SOLAR FARMS AND PLANTS PROJECTS
If you have a few acres of land that you want to use for building a Solar Farm here you will find many reasons to take into account our organization as your main choice as EPC and solar equipment provider.
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Solar panels on the rooftops of homes might be the most visible, and emblematic, form of solar energy. But it's the solar panels that make up the sprawling farms built on the ground in remote regions, selling energy to utilities and big companies that are driving the boom in the solar industry overall this year.
Of course, big solar farms are much larger than rooftop solar on a per-system basis, so it's not all that surprising that they'd collectively supply more power. One rooftop solar system could generate several thousand kilowatts, while a solar farm could generate tens or hundreds of megawatts. That said these big solar farms are attractive for a variety of reasons to utilities and power companies. They also seem to be an easier sell, at least at this point, compared to homeowners buying solar panels for their roofs.
EPC's are key players in implementing large solar farms as they put together all the three aspects for a solar farm: the design, material procurement and construction. It is hence critical that you choose your EPC with care.
The main aspect you should consider is to ensure that the EPC you choose should have expertise that covers all components of the above value chain. The EPC might not have all the skill sets in his core team, but should be able to show partnerships that have the capabilities the core team does not. As Solar Consultants we are able to work with the best EPC's in order to build a very reliable and maximum power production Solar Farm.
The popularity of of solar energy is booming around the world and, in recent years, it has transformed from expensive and "exotic" to viable, cost-effective and plain sensible. The capabilities for harvesting solar energy have increased drastically since 2015 and people seem to be leaning towards it more and more. People is also recognizing the change in the cost of solar energy and there is a large number of solar programs available for landowners to sell the solar energy they generate in their solar plants back to the grid.
Building a Solar Power Plant/Farm requires Project Management skills typical of an industrial project with some unique characteristics. The previous steps in the former picture describe a simplistic sequence of procedures of a how to go about building a solar power plant. The process, in fact, requires more detail and solid execution skills. A Solar Plant can be built from some months to few years depending on the expertise, the size and the permitting required.
SITE AUDIT
Typical Site & Financial Assessments
What is the earth composed of? What is underneath? Is water available to clean the solar arrays/mirrors?
Are there any zoning issues? How close are existing power lines and substations?
National lenders search and best offers, public and/or private partnerships, public or private investors availability. Agreements with power companies and utilities. Leasing or Buying decisions. Incentives available from Federal and State government and local utilities: Energy tax credits, rebates, grants, feed-in tariffs. RECs (renewable energy credits).
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Site Identification and Survey
Identifying a suitable site for building the Solar Plant. Note the area should not be heavily forested and have easy access to the roads and the power Grid.
Preliminary Financial Analysis
Financial feasibility with inputs like the land costs and when available, set up, solar Irradiation, interconnection possibility with the power Grid Operator.
Land Leasing
or Buying
After previous steps have passed, then begins the acquisition of the land through Lease or Ownership depending of the financial plan.
BASIC ENGINEERING, SYSTEM
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY SELECTION
A typical PV system includes solar panels and racking as well as DC-AC grid tie or hybrid inverters, transformers, LIFEPO4 battery banks, combiners, computer equipment with monitoring software and even kilometers of cables. An engineering layout is prepared along with the selection of the best available solar technology of solar equipment. Is in this step where us, as Solar Energy Consultants and EPC, can help you.
PERMITTING
Various permitting procedures need to be followed in this step. This is specific to an area and can be quite cumbersome. For example in the U.S the permitting involves very heavy costs and complex procedures with a very significant percentage of the total cost of the solar project.
Aspects like environment protection, selection of locally approved technology, liabilities and others have a heavy impact when applying for permissions to build the solar farm.
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Explaining this step deeply, as for the actual construction, you may need us as your EPC to help you to get the approvals from local, state and federal groups along with the electric utility. Next, you can finalize engineering and pull all needed permits from your local permitting office.
They will require storm water run off and erosion control plans and electrical drawings, among other things, to grant you permitting approvals. In order to get a guarantee for the construction you should acquire a construction bond, such as maintenance or performance bond, that provides a warranty on the construction work and guarantees the contractor's work.
INSTALLATION, COMMISIONING, UTILITY INTERCONNECTION, MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE
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The Integrator team together with the project proposers after determining the financial figures regarding the necessary investment for the Solar Farm/Plant, go to the final step that consists in the selection of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor that will carry out the project, as well as procuring all the equipment and materials, and then construct, connect to grid, monitoring and maintenance of the full system to deliver a functioning facility or asset to their clients.
