Stracker Solar Awarded U.S. Patent for Elevated Dual-Axis Solar Tracking Platform
Patented single-pole tracker design preserves the land beneath the array while precisely following the sun — the foundation of what the company calls the world’s most efficient PV solar platform.
ASHLAND, Ore., Sept. 16, 2026 — Stracker Solar, an Ashland-based solar technology company, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 12,587,129, “Elevated Dual-Axis Photovoltaic Solar Tracking Assembly,” covering the core design of the company’s flagship solar tracker. The patent was granted March 24, 2026, to inventor Jeffery C. Sharpe, PE, founder and CEO of Stracker Solar, and is assigned to Stracker Incorporated.
The patent, which spans 17 claims and 8 drawing sheets, protects the mechanical and control-system design at the heart of the Stracker: a photovoltaic array mounted on a single elevated pole, typically 22 feet tall, that keeps a minimum of 14 feet of clearance beneath the array at all times. That clearance is what allows the land underneath — a parking lot, a field, a pasture — to stay fully in use while the array generates power above it.
Rather than sitting at a fixed tilt, the patented assembly tracks the sun on two axes, continuously reorienting the array to stay orthogonal to the sun’s position throughout the day and year-round. A drive-core unit at the heart of the system uses two interdependent, all-electric slew drives, guided by a control system that draws on GPS, an anemometer and encoder transducers to calculate the sun’s exact position and reposition the array at preset intervals — while also automatically moving the array out of harm’s way in high wind or heavy snow. The application traces back to an original filing in 2018, reflecting several years of engineering refinement before this patent’s issuance.
That tracking precision is central to Stracker’s efficiency claims: the company says its tracker generates 50 to 70 percent more power than a stationary array of equal size, delivering up to 70 percent more power while using 90 percent less land than conventional ground-mount solar — the basis for its positioning as the world’s most efficient PV solar platform.
“This patent protects years of work to solve a problem that’s held solar back for a long time — how do you get maximum energy from the sun without giving up the land underneath it,” said Jeff Sharpe, founder and CEO of Stracker Solar.
The patented design underpins Stracker’s installations across parking lots, agricultural land, municipal and tribal projects, and campuses, where the elevated single-pole footprint eliminates the need for the perimeter fencing typical of ground-mount solar fields and leaves the site open for EV charging, vehicle access, or continued agricultural use. Systems are rated for 120 mph winds and 50 psf snow loads, are backed by a 30-year structural warranty, and are manufactured in the USA.
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