Building a solar farm: design steps and 10 best practices - PVcase

How to design a utility-scale solar farm

Designing a solar power plant involves multiple stages — each with its own set of data requirements, technical risks, and decision-making complexity. For projects built on uneven or suboptimal terrain, the stakes are even higher. Let’s now unpack the basic stages of the solar power system design process.

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1. Conducting a feasibility study

Before a single panel is placed, every utility-scale solar project begins with a feasibility study. This phase determines whether a solar power plant is viable based on several key points:

• Land availability and ownership constraints

• Solar resource potential

• Grid connection feasability

• Environmental impact and protected zones

• Regulatory and permitting requirements

Environmental impact assessment

One of the most important points is that solar farms must coexist with their environment. An early and thorough environmental review reduces risk and builds community trust. Typical focus areas are:

• Wildlife protection and habitat preservation

• Glare analysis near roads or residences

• Mitigation of erosion, runoff, or dust

Project economics

Another important step is doing a financial analysis to evaluate the economic viability of the solar plant. If a solar farm isn’t financially viable, it won’t be built. Economic modeling runs parallel to every stage of development. Points of consideration are capital costs, operational expenses, revenue generation, incentives, and return on investment.

2. Determining the system size based on the feasibility study

Once the solar project’s viability is determined, developers decide on the system size based on energy targets and project goals. 

It allows for quick iterations based on module type, frame configuration, and tracking system. This way, it helps engineers test multiple layout sizes early without manual recalculations.

3. Selecting a site

Site selection is more than just identifying sunny locations. It involves navigating multiple constraints while preserving buildable acreage:

• Topography and slope risk

• Access roads and transmission line proximity

• Avoidance of protected habitats or flood zones

• Parcel size and configuration

Interconnection and grid integration

When delving into renewable energy project site selection, the strategic evaluation of optimal interconnection points takes center stage. These points, often called POIs, encompass substations, transmission lines, and distribution grid feeder lines. 

Their proximity plays a pivotal role not only in streamlining grid integration but also in shaping the financial landscape of the venture. While shorter distances to POIs generally translate to reduced transmission and distribution costs, there are not many parcels near ideal POIs with sufficient capacity for the project; this makes the calculus more intricate when considering locations farther from your ideal POI.

By conducting thorough analyses of the transmission infrastructure, renewable developers can identify substations and transmission lines with sufficient capacity to accommodate their projects before conducting traditionally expensive and time-consuming site analysis.

4. Performing a solar resource assessment 

Once a site is shortlisted, the next step is understanding how much sunlight it will realistically receive. This involves:

• Analyzing long-term solar radiation data

• Performing shading analysis based on terrain and vegetation

• Evaluating the impact of slopes and azimuth on irradiance

5. Choosing the solar technology

Choosing the right solar technology is also a fundamental step. It impacts not just energy yield but also installation complexity and long-term performance. At this stage, developers decide between photovoltaic (PV) or concentrated solar power (CSP), and within PV, select specific configurations like:

• Fixed-tilt systems: simple to install and maintain, ideal for flat or lightly sloped sites, but can limit overall yield.

• Single-axis trackers: boost energy production by following the sun, but require slope uniformity and add structural considerations.

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• Bifacial modules: capture light from both sides, increasing output, but depend heavily on ground reflectivity and tilt optimization.

6. Making a solar plant layout and design plan 

The layout is where solar potential meets real-world constraints. It defines how efficiently a site can convert sunlight into electricity and how costly it will be to build.

At this stage, engineers define the optimal tilt and orientation of solar panels, row spacing to avoid self-shading and improve airflow, land usage strategy — balancing density, terrain, and constructability, and how to reduce grading and adapt to slopes or irregularities.

7. Civil and structural design

Designs on paper must withstand real-world forces. This step guarantees the solar power plant is structurally sound and constructable. 

It includes practical considerations — such as limiting slopes to what the construction equipment can handle and avoiding potential collisions between frames and the terrain. Drainage, access roads, and construction logistics are also mapped out at this stage.

8. Creating an electrical design

After the mechanical layout is finalized, attention turns to how energy will flow across the solar farm. The electrical design connects all components: the configuration of solar panels, wiring, solar cabling, inverters, transformers, and more. 

Before even beginning the electrical design, engineers should have a clear understanding of the equipment they plan to use, including inverters, transformers, and other electrical components.

