The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that over 5 500 GW of renewable energy will be added globally by 2030, with new solar capacity accounting for 80% of this growth.

With the solar sector poised for exponential growth, the need for efficient and precise utility-scale solar design has never been greater, asserts solar PV solutions company 7SecondSolar. 

“The traditional approach to designing utility-scale solar farms is often met with inefficiencies, leading to project delays and missed opportunities for optimisation,” says 7SecondSolar CEO Paul Nel. “With the trajectory of the solar sector, energy engineers should be adding design automation to their toolbox so that value engineering can be the focus from the outset.” 

The company has developed its AUTOPV design automation software to automate the design of large, complex PV installations, enabling engineers to generate multiple construction-ready designs in hours instead of months.

Designing utility-scale solar farms has historically been a protracted process, because of the complexity and manual nature of traditional design methods. The traditional approach means engineers are often have to work with a single design iteration, without the opportunity to explore alternatives.

Nel explains that each megawatt of solar is typically designed only once, leaving little to no room for crucial optimisation or value engineering, adding: “This is a staggering reality given that an estimated $27-billion will be spent on designing utility-scale solar projects over the next five years, translating to roughly 100 000 work years - requiring 20 000 engineers to keep pace. Despite this immense investment of time and resources, the industry largely foregoes the benefits of iterative design.”

The rapid iteration capability of 7SecondSolar’s AUTOPV software allows for comprehensive comparisons of various site layouts and equipment configurations. The software goes beyond basic feasibility, delivering detailed design iterations aimed at optimising the revenue of PV plants over their entire lifecycle.

“The benefits of AUTOPV extend to the core pain points of energy engineers. The software automates every step from stringing logic to cable routes, eliminating the need for manual redrawing with every design change. This liberates engineers from tedious, repetitive tasks, allowing them to dedicate their expertise to strategic optimisation. We understand the frustration of spending weeks in CAD and spreadsheets, constantly battling design changes. Our aim is to provide a tool that moves as fast as an engineer's thinking, enabling them to unlock the best version of their PV site quickly and accurately," affirms Nel.

7SecondSolar asserts that its solution represents a shift in how large-scale solar projects are conceptualised, designed, and optimised and that the use of computational design and iterative exploration will allow the renewables industry to scale solar to its maximum potential.