By Kate Trono, vice president of products, SunLink
Accelerating solar’s downward cost curve is an exciting but daunting challenge—the faster and more effective we are, the more competitive solar becomes in more markets.
However, with all the efficiencies we’ve already found, it’s tempting to say there aren’t any more levers to pull. In the mounting space in particular, we’ve found success in mass customization: designing structural and mechanical systems with module, terrain and foundation flexibility in mind so as to benefit from the economies of scale of a widely applicable, standardized product. We’ve evaluated the pros and cons of fixed versus tracking systems, finding the right solution for the right project. We’ve optimized international supply chains and sourcing strategies. We better understand building codes in the context of solar and how to efficiently use metal to support PV modules. And we’re constantly working with electrical teams to reduce design time and improve electrical and mechanical coordination.
So what’s left?
If we look to history for guidance, we see a pattern of rapid innovation when formerly siloed thinkers are exposed to one another. It’s called convergence—a dialog between industries that benefits and furthers both faster than each could move independently. For us in solar, the commitment to accelerating a downward cost curve demands that we know more about our systems. EnTech convergence, or the interdisciplinary thinking between energy and technology, can show us the way.
The path paved by technology
Big data analytics and business intelligence should inform how projects are performing so we don’t assume standard, inexplicable losses and product limitations but determine system weaknesses, repair and optimize if possible, and integrate those lessons into new product designs or service offerings.
For example, if we can pinpoint the soiling losses on a given project to a specific troublesome area, link our data to weather patterns and the forecast, and relay that information to nimble O&M teams, we can be smarter about our module cleaning schedules and reduce our water usage.
In terms of product design, if we are constantly monitoring mounting system performance, we’ll be able to record behavior in rare events, like massive storms or large earthquakes. Live data from a ballast-only rooftop system during a seismic event furthers our shake table testing and can do the same for solar as for buildings—improve designs based on lessons learned or verify that designs hold up to the most extreme challenges.
Open APIs (application program interface) and a mobile-first design approach are also areas where we can learn from tech. The solar industry has a bad habit of assuming that proprietary communication protocols and data privacy will protect market share and limit the growth of new competitors. But what tech has seen is the opposite: By exposing our data to the creativity of others, we further our industry faster.
There is data to evaluate, correlations to be made and conclusions to be drawn from solar project performance that none of us have yet thought of. For example, it’s often said that the cost of monitoring string-level performance is too high. But if we embrace low-cost cloud computing and add sensors to combiner boxes, we may be able to improve future electrical designs, reduce O&M costs with more targeted actions or optimize legacy project performance. By allowing more brain power to look at our challenges, we’ll find solutions that we can all adopt, thereby accelerating the downward cost curve and expanding solar’s adoption.
Solar’s problem-solving expertise
Convergence is a two-way street. There are also areas where solar can inform tech.
The centralized-versus-distributed tracker architecture debate is a lively one, but one facet of the distributed tracker design is particularly interesting. To deliver on an economic solution, wireless communication for the distributed architecture is necessary. This wireless network is similar to an Internet of Things (IoT) network: There are many nodes, and reliable, secure communication is essential. Tech hasn’t yet solved the reliability and security problem. Standard cybersecurity solutions are too expensive to be widely deployed, and standard ZigBee mesh networks suffer from signal interference. But solar is solving those challenges: Modified mesh networks eliminate signal interference, and on-site tokenization (an idea proposed by yet another industry, the financial sector) allows both monitoring and control of trackers remotely. For our industry, these solutions not only enable a distributed tracker design, but they also have the added benefit of reducing O&M costs, whether the project has a distributed tracker or centralized. Remote, secure, mobile-first control eliminates unnecessary O&M truck rolls. Also, data intelligence of actual versus modeled energy performance improves future project financial calculations, allowing a more comfortable embrace of solar by potential stakeholders.
We can take these designs and feed them back into other industries, to assist in solving challenges such as building a fully integrated smart building or securing a city crowded with sensors monitoring everything from municipal water leaks to streetlight outages.
Looking forward
Our ultimate goal is clear. To see solar adoption accelerate and spread around the globe, continued EnTech convergence innovation is essential. The technology that drives mounting systems can no longer only be forward-thinking structural and mechanical engineering that enables the design of agile products. It must also move us beyond “metal bending” to the integration and creation of business intelligence technologies that continuously improve project performance.
Kate Trono leads SunLink‘s Product Management group, directing the company’s strategy and execution related to its entire portfolio of roof-mount, fixed-tilt ground-mount and tracker products, as well as the PowerCare service initiative.