Power Purchase Agreement
Financing
Selecting EPC
Financial arrangement in which a third-party developer owns, operates, and maintains the PV system, and a host customer agrees to site the
system on its property and purchases the system's electric output from
the solar services provider for
a predetermined period.
Most of the Solar Projects need financial help. Note Solar Power Plants require a high initial investment with very low O&M costs. In general 60-80% of the Project is debt financed.
A system integrator is selected.
In case an EPC Contractor is selected then Solar Panels, Mounting and Inverters need to be purchased if the Contract is not a turnkey one (but we are). Most of the projects are done using EPC contractors that can use our portfolio, with low cost profile and our expertise for this kind of projects.
Step by Step Solar Farm or Plant Project
The main aspect you should consider is to ensure that the EPC you choose should have expertise that covers all components of the above value chain. The EPC might not have all the skill sets in his core team, but should be able to show partnerships that have the capabilities the core team does not. As a Solar Consultants we are able to work with the best EPC contractors in order to build a very reliable and maximum power production Solar Farm or Plant. Below you will find a graphic explanation of all typical steps needed to build, operate and maintain an On Grid Solar Farm or Plant.
REFERENCES OF IMPORTANT SOLAR FARMS OR PLANTS PROJECTS
As a Solar Consultant and EPC Coordinator serving worldwide communities it is important that your investment meets its return target.
Solar PV offers an investment opportunity that minimizes risk and provides clean, green energy. Our group has a track record of successful PV projects for leading utilities and developers around the world and currently working with the top utilities in highly significant projects across the US, Central and South America, Europe and Asia countries.
As a result, Jaime Ventura Energy Consultant as EPC Coordinator represents one of very few brands to gain the confidence of the Solar PV financing, project development and system integration communities.
PROFITABLE & SUSTAINABLE SOLAR ENERGY
This town is located 70 km far from Bari in Italy and its territory is mainly used for agriculture. Thanks to a very favorable sun irradiation this PV plant turned out to be a very sustainable and profitable operation from any economical point of view. The plant was built by one of the most important system integrators with more than 10 years experience in PV sector and with our direct cooperation as EPC Coordinator. The investor confirmed that the 3 MWp of solar panels installed are producing more than 4,000,000 kWh per year avoiding the emission of 2,330 tons of CO2 every year.
Just to give some concrete figures, the electricity produced through this power plant can satisfy the needs of around 1,500 families composed by 4 people. The investor also decided to install our solar modules because of the good results that our factory has been achieving in other European, U.S. and Central/South American countries and also on the basis of the excellent price/performance rate which is extremely important in order to set the best possible earnings on the capital invested.
LARGE-SCALE SOLAR PLANT POWERS CITY OF PHOENIX
This 25 MWp solar plant is on of the largest operational solar power plants in th U.S., covering over 148 acres of desert land in Arizona. Constructed and maintained by a Colorado based EPC local contractor that teamed with our organization for this important project, the installation comprises over 90,000 72-cell solar modules, which were specifically designed for utility-scale applications. These modules proved ideal for the project because of their large size and compatibility with single-axis solar tracking system used.
The owner of the solar plant holds a 20-year PPA with a nation's third-largest investor-owned utility company to supply clean electricity to consumers in the metropolitan area. The solar facility reached commercial operation within one year of its groundbreaking, a significant achievement for a project of this magnitude.
FROM FARMING TO SOLAR POWER
In the past, the area around this region, a field roughly 130 km south of Madrid in Spain, was used mainly for farming. However, when the investor bought the 22-hectare site there were no protest from the locals. After all, the rumors had already spread that the use of the land for solar power stations was a sustainable economic option and the municipality was proud to show that it was committed to active environmental protection.
For our local EPC company responsible for the solar plant station, this project was a good opportunity to reinforce its position as one of the most important system integrator for solar power in Spain with more than 30 MWp of power already installed. When this 9.8 MWp of solar generated electricity is fed into the grid the investor has confirmed an energy output of almost 15 million kWh per year.
As a comparison, this correspond to the amount of electricity used by roughly 7,000 4-persons households. Local EPC's decision to also use our solar modules was taken because of factory's strong history of great results in Germany and Spain and also because of the excellent price/performance ratio which is the key in order to get the best returns on the invested capital.
