Solar Project Surveying
Surveying for solar energy installations in Egypt. El-Eman Office provides surveying for solar projects.
Choosing the plant site from a survey point of view
Surveying for solar projects starts with assessing the site. Relatively flat land is cheaper to build on, while steep slopes require grading or flexible mounting structures. The direction of the slope is checked: a south-facing slope in the northern hemisphere can help, while a north-facing slope increases shading between rows. Also considered are the distance to grid connection lines, ease of equipment access, and the chance of flood water collecting in natural channels that must be avoided or treated.
Setting out rows, foundations and cables
Once the design is approved it is transferred to the ground with precision. Setting out includes the positions of posts supporting the structures or driven piles, the row lines, transformer rooms and substations, cable routes and trenches, internal roads and the fence. Accuracy matters because if long rows are slightly off at the start, errors accumulate toward the end, conflicting with the calculated shading or obstructing panel installation.
- RTK GNSS instruments set out many points quickly over large areas.
- Pile levels are checked before the structures are mounted to confirm they are level.
- Tilt angles and orientation are checked as designed by the electrical engineer.
- Cable routes are recorded with coordinates before burial to ease later maintenance.
Drones and modelling in large plants
A drone saves a great deal of time in producing an elevation model of the site and comparing construction progress with the plan. After grading, the new model can be compared with the old to calculate the quantities carried out. At the end of the project, what was built is documented with aerial photography and an as-built drawing showing the rows, transformers and buried cables, an important document for operating, maintaining and expanding the plant.
- Gather site data, the preliminary design and the land boundaries.
- Produce the terrain model and identify slope zones and channels.
- Set out foundations and routes from the approved coordinates.
- Monitor grading and construction regularly and hand over an as-built at the end.
Shading and row spacing
Plant efficiency is affected by rows shading one another, especially in the early morning and afternoon. Row spacing is therefore calculated from the tilt angle, the height of the structures and the latitude. This calculation depends on ground levels: land sloping south allows rows to be closer, while land sloping north needs more space. The surveyor supplies the designer with an accurate terrain model that can be fed into simulation software to estimate the expected output before construction, avoiding costly errors that are hard to correct once structures are fixed.
Frequently asked questions
Does the same survey approach apply to rooftop systems?
Rooftops need a precise survey of dimensions, obstructions, slope and shading using instruments close to the building, not a survey of a wide area. The principle is similar, though: document reality before design.
What are the most common survey mistakes in these projects?
Drift in long rows, ignoring flood channels, not recording buried cables, and levels changing between the survey and construction.
Do wind and dust affect measurement?
They can affect optical measurements and drones, so work is planned for suitable conditions and results are checked against ground control points.