It's crucial to know the planned location of the power station and have a clear idea of where intermediate electrical devices like inverters and DC combiners will be placed. Without this prior analysis, engineers may face long cable runs, resulting in extra costs due to increased cabling and higher voltage drops, which require larger (and more expensive) cable sizes.

One of the most significant challenges in electrical design is generating realistic DC, AC, and HV cabling layouts. Errors in cabling arrangements can lead to procurement issues, construction delays, and increased costs.

9. Estimating the energy yield of photovoltaic (PV) power plants to make informed decisions about project design

Before moving into construction, it's pivotal to estimate the solar plant’s projected energy output. This step assures that the current design delivers on performance expectations and meets financial goals.

Using advanced simulation tools, designers assess how much electricity the plant is expected to generate — factoring in shading, terrain, weather patterns, and system losses. If the calculated yield falls short of targets, the layout may need to be adjusted or re-optimized before breaking ground.

10. Construction and commissioning

Once designs, permits, and other elements are in place, the project moves into the field, ensuring adherence to the design plans and safety standards. This phase includes:

• Civil works and foundation installation

• PV module mounting and cabling

• Final testing and commissioning

11. Maintenance, monitoring, and performance analysis

A solar farm’s success doesn’t end at commissioning — it must be maintained for decades.

The next step would be outlining a comprehensive operation and maintenance plan for the solar power plant. This includes regular inspections, cleaning of panels, equipment maintenance, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.

On top of that, the monitoring system needs to be set up to continuously track the plant’s performance, identify potential issues early, and adjust operations to maximize energy output.

How much does building a solar farm cost?

The cost of building a solar power plant can vary widely depending on numerous factors like the size and capacity of the plant, the location, the technology chosen, the cost of labor and materials, and any additional infrastructure requirements.

As of June , a 1 MW solar power plant could cost between $800,000 and $1.5 million. However, it’s worth noting that smaller-scale projects or projects in certain regions may have higher costs due to various factors such as economies of scale, access to materials, and local labor costs.

Additionally, it’s essential to consider that the costs of solar power plants have decreased over time due to advanced technology and increased adoption.

To obtain more accurate and recent cost estimates for building a solar power plant, we recommend consulting with solar project developers, engineering firms, or industry reports that provide specific data on project costs in a chosen region. You also need to evaluate the following factors:

• Size of the project and its design peculiarities

• Price of the materials

• Financing options that are available in a chosen country

• Location costs (depends on the country). It can affect the land rent costs, the available subsidies, state policies, and more

• Labor and maintenance costs (workforce costs depend on the location where the solar lpant is being built)

Here are the costs that comprise the construction of a plant as per EnergySage:

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What are some things to look for when buying solar panels for diy ground mount?


I want to steer away from voltage, current, and or physical size. I know for diy, you want to try and match up your inverter solar input (max VOC, max current, max watts) with the number of solar panels.

I know the bi-facials cost more and certain brands are priced higher.

Another way to ask is why are these Hyundai 305w panels so much cheaper at 0.32 / watt for a pallet and 0.37 / watt for 10 panels. The other panels hover around 0.50 to 0.60 per watt.

Hyundai 9.15kW Pallet - 305W Solar Panel ( Black Frame ) | Half-Cell Mono-Crystalline| HiA-S305HG | Full Pallet (30 Solar Panels)

Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL I'd be looking for deals at Santan Solar and check your local Craigslist, ebay and Facebook marketplace (I re-activated my account and found LG neon's within 100 miles.
I imagine some are cheaper because of manufacturing costs, glass thickness, and freight to get them to there destination from the manufacturer.
Don't forget to take cold temperature corrections into account with your VoC calculations.

What are some things to look for when buying solar panels for diy ground mount?


I want to steer away from voltage, current, and or physical size. I know for diy, you want to try and match up your inverter solar input (max VOC, max current, max watts) with the number of solar panels.

I know the bi-facials cost more and certain brands are priced higher.

Another way to ask is why are these Hyundai 305w panels so much cheaper at 0.32 / watt for a pallet and 0.37 / watt for 10 panels. The other panels hover around 0.50 to 0.60 per watt.

Hyundai 9.15kW Pallet - 305W Solar Panel ( Black Frame ) | Half-Cell Mono-Crystalline| HiA-S305HG | Full Pallet (30 Solar Panels)

Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL

.

Another way to ask is why are these Hyundai 305w panels so much cheaper at 0.32 / watt for a pallet and 0.37 / watt for 10 panels. The other panels hover around 0.50 to 0.60 per watt.

