With product sustainability in focus, TrinaTracker, a subsidiary of Trinasolar and provider of PV trackers, has announced the latest certification and validation of its Vanguard series tracker’s embedded carbon footprint.
It has received a Product Carbon Footprint Certification (PCF) for its Vanguard 2P trackers from third-party certifier Bureau Veritas. The tracker rotates horizontally around a single axis with respect to the ground level and carries PV modules in a dual portrait (2P) configuration. This certification quantifies and validates the carbon emissions of each step in making this product, i.e., the whole ‘cradle-to-gate’ lifecycle. The company noted that it covers raw material sourcing, supply chain, transportation, manufacturing, and delivery of the finished product to end customers. Benchmarking the tracker’s carbon footprint underscores the manufacturer’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions from earlier stages. In the design phase, the company selects materials with lower carbon footprints (such as low-carbon steel) compared to standard alternatives. In addition, it optimizes the transport of supply chains by taking shorter transport distances and opting for the train and sea freight routes . It uses green or renewable energy (RE) during manufacturing, adopting processes characterized as ‘energy-saving’. Lastly, at the packaging and delivery stages, the tracker maker improves the routing of deliveries and optimizes the loading of containers. TrinaTracker added that its PCF certification is in accordance with the relevant international standard – ISO 14067:2018.
The tracker manufacturer also highlighted the Product Carbon Footprint Reduction Verification certificate for Vanguard 1P, which quantifies more than a 10% improvement in the reduction of carbon emissions in under a year. Last year, this tracker, consisting of PV modules in a single-portrait (1P) configuration, received a Carbon Emission Verification certificate from Bureau Veritas. Compared to the Vanguard 2P tracker’s carbon emission reduction, its improvement is attributed to design refinement and changes in manufacturing processes.
According to the company, it can provide customers in markets like Europe and Latin America, which have stringent carbon regulations, with transparent and credible carbon footprint data for its Vanguard series trackers.
