SF7 Bifacial tracker produces 2.1% more energy in second year of study on bifacial technology at BiTEC

The 2.1% more energy translates into about $1.4 million more profit on a 100 MW plant.

The BiTEC bifacial research centre, located in Livermore, California (USA) and inaugurated by Soltec in 2018, is celebrating its second anniversary. During its two-year run, this centre has confirmed the generation of 2.1% more bifacial gain with the SF7 Bifacial tracker in 2-in-vertical configuration compared to the same tracker in 1V. This 2.1% more energy translates into about $1.4 million more profit for a 100 MW plant over 25 years.

The main objective of this centre is to evaluate the influence of installation parameters such as mounting height, shading or albedo on the performance of Soltec's SF7 Bifacial trackers. During its two years, BiTEC has based its activity on testing and analysis to implement the performance of the SF7 Bifacial.

In addition, studies have shown that the SF7 Bifacial tracker allows up to 15.7% of bifacial gain in high albedo conditions (55.6%). In the case of medium albedo (29.5%) this tracker can generate 9.6% and 7.3% in the case of low or seasonal albedo (19.9%).

This centre has also managed to determine that in the case of a medium albedo (close to 30%) a 100 MW plant installed with the SF7 Bifacial tracker generates around 6.5 million dollars more than a plant of the same characteristics with monofacial technology. The LCOE of a monofacial plant with these characteristics is 6.56% more than in the case of bifacial.

"During these two years, we have continuously optimised our tracking algorithm and performed analyses to achieve maximum performance from our solar trackers. Bifacial technology is already the present of photovoltaics, which is why this centre continues to be a reference in the market. In this way we continue to strengthen the profitability of our trackers and implement our R&D to improve our service every day", explains Javier Guerrero, supervisor of BiTEC.

About Soltec

Soltec is the third largest global manufacturer and supplier of solar tracking equipment for photovoltaic panels. Founded in Murcia, it belongs to the Soltec Power Holdings group, owned by Sefran and Valueteam, and has a workforce of more than 1,500 people and a 16-year track record as a manufacturer of complete solar tracking equipment. The company is present in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, USA, Spain, India, Italy, Israel, Mexico and Peru.