SOLAR ENERGY 101: Pros, and Cons of Solar Trackers

We have substantially discussed solar trackers in our past articles. At this point, we know enough to provide  judgment and evaluate the technology. Make no mistake - solar trackers mostly make financial sense when included on commercial or large scale systems where the extra harvested sunshine outweighs the cost invested in the tracking technology. In some countries (United States, and Canada) grid-back-feeding mechanisms encourage installers and pro-solar individuals to take the extra step and recover all they can from their sunlight exposure.
Advantages of solar trackers: 
Depending on the type of solar tracking system installed, an increase on the total output performance of the system by about a third will be observed. This is the home-run advantage involved with solar trackers - anything else is extra credit. In some geographic regions of the world a figurative increase of about 40% have been observed. We have to understand that in order to obtain this performance from a tracking system, alongside proper engineering and choice of tracking system other site specific parameters have to fall in place.
The tracking system has to be very reliable. This means that the system should be effective enough to track the sun across the sky and not track the reflection of the sun on a cloud (silver lining) and then falsely rotate all day. There has to be enough sunlight exposure; too many clouds will decrease its performance. The placement of the system is also very important. It works best in shade free geographic locations with low horizons.
Disadvantages of solar trackers:
As we already know, increasingly complicating any technological design invites havoc if not done properly. We cannot stress enough the importance of proper engineering - we don't want parts to start flying all over the place when a strong wind visits the area. Including a mechanized moving system with a solar installation tremendously increases it price tag, and this is the major disadvantage with solar trackers. Upfront costs may increase by almost 25% - which added to the cost of any conventional system is already breaking any bank.
Conventionally installed solar systems do not require any maintenance for the first 20-25 years. But solar tracking systems do, and if they break down at an unfortunate angle they may keep the panels tilted away from sunlight until repairs are done highly reducing system performance. Solar trackers may increase the damage potential by a storm if the angle is not in parallel to the path of the storm at the time it hits - proper precaution should be taken to avoid this. Lifetime warranties for fixed systems are around the 30 plus years mark but lower for tracking systems.
Nonetheless, solar trackers are an awesome addition to commercial solar installs were applicable. Indicate with a comment if you have any thoughts on this topic.