Under the name of "Solar PV Tracker" and accessible to the entire web public www.proinso.net, this tool calculates the solar photovoltaic data generated at any point in the world and using different types of trackers

The Spanish multinational PROINSO, specializing in the distribution of modules, inverters, trackers and fixed structures for photovoltaic systems, both on the ground and on roofs, has launched a new application on its website, under the name of "Solar PV Tracker", which allows the comparative calculation of solar energy production anywhere in the world.

Free of charge and accessible, both in English and Spanish- at www.proinso.net the goal of this new application is to carry out the calculation of photovoltaic solar energy production generated in kWh, based on the kWp of the installation and using both 1 and 2-axis trackers, anywhere in the world.

The company has made the following link available to the media, portals, blogs and other websites wanting to incorporate access to its application on the following link: http://www.proinso.net/_bin/irradiacion_inicio.php. It has also announced the launch next February of the iPhone and Android version incorporating new features and improvements.

Operation: 5 steps

1 .- The PV SOLAR TRACKER app. begins by providing the solar radiation data anywhere on the planet, measured in kWh/m2 (both daily and annually) on a horizontal plane at 0 degrees. Both a country and city can be selected, as can an exact location on the map anywhere in the world. The solar radiation data is based on various databases, both private and public, including the United Nations Organization.

2 .- Once the application has the radiation data on the horizontal plane (at 0 °), the user must enter values to calculate the overall performance or Performance Ratio (PR) of the installation. Thus, for this calculation, data on the following should be provided: estimated temperature losses, availability, wiring losses, estimated losses from dirt, losses due to being outside of MMP- the Maximum Power Point, inverter losses, shade losses, tolerance of the modules, losses due to angle mismatch and loss due to estimated spectral angle.

After entering this data, the application will provide a PR value for the facility. The overall performance of a total facility usually varies between 85% and 70% depending on the factors mentioned above.

3 .- Then, on the same screen select the tilt angle - in the case of the of 1-Axis Azimuth trackers- and proceed to the next screen to show the RESULT.

4 .- On the RESULT SCREEN the production data in the selected location can be found, with the PR and Availability shown, both on a 2-axis tracker facility , and a 1-axis tracker facility. (* On the same screen the tracker angle can be varied to a 1-Axis Azimuth to observe how the data changes). The data shown is the annually installed kWh / kWp. Thus, to calculate the production of 12 kWp from a tracker just multiply the value given by the SOLAR PV TRACKER application by 12.

5 .- Finally, we the QUALIFIED INSTALLERS network screen is reached where the SOLAR PV TRACKER application will indicate to the user where the PROINSO Network installers nearest to the location selected on the initial map of the facility can be found and the radius determined by the user in kilometres. Thus enabling the user to contact the nearest PROINSO Network installer with any technical or commercial queries they may have.

More than 200 Qualified Installers

Currently, the Network of PROINSO QUALIFIED INSTALLERS - QIs- comprises over 216 installers operating in Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, USA and other countries.

The QI Network has been very well received by the installer market, so PROINSO hopes to reach a total of 400 Qualified Installers by the end of 2010. "The support of the brand, the joint commercial work, availability, training and competitive prices for modules, inverters, structures and trackers provided by PROINSO for the members of the NETWORK," are the reasons for this welcome according to those responsible for the Spanish multinational.