Global Solar Tracker Market Size, Share, Market Research and Industry Forecast Report, 2025 (Includes Business Impact of COVID-19)

                                          
Industry Insights, Market Size, CAGR, High-Level Analysis: Global Solar Tracker Market


The global solar tracker market demand was pegged at 25.0 GW in 2018, expanding at a CAGR of 32.0% from 2019 to 2025. Rising concerns over energy conservation and transition from non renewable energy to renewable energy is expected to surge demand for solar energy and trackers over the forecast period on a global level. Solar tracker utilizes various electrical components including actuators, motors, and sensors to orient the cells to concentrate the sunlight in order to maximize the energy captured.

The captured solar radiations are further converted into electricity, which is used in various residential and commercial applications. Rising use of solar power as a potential source of commercial energy generation has gained popularity due to decreasing PV panel cost, which is excepted to further augment the market growth. Since trackers aid to enhance the power generation output of the panels to a significant level.

Solar PV technology has been one of the fastest growing renewable sources of energy over the past few years in the U.S. Increasing government focus on renewable energy has resulted in the development of PV cells as a sustainable and continuous source of energy generation.

Rising capacity expansions across the U.S. has led to decline the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). This has made solar PV competitive with other conventional forms of energy in the country. Supporting policies by the U.S. government has been one of the significant drivers for high implementation of solar energy in the country.
Technological innovations aimed at the development of new methods in tracking systems by companies such as NEXTracker, Array Technologies, AllEarth Renewables, and Solaria are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. The solar tracker market is price competitive, so the tracker manufactures have to be operationally efficient and extremely strategic to be successful.

Product Insights of Global Solar Tracker Market

Single axis tracker accounted for the largest market share and is projected to exhibit highest CAGR during the forecast. Single axis systems track the suns rays along a single axis allowing them to increase system performance by 20% or more over fixed PV cells in the areas of high isolation. Single axis solar trackers take up more land as compared to fixed panels as their movement can create shadows which can affect the efficiency of neighboring panels.The use of single axis trackers maximizes potential output but also come with higher capex (capital expenditure) and opex (operating expenditure).

Dual axis trackers allow maximum absorption of the suns rays on account of their ability to follow the sun both horizontally and vertically.Dual axis trackers helps in generating 8% to 10% more energy than single axis trackers. Higher land requirements and more complex technology coupled with high-maintainance for motors and control systems results in high O&M expenditure for dual-axis trackers. This factor acts as a major restraint for wider adoption of dual-axis trackers.

Technology Insights of Global Solar Tracker Market

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technology was the largest segment in 2018. Compatibility of PV cells with standard photovoltaic module technologies is the major reason for the largest market share of solar PV technology. The rising cost of electricity owing to supply-demand gap will further augment the use of solar PV in utility and non-utility applications.

The use of trackers on PV modules require less design regulations when compared to mirrors, lenses, and Fresnel collectors on the concentrated solar power (CSP) and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology trackers. These features will drive demand for trackers in solar PV technology over the forecast period.
CPV is the emerging technology in this industry. CPV system produces low cost power owing to low manufacturing cost and fewer raw material requirements. This technology uses optics such as lenses to concentrate a large amount of sunlight on a small surface of PV materials to generate electricity.

CSP is used to harness the suns energy potential and has the capacity to provide consumers globally with reliable renewable energy even in the absence of the suns rays. Over the past few years, CSP has been increasingly competing with the less expensive PV power and CPV, which is also a fast growing technology.

Application Insights of Global Solar Tracker Market

Utility was the largest application sector while accounting for 85.5% of the global market volume in 2018. Increasing electricity cost coupled with rising demand for renewable source for energy generation is expected to augment the use of trackers in utility applications. This trend is projected to continue during the forecast period.
The most widely used solar trackers in utility sector is the single axis tracking system as utility installations are ground mounted and the trackers can be used to follow the sun throughout daylight hours. In addition, these trackers are being used on a large-scale in utility applications in light of increasing government subsides coupled with feed-in tariff schemes particularly in North American and European region.

The non-utility sector includes both commercial and residential installations. Non-utility applications comprise a lower market share as compared to utility on account of the infeasibility of applying trackers due to land constraint. Another major factor affecting the application of trackers in non-utility projects is high cost associated with them. Implementing solar trackers can be extremely costly in non-utility applications.

Regional Insights of Global Solar Tracker Market

North America accounts for the major market share and this trend is expected to continue till 2025. The growth is primarily attributed to rising emphasis on renewable energy and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change that has recommended the usage of renewable energy in the nations energy supply .

The government in the U.S. is also targeting to increase the usage of solar power in the economy through various initiatives. In the year 2011, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the SunShot Initiative with an aim to make the solar industry cost-competitive with conventional energy sources by reducing charges to less than 1 USD/watt by 2020. The initiative has sponsored more than 350 projects which includes companies, private, universities, and national laboratories.

The Middle East and Africa region is expected to witness significant growth over the next ten years on account of high potential and increase in investments in the projects in the region, particularly in UAE and Saudi Arabia. Among these, Saudi Arabia held the highest share in 2018, owing to large investments being made by both domestic and foreign parties. The country also witnessed significant growth in light of investments being made by U.S. companies, due to the countrys favorable climatic conditions.

Solar Tracker Market Share Insights

Key market players in the global industry include AllEarth Renewables, Inc.; NEXTracker, Inc.; Soltec; PV Hardware; Artech Solar; NClave; and Powerway Renewable Energy Co. Ltd. These companies offer a diverse portfolio in the market in terms of products and are highly integrated across the value chain.

Companies are focusing on development of advanced technology based products owing to the growing industrial demand for advanced technology for tracking purpose.The manufacturing companies are adopting various organic and in-oraganic growth strategies for expanding their geographical reach and product portfolio.
The strategy framework of major tracker manufacturers is centered around bagging large purchase orders, as it gives the manufacturer an opportunity to achieve economies of scale.The research and development of trackers is a major differentiating factor for manufacturers in the market.

Segmentations, Sub Segmentations, CAGR, & High-Level Analysis overview of Global Solar Tracker Market Research Report
This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For this study, this market research report has segmented the global solar tracker market report on the basis of technology, product, application, and region:

Teachnology Outlook (Volume, Megawatt; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
  
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
  
Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV)

Product Outlook (Volume, Megawatt; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Single Axis
  
Dual Axis

Application Outlook (Volume, Megawatt; Revenue, USD Million, 2019 - 2030)

  
Utility
  
Non-utility