Greenbuddies Tips - January 2024

We bring you an overview of completed solar projects in the Grennbuddies for the last quarter of 2023. Both the number of projects and the installed MWp are at record numbers! We have built on fields, rooftops, remediated landfills, and in the hills; we have moved forward in the construction of carports and large-capacity batteries. Join us for a selection of what we've completed across the EU in recent weeks!

2023 - The third year of massive growth and outlook into 2024

In 2023, for the third consecutive year, the PV market in the EU grew by more than 40% year-on-year, adding nearly 60 GW of new installed capacity. While the pace of PV build-out still varies significantly among individual European countries, we can confidently say that the era of 'fossil islands' in the EU is a thing of the past. It's particularly gratifying to see our country among those making significant strides in transforming the energy mix.

The absolute installation numbers are indeed noteworthy — the Czech Republic, for example, nearly re-entered the gigawatt market after many years with 980 MW of new installations. However, the most remarkable aspect is the percentage growth, reaching thousands of percent in our domestic market. We're proud to have made a substantial contribution to this growth, particularly in the largest industrial power plants. Europe now has 14 gigawatt markets, and Greenbuddies functions in most of them. A vital market for us, in the Netherlands, added 4.1 GW of new installations, increasing the installed PV capacity to about 1,280 watts per capita, roughly four times that of our domestic market.

We expect market dynamics to continue accelerating in the coming years, driven by improved administrative conditions in many European markets and further reductions in panel unit prices. Projects that were financially unviable just a few years ago will now be feasible. However, analysts suggest this trend may slow over a ten-year horizon as the relative cost of human labor to components substantially increases — labor costs are unlikely to decrease. At some point, panel prices might reach a level where technical limitations prevent further price reductions.

The Czech market, now crucial for us, is expected to grow even more significantly than the European average over the next ten years. In 2024, we anticipate a surge in the construction of large-scale solar parks. The Czech market features a variety of developers, and Greenbuddies is preparing almost 1 GW of new projects for construction in joint ventures with two multinational investors.

Photovoltaics are still on the rise in Europe and globally. Taking this for granted would be a mistake. The current trends are highly favorable:?

• Solar energy is now the least investment-intensive and cheapest source of energy. However, these prices, coupled with the normalization of the energy market, will bring some competition with other sources.?
• Improved logistics and product transport from China post-Covid have ensured good panel availability, but issues like piracy in the Red Sea could potentially disrupt logistics again.
• Currently, all EU countries favor solar energy, though some debate the share of PV in the energy mix.

Despite these challenges, the new National Energy Plans (NECPs) of EU members indicate that PV capacity will rise to nearly 600 GW, and the REPowerEU targets even 750 GW by 2030.

In 2024, we're in for another record year. Come join us!

Ale? Spá?il

Chief Sales Buddy

?

→ Download Market Footprint 4Q/2023

Specifics of PV installation in the winter months in northern Europe

Over the past two years, Greenbuddies has significantly established itself in the Scandinavian market, experiencing considerable growth in PV installations. More than 12 GWp of PV installations are expected in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland by 2030.Our teams have installed over 45 MWp across 15 projects in these countries. Currently, three ground-mounted PV projects are underway in freezing January, where our "Buddies" are dealing with a Nordic winter they are not used to from the latitudes of their home countries.

We consulted our site managers, experienced in Scandinavian projects, for insights on working in these natural conditions.

Frost and wind

Snow and frost greatly impact our work, with northern temperatures ranging from +5 to -20°C. Construction sites face higher risks of injury, accidents, frostbite, or colds due to the ice and cold. Acclimatization and specific work equipment, such as headlamps, heel traction aids, and gloves, are essential.

Strong winds in northern climates also pose challenges, and we have to take extra care when distributing materials and placing solar modules, especially when installing rooftop solar power plants.

Surprisingly, winter weather can also be a small advantage, as frozen ground is hard enough for material and equipment handling, while in higher temperatures there can be a problem with logistics due to muddy terrain.?

