Proven technology
Peer-reviewed since 2012
Evidence · Engineering record
Tested in the tunnel, run in the field.
Before any panel was laminated, TRAXLE hardware went through wind-tunnel verification and exposed-site field trials. This page keeps that engineering record — the measurements, the standard it was designed to, and where it was put to work.
Wind-tunnel verification
Measured at VZLÚ Prague, 1998.
In June 1998 the TRAXLE tracking stand was tested at the Aircraft Research and Testing Institute (VZLÚ) in Prague, in a wind tunnel three metres in diameter. The system was measured in four orientations relative to the wind direction.
Up to the rated test speed of 160 km/h the structure showed minimal vibration; it remained stable when the speed was briefly raised to 180 km/h. The drive uses a self-locking transmission rated at 500 N·m, and the design follows the wind-loading provisions of ENV 1991-2-4 (actions of wind on structures).
From that work comes a design rule we still consider sound: an active tracker transmission should carry a safety factor of at least 3 at the maximum design wind speed.
Rated test speed in a 3 m wind tunnel, four orientations to the flow, minimal vibration observed.
Short-term overload — stability retained during a brief excursion above the rated speed.
Self-locking transmission torque rating; designed with a safety factor of at least 3.
Field record
Then left outside, on purpose.
12/1998 · Tenerife
ITER exposed-site trial
A 1 kW TRAXLE system installed at the ITER test site in the Canary Islands — chosen for its frequent strong, buffeting winds — for a one-year evaluation.
2004–2015 · EU & CN
Documented installations
From test facilities in Seville and the Canaries to multi-megawatt plants in Spain, Czechia, and Ningxia — see the references gallery.
Encapsulant data
Panels measured the same way
The same evidence-first habit carries into the gel-encapsulation work — field temperatures and ageing data on the high-temperature panels page.
Direct reply by Vladislav Poulek
Want the data behind a claim?
Measurement reports and references are available on request — tell us which installation or test you are interested in.