Cabrera Solar comprises 4 solar PV plants and will become one of the largest and most important solar energy projects in Spain and Europe.
For this project Ideematec offers a PV tracker with an innovative cable drive. sbp sonne was consulted to check the structural integrity of the safeTrack Horizon H4 2P PV tracker designed by the Ideematec for two different sites in Spain, namely: “La Cabrera” and “Talayuela”.
The review included an independent structural calculation on the PV trackers main members, including both nonlinear system behavior and dynamic response according to local site conditions and required standards.
Two finite element models were built within SOFiStiK, one to determine the linear stress in the main components and for the modal analysis and the second to analyze the lateral-torsional stability of the thin-walled open sections as well as the connection details. Analysis was conducted using results from a third party expert evaluation of the site wind data.
Findings helped identify technology improvements and ensure code compliance.
