FTC Solar’s Clamping Solution for First Solar Modules Enables Rapid Installation

Austin-headquartered FTC Solar, Inc., a leading provider of solar tracker systems, software, and engineering services, has said that it has developed a novel clamping solution that enables rapid installation of First Solar Series 6 and Series 6 Plus modules.

In an official statement, FTC Solar has announced that to support First Solar’s unique thin-film module technology, the company has developed a new product variant of its novel Voyager mounting solution. The variant uses FTC’s patented Slide and Glide methodology and First Solar’s SpeedSlot mounting feature.

FTC said that the result is a reliable, robust, labor-efficient module installation system that utilizes no traditional hardware. Instead, a mechanical fastener is used to secure and ground the First Solar module frame to the Voyager system’s module rail, enabling the rapid install times our customers have come to expect from FTC – the leader in tracker constructability.

With FTC Solar’s solution, the company believes it will have an industry leading installation time. FTC Solar’s and First Solar’s proprietary features for the rapid fastening of modules to the rail meets a significant market need with seamless ingenuity, it said.

“We combined First Solar’s SpeedSlot solution with FTC’s patented Slide and Glide rapid module installation methodology that ensures robust module capture to our rail. Several nuances in the rail design enable the integrated solution to work well together. It is a testament to our engineering team’s prowess and adaptability.” Nagendra Cherukupalli, CTO at FTC Solar.

The Texas-based FTC Solar announced in October that it has been selected to supply its Voyager solar tracker technology for the 128 MW Cunderdin Hybrid PV Solar and Energy Storage Project in Western Australia.

Previously it had introduced a new and differentiated, one module in portrait (1P) Solar Tracker Solution called ‘Pioneer’ which achieves a full 18 to 36 per cent pile count reduction per megawatt vs. the current industry-leading solutions by volume.

FTC Solar was founded in 2017 by a group of renewable energy industry veterans. It maintains a sales and support presence in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Australia, India, and Africa. Through contract manufacturing relationships with factories globally  that are certified to manufacture the Voyager tracker, FTC Solar boasts of an annual production capacity of 8 GW.