A site survey is typically conducted before construction, ideally, before any financial decisions are made. A site survey consists of inspecting terrain conditions for future PV installation including earth conditions, issues and shaded areas. The information collected is then used to better estimate construction feasibility and production capacity and generate a final proposal, assisting asset owners with crucial financial decisions and planning solar plants for maximum yield.

A traditional ground survey takes a lot of time and money and is less accurate than a drone based survey. Drone surveys capture thousands of data points in just a few minutes, geolocation included. With aerial data collected, a mapping software generates detailed terrain maps in a matter of hours. High-resolution terrain mapping enables visibility to what the land actually looks like and provides valuable insights to assist in decision making and plan designs.

The time it takes to construct a solar farm depends on the size of the farm, its location and the number of people working on it. Construction of a solar farm can be completed in a matter of months and spans from 2-3 months for small farms up to 8-12 months for a 100 MW farm. As a general rule of thumb, it takes about 3 months per 2 MW for a standard ground-mounted solar farm. However, including permits and approvals, it may take 3-5 years. The average PV construction time for a 50MW farm is 180 days.

Most solar construction projects exceed their timelines by around 20%, or 36 days. Typical construction delays for a 50MW farm cost $2M. Various factors could cause solar construction delays, such as:

• Inaccurate assessments
• Supply chain issues
• Contractor’s performance
• Unforeseen bottlenecks
• Labor shortages
• Obtaining permits
• Testing equipment

Site managers have to foresee all possible delays in a timely manner, during both the engineering and construction stages, and identify the mitigation capabilities needed. An effective way to foresee delays is for managers to receive daily, accurate and objective progress reports. By monitoring every site activity to the pole level and verifying contractors’ updates, PV construction delays can be avoided.

The best software solution for the solar industry should cover the entire solar farm life cycle. As most asset owners construct and operate solar sites simultaneously, having all data centralized and analyzed in one place is critical. Software for solar energy should also include a dashboard with an overview of all solar projects, as most managers today are responsible for more than one project at a time. In addition, as construction managers need to monitor the daily progress of multiple projects and many more contractors, it should provide objective updates and actionable information automatically, and on a daily basis, for managers to stay on top of their construction projects, to avoid rework and delays.

• As-built drawings are used to track the many changes that take place during the project, deviating from the original design plans.
• Most often, as-built drawings are created using construction technology and software like AutoCAD.
• Generally the EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) is responsible for creating and updating the as-built drawings, recording and dating all the changes that were made during construction.
• Any time any small component deviates from its original geolocation on the original plans, the contractor needs to note the change and images should be recorded.