Renewable Solutions

Financial Incentives

Introduction
Ground mounted solar PV systems offer an alternative solution in situations where a building mounted installation isn’t an option.
Systems can vary in size from small, single-figure kilowatt arrays built within the grounds of a building to multi-megawatt “solar parks” or “PV farms” constructed on large areas of brownfield or low grade agricultural land.
Regardless of scale, the design and construction principles of ground mounted solar PV systems are usually the same with the PV array being fitted to a dedicated mounting structure fixed directly to the ground and the inverters installed either immediately below or within a dedicated enclosure constructed nearby.

Mounting structures
Mounting structures can take many forms but most consist of a metal framework set at the optimal pitch and orientation and fixed to a suitable foundation. To maximise system output the structure can be made to be adjustable such that the PV array will track the path of the sun during the course of the day and/or the angle of the sun across the seasons. These adjustable structures can be mechanised and are commonly referred to as trackers.

Maintaining land use
Ground mounted solar PV systems installed in fields can be constructed in such a way that sheep can graze below the mounting frames. This has the two-fold benefit of retaining an agricultural use for the land and keeping the grass down in order to avoid shading.
Ground mount structures can also be designed to provide additional amenity such as shelter as in the case of solar PV “carports”.

Foundations
Wherever possible Ecofirst use ground screws to anchor the mounting frames as these are more environmentally friendly than concrete pile or raft foundations. Additionally, when in future the system is decommissioned the screws can be easily removed and the land returned to its original use with minimal reparation work.

Where ground screws are not appropriate, there are a number of alternative methods of anchoring ground mount frames and Ecofirst engineers can tailor solutions to meet most ground conditions.