Solar’s time has come. In just the first quarter of 2024, the industry installed 11.8 GW of capacity, and utility-scale solar is now leading the way with 9.8 GW installed. With historic levels of government investment and growing momentum for economy-wide decarbonization, the solar industry is poised for long-term growth.
The industry’s focus must now be on deployment at scale. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, more than 250 GW of capacity will be installed before the decade is out. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and their partners need innovative technologies and solutions to ensure that solar farms are built safely and deliver their expected power output. And just like with any structure, operational success starts quite literally with a solid foundation.
Integrated solutions that encompass foundation construction and solar trackers accelerate and simplify project completion. They make it possible to successfully install solar farms on land with challenging geotechnical engineering conditions by reducing risks and saving on costs and time.
“The sheer volume of projects facing difficult geotechnical conditions continues to increase,” says Sol Hutson, GM Foundation Solutions at Nextracker, a leading provider of integrated utility-scale solar solutions. “Integrated solutions allow developers to install projects where it’s geographically advantageous to access the interconnection queue regardless of topography or geotech conditions,” he says.
Let’s explore how foundation solutions support overall success for utility-scale solar installations:
Streamline engineering in any soil conditions
The soil conditions and geotechnology required to install utility-scale PVs at a given construction site are critical factors in project planning and execution. As developers and EPCs grow their portfolios of solar projects, more of those projects will be constructed on less-than-perfect soils. These could be sites with undulating terrain, very weak or very hard soils, sites with variable soil types, and frost-susceptible soils as more projects are built in colder climates.
Integrated solutions providers can offer innovative foundation components that accommodate these varying soil conditions while aligning with tracker technology. The NX Anchor™ from Nextracker, for example, is more effective than traditional piles in weak, expansive and frost-susceptible soils. It features a pair of blade piles that resist uplift forces without excessive embedment depth. Shallower embedment means less chance of encountering obstructions or refusals in the substrate. Less material also simplifies logistics on the site and provides a better, safer way for workers to handle materials during installation.
Conversely, for very hard or rocky soils, the Ojjo Earth Truss from Nextracker is installed with a single pass of one piece of equipment. It removes the need for traditional pre-drilling and is a much more efficient solution for these types of soils than traditional piles.
Mitigate project risks
“Foundations can introduce a lot of uncertainty in a project, whether it’s scheduling complications, pile install refusals and remediation, or management of multiple pieces of equipment and crews on site,” Hutson says. EPCs who partner with the right foundation solution provider for a given project can reduce project economic risks and improve site safety with foundation solutions optimized for their specific site and geotechnical conditions.
Working with a partner that brings integrated foundation and tracking solutions also ensures that these key systems and components work together seamlessly. “By supporting customers with both the foundation and tracker design and supply,” Hutson explains. “We ensure complete end-to-end alignment and optimization and customer’s no longer need to coordinate with separate foundation and tracker providers, this integrated approach improves the entire design, testing, procurement and construction cycle,” he says.
Crucially, this streamlined strategy can be repeated across an EPC’s portfolio. Once a variety of foundation solutions are at their disposal along with tracker capabilities, developers and EPCs get simpler, less risky project implementation everywhere they’re contracted. “It improves timeliness and reliability in the procurement and construction phases, and it becomes a rinse-and-repeat scenario for developers to work with the same trusted partner who can bring optimized solutions across all project conditions,” Hutson says.
Simplify procurement for cost-effective projects
The most significant benefit of integrated foundation solutions is arguably the cost savings they provide. Improving project timelines and reducing uncertainty means savings on materials, labor, equipment and contingencies. Turning a multi-step drilling and pile install process into one operation, for example, brings savings on labor and equipment and significantly reduces environmental impact. “The opportunity is improved total project level cost and schedule risk ,” says Hutson.
Working with one partner also improves procurement costs by simplifying contracting and sourcing. With solutions for any type of geotechnical conditions and aligned tracker technology, developers and EPCs can execute projects faster. They can also establish reliable teams by working with a consistent partner who handles multiple aspects of a project's planning and construction.
Ultimately, all of these savings mean better operations, ROI and business outcomes for the EPCs and developers responsible for bringing utility-scale solar online.
A brighter future for solar installations
Hundreds of gigawatts of clean solar energy need to be connected to our grids — and not in some far-off future timeframe, but in the next few years. EPCs and developers must therefore execute projects wherever they can access grid interconnections, even where the geologic conditions aren’t ideal. With technological innovations and integrated expertise, solar projects can overcome site specific challenges, operate efficiently to catch all available energy, and be installed across the U.S. to meet decarbonization goals.
“The ability to install solar where it’s needed despite geotechnical challenges is very valuable for developers and EPCs, and it results in getting more projects connected to the grid,” Hutson says. By taking a holistic approach to designing, procuring, constructing and working with integrated foundation solutions, EPCs and developers can improve all aspects of solar installations and build a brighter future for our grids — and for their businesses.
Find more resources about NX Foundation Solutions for your utility-scale solar asset development.
