Nextracker said it launched its NX Horizon-XTR product, a terrain-following, single-axis tracker intended to expand the use of solar power on sites with sloped, uneven, and other terrain challenges. 

The company said it began deploying and testing the tracker at utility scale three years ago. It claimed cost savings “in the millions” can be traced to reduced grading and shorter piles. It said that project developers increasingly work sites that have sloping and undulating terrain. Land with these characteristics typically present greater risk and higher costs, the result of sometimes-significant earthwork and longer foundation pile lengths. 

The company said its cost savings include 30-90% less “cut and fill” earthmoving work and piers that are up to 36 inches shorter.

Nick de Vries, SVP of technology & asset management at Silicon Ranch, said in a statement that earthwork is “especially painful” as it affects a solar project several times: first, performing grading, next reseeding the exposed dirt, and later fixing the “inevitable “erosion and hydrology issues that come from the lack of well-vegetated topsoil. 

Nextracker said it worked with SOLV Energy (formerly Swinerton Renewable Energy) and project owners to integrate their requirements and complete lab and field-tests of a terrain-following tracker. The company initially offered exclusivity for SOLV, and now offers the technology to a broader market. 

According to a 2021 Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables report, the U.S. tracker market grew by 34% in 2020, and Nextracker had a nearly 30% market share.