Array Changing Technologies

As another year of solar innovations marches on, with exciting new products and models being introduced up and down the supply chain, pv magazine has brought together a jury of industry experts to honor those technologies whose potential is truly Array Changing. Here, we’ve added another 10 innovations to those featured back in June, and tasked our expert jury with deciding on five standout entries from the list.

These select finalists will also qualify as candidates for the inaugural pv magazine Award, which will be given at the end of the year and cover all of the industry’s major segments. First though, a preview of 10 new products added to the list since June.

A+ Sun Systems SunNet Ground mounting system A+ Sun Systems is introducing its SunNet Ground, a steel cable mounting system for ground-mounted photovoltaic plants. It consists of steel wire ropes anchored at the extremities, offering an easy way to increase the tension, and a special hook, which the company states is a breeze to install. Because the modules are suspended on cables, they can cover extremely irregular surfaces such as curved landfills, steep hilly quarries, or agricultural land in which it is undesirable to forfeit land area to mounting structures. The modules can even be suspended over water. In standard ground applications, according to A+ Sun Systems, tensile cable racking offers the opportunity to have much larger spans between posts, reducing installation cost, and resulting in up to 65% weight reduction. Having thin wire rope and few easels under the panels, the racking system optimizes performance of bifacial PV panels. A+ also notes that SunNet Ground can be used with trackers.

LINK: https://www.apsunsys.com/files/apsunsys.com/2018-09_pv-magazine_article.pdf

Array Changing Technologies.

Innovation abounds in the PV industry. To recognize this and identify some of the key innovations driving power outputs up and LCOE down, pv magazine has handpicked 50 downstream technologies from around the world and across the supply chain that have the ability to make a major impact on solar arrays today and in the future. Many of the top 50 technologies will be on display at the Intersolar Europe show this month in Munich, so make this your guide to the 50 top array-changing technologies.

7^th place for A+ Sun Systems – SunNet Roof mounting system.

A+ Sun Systems’ steel cable-based mounting system enables roof mounting where weight is an issue, by supporting the net from parapet walls. Adaptable to an arched roof, a steep slope or even vertical mounting, the system is a streamlined fix for challenged sites. The company, based in Italy, says a 1 kW system can be installed by one worker in 50 minutes. No ballast is used, although the net utilizes non-penetrating easels in central spots to keep the system raised. The A+ Sun Systems cable-based system is able to sustain strong winds while at the same time adding very little weight to the roof. The A+ Sun Systems’ ground mounted system, the SunNet Ground, can be used on flat and pitched ground, with a slope of up to 50°. The array-changer: Light, flexible and with quick installation, A+ Sun Systems’ approach can deliver flexibility and real advantages. On the downside, it’s a long way from being a standard technology.

LINK: https://www.apsunsys.com/files/apsunsys.com/2015-06_pv-magazine_article.pdf

A+ Sun Systems: nuova installazione su terra a Johannesburg, Sud Africa

難易度の高い設置には引張構造を│A+ Sun Systems の主張

ＰＶ市場がブームでにぎわう中、扱い やすい土地ほど先に開発の対象となるこ とがわかった。市場の開拓が進むにつれ、 地上設置型のアレイや水平空間向けの商 業用発電装置には不向きな、傾斜のある 土地しか残らなくなってしまった。 イタリア北部、サン・ボニファーチョ に本社があるA+ Sun Systems は、同社 が製造するスチールワイヤーロープ引張 ソリューションを使えば、このように難 易度の高いロケーションでも費用効果の 高い施工ができると言う。SunNet Ground では引張ロープソリューションを 使って、高価な土壌調査や現地調査を減 らし、ＧＰＳやレーザーポインタ装置を 必要としない工事方法を採用しているの だと言う。「引張構造は非常にスマート なシステムです」。A+ Sun Systems の引 張アプローチを架台システムに採用した コピア・エナジー株式会社の代表取締役 社長、森本晋氏は言う。A+ Sun System はすでに日本で実験プロジェクト三件を 納入している。地元のＥＰＣ企業と協力 し、自社製のSunNet Roof システムを 用いた平らな屋上設置プロジェクト一件 と、地上設置プロジェクト二件を完成さ せている。 A+ Sun Systemsでは、SunNet Ground を使用することで、アレイを固定するた

