Linear Motion & Screw Jacks in the Solar Industry

MecVel has focussed its attention on the field of renewable energies, particularly photovoltaic arrays for the solar industry.

The role of linear actuators and screw jacks is to convert the rotary motion of an electric motor into a linear movement, allowing lifting, adjusting, rotating of any load, in push and pull. These products are characterized by high resistance and strength, and customized to fit perfectly to the photovoltaic industry. In fact, they find their optimal position in solar trackers, which are devices dedicated to the orientation of photovoltaic panels and solar concentrators depending on the sunrays grade, with no difference regarding the kind of
construction, with the aim to increase the power of the solar energy captured and maximize the efficiency of the whole system.

Their position, in fact, must be continually updated to maintain the sunrays constantly perpendicular to the surface, optimizing the conversion of solar energy into electricity (the overall efficiency is given by the ratio expressed in percentage between the energy captured and all the energy hitting the surface of the tracker itself).

The most classic handling performed by a linear actuator or a screw jack is the rotation on a single axis, east-west direction or north-south direction (particularly indicated for countries with low latitude), allowing to increase the energy generation (+15% or 20%
compared to a fixed system).

The most advanced can be dual axis trackers, to align orthogonally and in real time photovoltaic panels or solar concentrators to sunrays. In this case it is possible to reach an increase of 35%-40% of electricity production, but a product
dedicated to each axis should be applied.

Moreover MecVel is able to satisfy both kinds of tracker configurations, from the "building block" solution to the "independent row" solution, so from the simultaneous handling of all the rows and the trackers connected each other, to the individual movement of each single element inside the photovoltaic site, as a further demonstration of the great production capacity of the company.

Some of the pluses of the range dedicated to the photovoltaic industry are:

• High level of customization of the products, to achieve a perfect setup and the maximum energy efficiency, with minimum overall dimensions and connections to the main structure tailored and essential at the same time
• No loss of power and consequently the downtime is reduced almost to zero, in opposition to applications based on pneumatic systems, affected by pressure variations. The electric system proposed by MecVel, in fact, does not use pumps, valves and tubes, excluding the risk of contamination due to oil leaks, provides power only when required and allows a reliable control (with arrest also in intermediate positions of the stroke)
• Great knowledge and technologies, responding through specific setup to environmental conditions even critical such as: humidity and salinity of the air, irradiance in the area, wind, also thanks to a range of special paintings dedicated to protect the products and make them suitable to work outside, preventing the premature destruction of surfaces, and extending the whole life of the application
• Easy installation of the products, offering also the possibility to work with high temperatures and dust together with low wear and minimum maintenance, ensuring a high reliability for the whole system. The working temperatures of MecVel products, in fact, go from -20°C to +60°C, according with the ones required by the photovoltaic field
• The best quality-price ratio