Genius Tracker™ system completes IEEE 693 high-performance level earthquake testing at UC Berkeley’s PEER Lab
GameChange Solar, a leading global supplier of solar tracker and fixed-tilt racking technology, announced the successful completion of the industry’s first full-scale seismic shake table testing program for its Genius Tracker™ system at UC Berkeley’s Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center. The testing was conducted in accordance with IEEE 693 seismic design standards, simulating extreme earthquake conditions representative of high-risk regions such as the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This testing represents one of the most intense credible seismic scenarios for a U.S. solar installation.
A full-scale tracker system with mounted PV modules was subjected to progressively increasing seismic inputs, including broadband excitation and high-performance-level testing up to 2.5g spectral acceleration.
The system demonstrated strong performance across multiple configurations and test intensities:
- No structural damage to key components, including torque tubes, bearings, posts, and actuators.
- Seismic design features, including GameChange’s proprietary Lateral Capture System, engaged as intended and effectively redistributed loads during testing.
- No module microcracking or meaningful power loss, with degradation under 1% of the PV modules used during the testing
- Full system functionality was maintained by the tracker motor after testing.
“As solar expands into seismic-risk regions like California, Chile, and the New Madrid Fault Zone, the industry has had negligible real-world data on how modern utility scale trackers and modules perform in an earthquake,” said Scott Van Pelt, Chief Engineer at GameChange Solar. “This test changes that. We now have conclusive evidence that a solar tracking system, such as GameChange’s Genius Tracker, can be designed to withstand the forces associated with a meaningful earthquake.”
The results of this testing are covered in the White Paper “Seismic Shake Table Testing of Single Axis Solar Trackers,” which is available upon request from GameChange Solar’s website. Furthermore, this testing was presented as part of a pv magazine webinar, on how shake table testing shows earthquake resilience of solar trackers, which aired on March 18th and available here.
A seismic failure at a solar plant could mean widespread module damage, costly repairs, months of lost generation, and potentially dangerous conditions for O&M personnel. By establishing an empirical performance baseline now, GCS is enabling project developers, asset owners, and insurers to make more informed decisions about seismic risk and provide a credible engineering foundation for sites in high-hazard zones.
Independent validation by the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) in Fremont, CA confirmed the system remained in good physical and operating condition following the test campaign.
These results demonstrate that the Genius Tracker system is engineered to deliver reliability, and performance in high seismic environments, supporting solar deployment in some of the world’s most demanding conditions.
