The coming revolution in utility-scale solar

Revolutionizing Utility-Scale Solar with Earth-Mounted PV

Erthos is transforming utility-scale solar with its innovative Earth Mount Solar PV system, which eliminates traditional racking and tracking infrastructure. Founded in 2019 by industry veteran Jim Tyler, Erthos aims to reduce material, labor, and land costs while improving solar economics and system simplicity.

Why Earth-Mounted Solar Matters

Conventional utility-scale systems rely on single-axis trackers. Erthos challenges this norm by placing solar modules flat on the ground, addressing critical challenges:

• High costs of steel, installation, and land.
• Mechanical complexity and subsurface risks.
• Rising levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) in solar projects.

The Earth Mount Solar PV system offers a 20% reduction in LCoE by bypassing trackers and simply deploying more low-cost modules directly on the ground.

Strategic Design and Economic Impact

Erthos provides a complete rethink of project economics:

• Despite 20% lower energy yield per module, cost savings outweigh losses.
• Smaller system footprints lead to reduced CAPEX and OPEX.
• The technology allows more energy per acre, significantly lowering land requirements.

This shift could catalyze rapid adoption, similar to how single-axis trackers once revolutionized the market with only a 5% LCoE improvement.

Technology-Driven Advantages

Erthos systems excel in durability and performance:

• Achieve wind resistance of up to 194 mph—surpassing any hurricane on U.S. soil.
• Handle extreme rainfall without operational disruptions.
• Deliver a performance index of 96.9%, compared to the industry average of 93.5%.

Modules are stabilized using a tensioned cable mesh anchored to perimeter concrete blocks, ensuring structural integrity.

Maintenance Innovation: The ErthBot

Erthos employs an autonomous robot, ErthBot, to clean modules nightly:

• Removes dust, mud, and bird droppings effectively.
• Keeps modules cleaner than traditional tracker systems.
• Contributes significantly to superior system performance and maintenance efficiency.

The Future of Earth-Mounted Solar

Erthos systems have been successfully permitted and deployed across multiple U.S. counties, with a landmark 100+ MW project underway in Texas. Their simplified, resilient design tackles soiling, wind, hydrology, and thermal challenges head-on, setting a new benchmark for utility-scale solar.

By integrating performance, simplicity, and cost advantages, Erthos is poised to reshape the utility-scale solar landscape.

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