Northern States Metals Acquires Assets of Solar Tracker
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Northern States Metals announced Tuesday that it has completed its previously announced offer to acquire the noncash assets of the Solar Tracker business of Opel Technologies Inc. Terms were not disclosed.
Northern States is the developer and manufacturer of the Solar FlexRack, a best-selling patented, pre-assembled photovoltaic mounting system that is the only fully assembled solar racking system available.
In a prepared statement, the president and CEO of Northern States, Tom Meola, said, “The Solar Tracker broadens our Solar FlexRack product line, and Opel’s Solar Tracker is perfect for the kind of utility-scale projects that we’re now targeting.”
The Opel Tracker technology is a proven system designed to increase the yield of a photovoltaic system by up to 30%, Meola says. It eliminates inter-row shadowing, allowing for larger systems to be installed in a smaller area. The Opel Tracker technology includes an advanced wireless monitoring system that can be readily interfaced to customers’ supervisory control and data acquisition systems. The product now includes many of the pre-assembled features of the Solar FlexRack.
“The Opel Tracker acquisition fits well with our mission to continually lower the balance of system costs for large solar projects,” Meola added. “We are working to make solar a more efficient and cost-effective energy alternative.”
The patented factory-assembled Solar FlexRack mounting system has been designed and manufactured to have the fastest installation time in the field, Meola said, which “has been proven to substantially lower labor and installation costs.” Similarly, he added, the Opel tracker is also designed for efficient installation.
Northern States Metals, whose corporate offices are in Hartford, Conn., has manufacturing plants in Youngstown and Toronto, Ontario.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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