SHANGHAI – Arctech, the world’s leading tracking, racking, and BIPV solutions provider, announced that the inauguration ceremony of its wind tunnel laboratory was successfully held at the headquarters located in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China on 6th September, marking that the company has become the first in the PV industry worldwide to own a wind tunnel laboratory.
Equipped with the world-leading testing capabilities of structural static pressure and structural dynamic response, the laboratory can test the effect of wind on trackers at speeds of up to 30m per second, a speed which would cover most likely real-world scenarios. The technical database will be leveraged as the source of basic design parameters for product design, R&D and product structure design verification in the future.
By applying the technical database for concept design and structure design for product, the wind tunnel Laboratory will allow the company to mimic different local environments worldwide and serve the very purpose to lower LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) of PV power plants by increasing the stability of trackers.
Bruce Wang remarked, “We believe that the launch of Wind Tunnel Laboratory will continuously enhance Arctech’s presence in lowering LCOE of PV power plants as the lab will enable us to carry out feasible and compliant wind tunnel tests for accurate aerodynamic information and optimize the design for mitigating wind-related risk on trackers and equipping trackers with better wind resistance capability.”
Solar trackers are widely known as rigid structural parts; while the main axis of solar tracker is susceptible to deformation caused by vertical bending, torsion, and complex natural conditions in different regions. Therefore, more advanced analytic tests are necessary for reliable tracker design as the mounting of ultra-high-power modules, which are in strong demand by the industry, involves higher wind loads added to the trackers.
Arctech has always centralized the wind tunnel test by formulating strict design specifications and ensuring the execution. The new laboratory marks another milestone of the company’s determination in guaranteeing safety and stability and ultimately empowering the popularization of solar tracker.