めに先端に使う以外のラミング機の使用 をなくすことができるという。アンカー ポイントには、１５０〜２００メートル のアレイに使用できるネジピラーを用い る。これ以外に設置作業に必要なのはハ ンマーとエアードリルだけだ。 「A+ Sun Systems では、柔軟なスチー ルケーブルとマイクロパイルでできた引 張構造を使っています」。同社のスポー クスマンを務めるアルベルト・ディ・ガ エターノ氏は言う。「ですから丘陵地や 傾斜のある土地に最適なのです。それに、 特別な技術のない作業員でもジャックハ ンマーを使って引張構造を取り付けるこ とができます。日本の深刻な技術者不足 問題もこれで克服できます」。 地上設置型に加え、最近需要が伸びて きている屋上設置型にも最適なA+ Sun System の架台システムシリーズは、基 本組み立てが完了した状態で納入され、 その重さはわずか２㎏／㎡（０・ 41 lbs/ ff²）と、一般的なスチールやアルミニウ ム製の構造体よりも軽量だ。 A+ Sun Systems は、ＥＰＣ企業やイ ンストーラ（設置請負）企業に対するコ ンサルティングやサポート業務も行って いると言う。A+ Sun System のソリュー ションは現在特許申請中だ。

LINK: www.apsunsys.com/files/apsunsys.com/2015-02_pv-magazine_Japanese.pdf

Research to slash BOS costs

BOS hardware: Fostered in large part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot program, several new projects are expected to begin commercialization by year’s end with promises of up to 75% combined balance of system cost reduction.

One European manufacturer of mounting systems that is bringing fresh design to the U.S. market is A+ Sun Systems, based in San Bonifacio, Italy. The company’s first high tension wire rope racking system in California will be installed on an unusually shaped roof with limited options for anchor points to support a PV array. “The reason many of our installations win out over conventional racking is not a question of cost but rather mere feasibility,” says Alberto Di Gaetano, the Managing Director of the company. “Considering the savings of our system – no ballast, zero or almost zero membrane drilling, super-fast installation, and one third the weight of traditional mounting systems – an installer can save up to 40% of their total costs,” he says. The A+ design permits arrays over arched roofs, down steep grades of terrain, over obstacles, and they can be attached vertically on structures like silos. For commercial flat roofs with limited static load reserve to support solar panels, the wire rope system has the advantage of imparting little over 10 kilograms of weight per square meter compared to 15 kg/m2 for systems requiring drilling, or compared to over 30 kg/m2 for aerodynamic systems on a 10 degree slope, or to about 65 kg/m2 for systems on a 30 degree slope requiring ballast, the company indicates. Overall, the A+ support system represents only one third of the total PV system weight – with panels representing the other two thirds of the weight. In contrast, the traditional PV racking systems requiring ballast for the sloped roofs can be six times as much weight as the panels, Di Gaetano indicates.

Correction

pv magazine, April 2014 issue, article titled, Research to slash BOS costs, p. 68: Last issue, pv magazine erroneously stated that the A+ mounting system from A+ Sun Systems represented one third of the total PV system weight. We apologize for this error. In fact, the A+ tensile structure represents only one third of traditional mounting system weight, says Alberto Di Gaetano, the company MD, and does not use ballast. These two factors combined allow installation on weak roofs with the advantage of zero (or very little) roof membrane drilling. This is possible on flat, sloped and round roofs.

LINK: https://www.apsunsys.com/files/apsunsys.com/2014-04_pv-magazine_article.pdf