Four years ago, former MIT lab mates Leila Madrone and Saul Griffith started working together to help bring solar to the next level. “Across the solar industry, it was clear the tracker was the unsolved problem,” Madrone says in this Solar Speaks podcast. “Everyone wants tracker performance, but no one wants tracker complexity.”

Sunfolding, a new type of solar tracker that has just emerged from stealth, is the outcome of their research and development. The tracker eliminates motors, gearboxes, torque tubes, bearings and wires. “We created a system that has the ease of installation and versatility of fixed tilt,” Madrone says.

The tracker uses distributed actuation with a pneumatic drive system that lets solar developers install trackers in small, uniform sections, like fixed-tilt mounting. The drive is made of durable polymers developed by DuPont and already used in harsh automotive applications.

Learn more about Sunfolding in this Solar Speaks podcast. Sunfolding is also exhibiting at Solar Power International 2015 at booth No. 7624.