and integrating the US manufacturing supply chain. In 2022, Nevados shipped approximately 250 MW of products, which increased to about 650 MW in 2023. The company expects to reach the 3 GW milestone by 2024.

Founded in 1992, Scorpius from India entered the solar sector in 2010, with a focus on concentrated photovoltaic technology. It launched its own tracker in 2013 to initiate R&D efforts and, by 2014, started supplying upgraded trackers, becoming a leading supplier in India by 2016. The company expanded into the US in 2015 and Africa in 2016. It is also active in Japan, China, Brazil and Singapore. In 2018, Scorpius transitioned from block to row trackers, receiving bankability certificates for both technologies from Black & Veatch, with the row tracker certified in 2019, it said. Although it currently outsources the production of structural components and assembles trackers in-house, it plans to bring the manufacturing of structures in-house in the future. In 2022, the company surpassed 100 MW in shipments and, after it was acquired by Gensol Engineering in 2023, aims to exceed 600 MW in 2024.

FTC Solar provides comprehensive solar solutions, including solar design software, portfolio management software, and engineering services supporting projects from concept to completion. The Austin, Texas based stock-listed company has an annual production capacity of 8 GW and has delivered over 4.5 GW across 100-utility scale projects worldwide, serving around 140 customers with 33 manufacturing partners in 10 countries, according to the website. It had a backlog of around 1.8 GW as of May 10, 2024, according to Cowen.

Valmont Solar was created after US steel company Valmont took over the Italian tracker maker Convert Italia in 2018. The company, taking part in our survey for the first time, has installed 3.5 GW of Convert Solar Trackers across 18 countries and provided data for 2 products.

While all tracker suppliers mentioned above represent the mainstream tracker technology, i.e., single-axis tracking, this year’s survey features additional input from a US-based dual-axis tracker supplier, Mechatron. Founded in Greece in 2007, Mechatron initially offered gearless dual-axis trackers to the European market starting in 2008, with a focus on Greece, Cyprus, Germany, and Austria. Due to regulatory changes in Europe, the company relocated to the US in 2013 and established Mechatron Solar in California. Since then, it has operated in the US and Indian markets and has expanded globally through partnerships and sales overseas. Notably, Mechatron has developed heavy-duty trackers suitable for challenging environments like Hawaii and the northeastern states of the US. The company has experienced significant growth, observing a sevenfold increase in sales from 2021 to 2023. This upward trend is expected to continue, with sales projected to double in the current year and an anticipated deployment of nearly 100 MW of trackers in 2024.

The text is an excerpt from the latest TaiyangNews Solar Trackers Market Survey 2024, which can be downloaded for free here.