Spain Largest Market for Solar Tracker Installations

Tuesday 28 May 2013, Amsterdam

Solar Photovoltaic and Concentrated Solar Power are the Major Solar Power
Markets Segments for Trackers Installations
The installation of trackers in solar power projects increased from 434 MW in 2009 to 1,997 MW in 2012. In 2012, 998 MW of tracker capacity was installed in solar Photovoltaic (PV) projects and 953 MW in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects, equivalent to 50% and 47.7% shares of the total number of solar trackers installed respectively. Currently, Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) projects account for only 2.3% of the solar trackers installed in 2012. However, CPV installations are expected to increase globally, and the share of trackers installed in CPV projects is expected to have increased to approximately 20% by 2020. Nonetheless, solar PV and CSP projects will continue to dominate the tracker market with estimated respective shares of 36% and 44% forecast for 2020.

Single Axis Trackers Dominate Solar Trackers Market
Single axis trackers are the most prominently used trackers for solar power projects. In 2012, single axis trackers accounted for a 92% share of the total solar tracker installations worldwide. Single axis trackers are commonly used in utility-scale solar PV projects, and as trough technology for CSP projects. The usage of dual axis trackers is more prevalent in residential solar PV projects, power tower and dish sterling technologies for CSP projects, and for all CPV projects. With the capacity of CPV projects and power tower projects increasing, the usage of dual axis trackers is expected to increase considerably during the forecast period, with an expected contribution of 28% in total trackers capacity installed in 2020.

Spain and the US Leading Countries in Installation of Trackers in Solar Power Projects
In 2012, Spain was the largest market for tracker installations as a result of the substantial amount of CSP projects in the country, all of which use trackers. Spain accounted for around 42.6% of the total solar tracker installations undertaken in 2012, followed by the US with a share of 26.4%. The country is the largest market for tracker installation in solar PV projects with 422 MW of solar PV projects installed with trackers in 2012. Italy is the third largest market for tracker installations in solar power projects, with 7.0%, and the second largest in terms of trackers installed in solar PV projects. The country installed 122 MW of trackers in solar projects, with 118 MW installed in solar PV projects. Italy is followed by India, China, Greece, Canada and Germany with respective shares of 5.9%, 4.9%, 4.6%, 4.4% and 4.1% respectively.