With its ability to capture low-elevation sunlight, VectHor generates more energy and, unlike conventional solar technologies, aligns production with peak demand periods, enhancing energy yield, generating higher-value electricity and making it both more profitable and more sustainable.
Midday and summer solar electricity supply often exceeds demand, diminishing the price of electricity
Early and late hours, and winter energy output is insufficient, driving to higher prices of electricity
There is a market issue that must be solved: the misalignment between production and demand
A solution is needed to flatten the solar energy production curve (“duck curve”) and address curtailment
Instead of turning the solar panels towards the sun, VectHor turns the sunlight towards the solar panels. VectHor works like a solar tracker without moving parts. The working principle is based on special reflective optics that redirect sunlight. At noon, sunlight from the south is turn towards the solar panels, while in the morning and afternoon, sunlight directly strikes the east-west facing panels. This ensures optimal illumination throughout the day, either directly from the sun or indirectly from the reflectors.
Solar energy generation supply is often misaligned with electricity demand. Conventional photovoltaic systems typically overproduce energy during midday hours when electricity prices are low, while demand and prices are higher in the early morning and late afternoon. The grid is unable to absorb noon excess energy, leading to wasted potential and curtailment. The graphs below show this pattern evidencing the so-called “duck curve”, and its increasing trend over the years in Spain and across several European countries. This mismatch is particularly problematic in winter months, with limited sunlight and higher electricity prices due to increased demand.
Between 2010 and 2020, the costs of solar photovoltaic technology decreased by an average of 15% per year, demonstrating a learning rate of 20% for every doubling of installed capacity. Over the same decade, global installed capacity expanded at an average annual rate of 25%, fueled by these significant cost reductions. As solar power installations increase, the electricity supply during peak production hours now exceeds demand, leading to a decline in its economic value.
With these trends, solar photovoltaic (PV) is on track to emerge as the leading electricity generation technology within the next 10 to 20 years. As a result, the misalignment between production and demand is expected to intensify, particularly during midday hours, exacerbating the problem of overproduction and lowering the economic value of solar energy.
VectHor was specifically designed to address this challenge. By shifting the energy production curve by approximately 2 hours, VectHor aligns solar energy production with demand, making the energy produced significantly more valuable. While solar technology investments have traditionally prioritized minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), it is becoming increasingly important to consider the effect of electricity prices on the revenues generated by solar power plants.
While other alternatives, such as batteries, can store excess energy for later use to shift production, they come with significant environmental and financial costs. Battery systems require large amounts of rare earth materials, and their production and disposal have notable environmental impacts. Furthermore, batteries are expensive to install, maintain, and replace over time. In contrast, VectHor’s reflective optics system offers a far more sustainable and cost-effective solution by naturally shifting production, and reducing reliance on energy storage and the associated environmental costs.
Reflectors have been widely studied, but in the prior art they were designed to increase irradiance, rather than to increase the number of hours of operation. This often results in accelerated panel degradation due to overheating, undermining the economic benefits of using reflectors.
VectHor makes photovoltaic (PV) solar energy not only more affordable but also more manageable, optimizing power production during times of high electricity prices.
Optimized for high-demand periods
VectHor produces more power during high-demand and high-value periods, when electricity prices are at their highest, leading to increased revenues
Solving midday overproduction
By shifting production, VectHor eliminates the problem of overproduction during midday hours and ensures better alignment with real-time demand
Seasonal variability
VectHor provides a solution for the seasonal variability of sunlight, particularly in the winter months when energy demand is higher and sunlight elevation is lower
A representative production day of VectHor is shown below.
The combination of VectHor’s increased energy yield, price capture advantage, and the low cost of its reflective optics significantly boosts the return on investment.
The graphs below compare the power production for a real installation in Summer 2024, in Madrid.
On these days, the VectHor system delivered up to a 36% higher energy yield and captured a remarkable 57% more revenue per kW installed than the conventional system, highlighting the clear economic advantages of VectHor.
VectHor is also superior compared to east-west vertical panels without reflectors, with up to 60% increase in yearly energy production.