NEXTracker, a Flex company, has released NX Navigator, a next-generation software and smart control system that enables power plant operators to efficiently monitor and securely control their solar assets for increased production and reliable operation across a wide range of weather conditions.
With an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), NX Navigator builds on the company’s TrueCapture system with new monitoring data, maintenance controls and instant risk avoidance tools.
“We are committed to further driving PV plant performance for our customers,” says Dan Shugar, CEO of NEXTracker. “NX Navigator provides additional intelligence and operator control that results in higher production yield, lower operations and maintenance costs, and enables solar panels to handle increasingly prevalent extreme weather. NX Navigator compliments our TrueCapture control system, featuring rapid response, individual tracker row architecture and high rotation speed trackers.”
For monitoring, plant operators are provided timely information for key parameters at the site, subfield and individual tracker levels, including precise array and angular values. For control, NX Navigator allows authorized PV plant operators to schedule maintenance operations such as cleaning and mowing, and instantly command the tracker for extreme weather events such as hail, hurricanes and heavy snow.
In the case of hail, a single operator command will rapidly put the entire solar power array to a safe 60-degree stow angle. This action will have the benefit of up to tripling the hail resistance module toughness and dramatically reducing damage potential. In the case of snow shed, an authorized operator can pre-schedule two snow shed operations in a single day, which increases production by reducing snow cover on solar panels.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, NEXTracker has offices in Europe, Australia, India and Latin America.
Photo: NEXTracker commissioning field expert using NX Navigator control and monitoring software on a solar power plant.
