Structural hardware repair

Structural hardware repair means fixing or replacing damaged mechanical parts of the array, such as bent or loose members on a tracker. It is one of the fixes for performance loss from tracker twist, along with correcting actuator calibration and torque tube alignment and checking backtracking settings. Do not blame tracker controls for the loss until the mechanical geometry has been checked, because bent torque tubes, foundation settlement and loose clamps can produce similar production signatures. Typical as-needed jobs include repairing or replacing a tracker drive shaft, replacing drive or mount bearings, and repairing or replacing rack parts damaged by corrosion or physical damage, usually done by a mechanic. A failed foundation element is excavated and replaced, a job listed for a structural engineer, and loose mounting hardware is tightened as needed. After the repair, run a repeat angle survey and compare normalized power against unaffected rows under stable irradiance, through both morning and afternoon sweep windows.

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• sentence 1: support check: partial - Passages mention repairing bent or loose mechanical members and replacing rack parts, but never define 'structural hardware repair' as such. -->