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The global demand for regenerative energy is rapidly growing. As early as 2015 renewable energies covered almost 20 percent of the world’s overall energy consumption. At the forefront are wind energy and solar energy.
In addition to classic photovoltaic (PV) modules, in which sunlight is directly converted into electricity, solar thermal energy, or concentrated solar power (CSP), is gaining in significance. Here, concentrated sunbeams are used to create superheated steam to drive steam turbines and produce electricity. For this purpose, it is essentially critical that the sunbeams are guided to the target with pin-point accuracy by concave mirrors or Fresnel lenses. Compared to PV, CSP is quite intricate in terms of technology, and therefore suitable only for large plants in the range of megawatts.
Framo Morat has years of experience in designing and manufacturing drives for solar tracking systems. The Compacta series for azimuth adjustment and our lifting spindle drives, which are used for elevation adjustment, provide a fully developed drive system for a wide variety of panel sizes.
Large solar power plants often lend themselves to design of a custom drive which is tailored to the requirements of the respective application. Here, too, Framo Morat is your innovative partner, who benefits from experience gained through numerous projects that have long been realized.
This drive, developed by Framo Morat, is used to enable the tracking of mirror reflectors. During its development, great attention was paid to achieving minimum backlash and maximum torque. The drive consists of a servomotor, a 3-stage planetary gear, a worm gear, a position tracking system and two adapter plates. A single drive moves a total mirror area of 330 m².
The reflectors of a solar thermal power station must make several thousand tracking movements a day for optimum energy yield. Drives must therefore meet maximum demands for robustness and durability, resist the high temperatures and fluctuating dampness, and withstand dust and sandstorms in desert regions. The adjustment drives from Framo Morat thus have a very high enclosure rating and are only made of high-quality, corrosion-resistant materials.
This two-axle tracking system (Solar Tracker) is used to increase the effectiveness of photovoltaic plants. The Solar Tracker aligns the solar module to the sun horizontally and vertically. Framo Morat developed special drive systems for the precise adjustment of azimuth and elevation (± 2°) in which all components – from the drive housing to the cable – have been specially designed for use in harsh outdoor environments. A positioning system developed in-house allows the control of a complete row of trackers with just one drive.
We have developed special linear actuators for the vertical tracking of photovoltaic modules. They are characterized by low maintenance requirements and high resistance to wind, dampness and temperature fluctuations (dynamic and static loads of up to 50 and 210 kN respectively). Trapezoidal or ball screws are used with or without integrated limit switches. A variety of transmissions and motors are also available.
Worm gear sets for high torque transmissions of up to 9,000 Nm dynamic and 20,000 Nm static loads are used for the azimuth-drive for tracking systems with panels up to 60 m2.