Innovations in Solar Technology Could Increase Profits

PASADENA, Calif. — A new technology from Pasadena-based Edisun Microgrids allows rooftop solar panels to track the sun and could boost electricity production by 30 percent and help accelerate a commercial switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

The largest challenge facing this new form of technology is the wind, according to a statement by Bill Gross, CEO of Edisun Microgrids.

“Wind is the enemy of solar,” said Gross in a statement, explaining the number of ways lightweight solar panels can be shifted or torn off of a roof when wind speeds rise.

To reduce damage caused by high winds, a new technology has been developed that anchors photovoltaic panels onto the rooftop of solar farms and keeps solar panels in place. Unfortunately, securing solar panels on top of residential and commercial buildings like this can’t be done since the steel and concrete used could harm the building, its roof and its foundation.

That’s what Edisun Microgrids is working to change. By developing a tracking solar panel system on a flat rooftop, Gross and his company could increase rooftop electricity production by 30 percent.

The key feature of the solar panel tracking system is the ability of each panel to tilt front to back and rotate side to side while keeping a low profile. Each panel is outfitted with a low-voltage motor and microprocessors programmed to track the sun, keeping the panels flat during high winds and inclement weather, according to a statement from Edisun Microgrids.

“That’s a huge boost when you’re talking about shifting the economics on whether it is profitable or not profitable to install rooftop solar,” Gross said in a statement.

Gross expects the technology to be used on commercial rooftops, where the solar potential of billions of square feet of space remains largely untapped, according to takepart.com.

“In the U.S. alone, there’s roughly 50 billion square feet of flat, commercial rooftop space, and solar panels are on only 2 percent of those rooftops,” Gross said in a statement. “We see our system being suitable and economically profitable in the current energy market on about 37 percent of those roofs.”