Nevados’ All-Terrain Solar Tracker Eliminates Grading, Reduces Steel in Pilings by 23% at 170 MW Project

A new 170 MW solar project in the MidAtlantic region of the United States, will use all-terrain tracking technology from Nevados that avoids costly and environmentally disruptive grading of the rural site and will save an enormous amount of steel. An independent analysis by civil consulting firm Sierra Overhead Analytics, which has developed grading plans for over 12 GW of utility-scale solar, found that installing utility-scale solar on the site would otherwise have required cutting or filling 406,413 cubic yards of soil to level the terrain — enough to fill 123 Olympic-sized swimming pools. 

The American-made Nevados system also reduces the amount of steel needed for piles by more than 230,000 linear feet — which is over 43 miles of steel saved.

“We’re excited to offer the market this technology, which is perfect for today’s challenging sites,” said Yezin Taha, Founder and CEO of Nevados.

Nevados will be taking questions about its technology at Booth #7113 at RE+, North America’s leading renewable energy trade show, which started yesterday in Las Vegas. 

Nevados uses articulating bearings in its All-Terrain Tracker, allowing it to follow the existing terrain over a change in slope of up to 26% at every foundation. Eliminating all that grading also greatly reduces the scope of permitting, and simplifies stormwater management.

Often a standard tracker requires different foundation heights to accommodate the straight torque tube. The Nevados system avoids this because the structure itself can follow the terrain, avoiding the need for variable reveal height on the foundations.The project was constructed by MYR Group. 

Allen Oldroyd, General Superintendent of MYR Energy Services,the EPC firm that built the project, commented afterwards, “I am blown away by the simplicity and the capabilities of the Nevados All-Terrain Tracker. It is truly versatile and does more than reduce cost, it reduces the environmental impact of a project. ”

“We expect to sign over a gigawatt of projects by the end of 2024, and we see most projects in the U.S. now have challenging terrain. Nevados has been growing fast and they are perfectly positioned to support this,” said Oldroyd.

The Nevados all-terrain solar tracking platform is engineered for:

Faster construction: Nevados solar trackers are designed to fully eliminate site grading in projects with uneven terrain. This avoids time- and cost-intensive permitting, construction, and revegetation steps, and dramatically accelerates project schedules.

Flexibility: Nevados offers the most flexible tracker solution on the market, with proprietary bearings that allow for slope changes as great as 26% across every foundation.

Performance: Row-specific tracking algorithms and controls improve energy yield in Nevados projects at a granular level. 

Ease of installation: Non-continuous torque tubes, shorter pilings and large tolerances simplify and speed up the installation process of Nevados trackers. Solar modules self-align during installation, with top-clamp clips that can easily accommodate different module sizes.

Resilience: Nevados' torque tube and damper designs improve wind performance and are proven to withstand hurricane-force winds with zero structural damage.

Nevados | www.nevados.solar