Largest UK solar farm
Case Study: 5MWp ground mounted solar pv farm using ground screw
Background
- The client: Anesco
- The ground screw installation partner: JPCS
- Date: June 2012 (project completed in four weeks using ground screw)
- Location: Cadland Estate, Fawley, Hampshire
- Project size: 5MWp ground mounted solar photovoltaic installation
- Number of ground screws used: 4760
- Solar PV modules: 17,865
- Trenching: 1,432m
- Krinner FLEXIII Framing: 9.2km
Challenges
- To build the UK’s biggest ground mounted solar pv farm to date
- Tight timescales
- Low impact to Cadland Estate’s landscape
- Adverse weather – the wettest June on record since 1910 – resulting in
poor ground conditions; this lead to a longer amount of time spent on site than programmed.
Outcomes
- Ground screw was the chosen foundation for the installation of the 5MWp solar pv farm
- Using ground screw was particularly beneficial for this project due to the challenging weather experienced during installation, taking into account the tight completion deadlines, since ground screw is not as weather dependant as concrete foundation systems. This means that ground screw requires no excavation or concreting (ground screw is used where small concrete pads would usually be cast). If the project involved concrete foundations, other than ground screw foundations, significant delays would have occurred – since dry weather is needed to enable installers to pour the concrete – or the cost of the works would have increased by using pre cast concrete. Despite the ground conditions, installation partner JPCS secured 141 ground screws on average each day (around 14 ground screws per hour). With optimum weather and ground conditions, using two KR55 machines, up to 500 ground screws can be installed each day
- Using ground screw enabled the work to be completed on time – in just four weeks!
- Ground screw is made from 75 per cent recycled steel, and as a concrete-free process, the installation is a sustainable process, carried out with little machinery, reduced vibration/noise, and reduced impact on the landscape
- The 30 acre project was the biggest ground mounted solar pv farm in the UK at the time and is expected to generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes
- The project created 90 temporary jobs and 10 permanent jobs.