Hyundai 9.15kW Pallet - 305W Solar Panel ( Black Frame ) | Half-Cell Mono-Crystalline| HiA-S305HG | Full Pallet (30 Solar Panels)

Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL

These are quite small (so you need more racking) and lower efficiency (so you need about 10% more area to get the same power). Installation labor sort of scales by the number of panels too.

By comparison if one were to go with 450W modules you would only need racking for 20 panels for about the same DC output.

Sometimes smaller panels do make sense, I bought some 120cell ones slightly bigger than the ones you linked to fill a gap on my roof. I think they were pretty heavily discounted relative to the 144 cell ones I used elsewhere (both bigger and higher efficiency) Thanks for the responses. Locally, Facebook and Craigslist are sna desert and does not have anything.

Since this is.diy, I have tended to stay away from larger panels. I am an army of one. They are heavier and as tall as me. I know they require less mounting hardware. That price point of 0.31/watt (almost half of the Amazon based panels 0.55/watt) is very tempting.

Thanks for the responses. Locally, Facebook and Craigslist are sna desert and does not have anything.

Since this is.diy, I have tended to stay away from larger panels. I am an army of one. They are heavier and as tall as me. I know they require less mounting hardware. That price point of 0.31/watt (almost half of the Amazon based panels 0.55/watt) is very tempting.

FWIW on my first install as a newb roof DIYer I installed 15 400W class panels myself on a single story roof over three weeks in July, and am doing 9 more next month. Those kinds of panels are about 45lb

If this is roof mount then you may compromise on number of panels. If it is engineered ground mount then more panels may mean more ballast or concrete which I don't think is cheap.

If it's ground mount not subject to inspections and you are value engineering it then you can probably come out ahead using these smaller/older gen panels. For Ohio ground mount I'd be looking bifacials for sure. 30-40% gain with snow on the ground while going through the darkest time of the year should help productionwise. Price per watt is the single most important thing, but bifacials produce more than their nominal wattage suggest, especially with snow and "loose" installation. Even without vertical installation they warm up much faster to slide snow off and start bifacial production.

I'd be looking for N-type cells as they don't seem to be any more expensive than "normal" P-type ones. Don't know about NA price level on mono-/bifacial or P-/N-type, but here, where everything is usually super expensive, I can order a pallet of 700W Bluesun bifacials (N-type, shingled cell, HJT, 22,8% efficiency) home delivered including 24% VAT under 0,3€/W. Those are some good prices for the Bluesun bi-facials. I would be afraid of a solar panel taller than most basketball players.

Nowadays, there isn't that much snow that sticks to the ground. We get 2 or 3 snow storms for winter, but everything else melts away within a day or two. It's been this way for several years.

I didn't mention it, but I get over 80% of my solar from about 12 noon to 4pm. It's probably more in the 90% range when you factor efficiency losses and covering the house load. House is facing north and trees are on both east and west sides.

I get about 1/2 of the standard solar collected (e.g. enter PV array size and zip code only) based on pvwatts.gov You're right about bi-facial panels costing more, but they can be worth it if you have the budget and space for them. Brand reputation also plays a role in pricing, so it's good to do some research and read reviews from fellow DIYers. Now, about those Hyundai 305w panels being cheaper, it might indeed be due to bulk pricing or promotions. Sometimes, it's all about timing and getting a good deal. One tip I'd offer is to consider looking into solar kits. They often come with everything you need – panels, inverters, and mounting gear – and can be a cost-effective solution for a DIY project. Plus, it simplifies the whole process.

What are some things to look for when buying solar panels for diy ground mount?


I want to steer away from voltage, current, and or physical size. I know for diy, you want to try and match up your inverter solar input (max VOC, max current, max watts) with the number of solar panels.

I know the bi-facials cost more and certain brands are priced higher.

Another way to ask is why are these Hyundai 305w panels so much cheaper at 0.32 / watt for a pallet and 0.37 / watt for 10 panels. The other panels hover around 0.50 to 0.60 per watt.

Hyundai 9.15kW Pallet - 305W Solar Panel ( Black Frame ) | Half-Cell Mono-Crystalline| HiA-S305HG | Full Pallet (30 Solar Panels)

Signature Solar provides solar panels, off-grid solar systems, grid-tie, and hybrid systems. Quality solar inverters, bifacial solar panels, complete solar kits, solar batteries. Featuring brands such as EG4 Electronics with their solar battery, LifePower4 and EG4 LLifePower4 and EG4 LL

In EU panels are dumped to Ukraine. Dirtcheap. Buy as many you can afford.