Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

FTC Solar Unveils Tracker-Agnostic SUNOPS Software to Enhance Solar Plant Performance

  • First-of-its-kind software provides a holistic view of solar plant performance by monitoring and analyzing all operating asset data.
  • By leveraging tracker analytics, SUNOPS helps identify and diagnose a myriad of issues across an entire solar site, providing actionable insights for field teams to resolve problems quickly.
  • By determining site issues before dispatch, the software increases solar plant uptime and reduces energy losses.

With solar accounting for 54% of all new electricity-generating capacity additions in the first quarter of 2023, it’s important to keep sites up and running efficiently to continue this trajectory. In a bold leap forward, FTC Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FTCI), a leading solar tracker provider, launched SUNOPS—a differentiated cloud-based PV asset monitoring solution poised to redefine solar asset performance management. Driven by FTC Solar’s deep tracker domain expertise, the tracker-agnostic SUNOPS software offers a holistic view of plant operation, analyzing most facets of PV plant performance. In addition, the solution empowers operations and maintenance (O&M) teams, asset management leaders, and performance engineers with actionable insights to enhance energy generation across their solar deployments.

“Tracker data is not always easy to get access to,” says Imran Hassan, the Director of Technical Operations of ACT Power Services, who is one of the first beta users for the program. “The cloud-based SUNOPS platform saves my team time by allowing us to access the information I need when I need it.”

Unlike traditional approaches focusing mainly on inverter analytics, SUNOPS considers other factors like advanced tracking algorithms and appropriate tracker stowing for extreme weather events. The software uses this data to effectively determine the root cause of underperformance, offering quick and accurate solutions to improve plant efficiency. SUNOPS provides a range of key features designed to empower users in optimizing solar plant performance, including:

Precision Assessments: SUNOPS provides a first-of-its-kind tracker health assessment down to a single table, innovating site performance evaluation. Better tracker insights translate to improved plant performance and energy production.

Actionable Insights: Going beyond conventional methods, SUNOPS leverages advanced tracker analytics. Field teams gain real-time insights, enabling proactive issue resolution to reduce energy losses. SUNOPS's foresight in issue detection before dispatch improves uptime and leads to operational cost savings.

Easy to Navigate: Accessible via an intuitive and secure cloud-based interface, SUNOPS offers streamlined portfolio data access, eliminating hours spent working with systems of individual sites. It offers live site monitoring, historical performance tracking, and issue prioritization, changing the landscape in solar asset management with actionable, data-driven decision-making.

Derived from FTC's global track record of successfully deploying over 4.5GW of tracker projects, SUNOPS can empower solar plants worldwide to achieve optimal performance.

“SUNOPS will revolutionize solar plant operations and empower field teams to make informed decisions swiftly to maximize energy production and minimize operational disruptions,” said Andrew Morse, Senior Director of Software at FTC Solar.

FTC Solar will debut SUNOPS at RE+ North America at the Venetian Conference & Expo Center in Las Vegas on September 11-14, 2023. For more information, please visit: https://www.ftcsolar.com/sunops/

About FTC Solar Inc.:

FTC Solar is a leading, global provider of solar tracker systems, software, and engineering services. FTC Solar's Digital Solutions offers a portfolio of synergistic, highly secure, and user-friendly products that are customized to support and aid our partners throughout their solar journey—from swift and precise site design (SUNDAT) to Solar PV performance insights (SUNOPS), optimized energy production (SUNPATH), and efficient solar portfolio management (ATLAS). For more information about SUNOPS, please visit www.ftcsolar.com/sunops/

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on our current expectations and projections regarding our business, operations and other factors relating thereto. Words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. In addition, this press release contains statements about third parties and their commercial activity. We have not independently verified or confirmed such statements and have instead relied on the veracity of information as provided to us by such third parties related to such statements. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements or statements related to third parties or their commercial activities as predictions of future events, as actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements or statements related to third parties or their commercial activities because of several factors, including those described in more detail above and in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” contained therein. FTC Solar undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements or statements related to third parties or their commercial activities contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations, except as required by law.

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