Subsoil and Groundwater

Construction takes place on sites with a variety of subsoils, ranging from hard clay to sandy soil and peat bogs to stony forest soil. This requires a special approach to each of these terrains. Unstable subsoils and wind risks make conventional ramming of steel profiles unsuitable. In peat bogs, preventive stripping and creating stable log platforms for extraction are often necessary.?

In addition, if there is a high water table that varies with the intensity of rainfall, the originally planned technologies may prove unsuitable. Drilling can often lead to rapid collapse of boreholes and the formation of caverns, requiring additional interventions such as excavator gradients to a depth where drilling is no longer possible.

Stones

Ramming often reveals large stones that excavators can't remove. We used a Swedish patented explosive, a compacted gunpowder charge, to remove a particularly large stone found durring ramming. Drilled into the stone, its activation causes internal combustion, as shown in the attached image.

Concreting in extreme temperatures

In unstable subsoils, we use the technology of pre-cast concrete piles, which serve as an anchor for the steel section and prevent uneven settlement of the structure. For concreting in the Swedish winter, freezing temperatures are a real disadvantage and pose a number of challenges. In temperatures down to -5 °C, antifreeze additives are added to the concrete. When the temperature drops even lower, we have to use a heated tent, where there are thermocouples connected to a weather station and a mobile app, thanks to which it is possible to monitor the temperature inside the tent and have good control over the hardening of the concrete. The tent is large enough to accommodate a mix of concrete and allow the molds to be cast in a temperate environment.

Weather and its traffic impact

Winter road conditions in the north are almost unpredictable. This is due to the proximity of the sea, which both warms and moistens the local climate. TDaytime temperatures around zero can lead to icy, frosty mornings. Often, more than 50 cm of snow will fall during the night. Locals are used to using studded tyres because of the ice that often forms on the roads. In general, driving in the north is often slower, and speed limits are lower for safety reasons. Traffic is thinner, and the locals are really disciplined and experienced drivers. ??

Light and time delay

Local light conditions hinder PV plant construction, as darkness falls in the early afternoon and requires a dependency on our headlamps. ?The lack of light also affects the team's mood, requiring careful people management. Different time zones in northern countries pose additional challenges, necessitating exceptional organization to maintain work continuity between the office and the site.

Carports and comparison of their types

In the past, we have repeatedly commented on the issue of carport construction on various communication platforms. The project of building carports is a rather complex matter, especially if we take into account the legislative and regulatory differences concerning both the permitting procedure and the actual implementation in different European countries.

However, in this article, we would like to discuss the different types of solutions for the shape of the substructure, i.e., the upper part of the whole system. We will not focus on the different materials (aluminium, steel, wood, etc.), but rather on the different design options for the superstructure, which have a major influence on the utility value of the whole system, the choice of the strut profile and horizontal support elements, the dimensioning and technology of the foundations, and the way the superstructure is fixed to the ground. All these factors are logically also reflected in the cost of the entire carport.

The basic breakdown can be described as follows:

1. Carports with multi-point attachment to foundations: this is a structure that is typically mounted to ground screws or concrete/combined foundations at multiple points on the front and back of the carport.

• The advantage of this type is the much simpler statics of the system, as the weight of the superstructure is distributed on both sides of the structure, and this also greatly simplifies the requirements for the design of the foundations; these can thus be made typically in the form of commonly available earth screws that are screwed into punched or, in a more extreme scenario, pre-drilled holes in the ground.?
• The key disadvantage of this solution is the limited manoeuvring space under the carport roof, where, especially when the car park is fully occupied, drivers have a much more difficult situation when opening the car doors for getting in and out of the car in places close to the vertical struts. In carport public car parks (hotels, spas, airports, shopping malls, etc.), minor accidents can also be expected as a result of poorly managed parking manoeuvres.

Visualisation of Carports with Multi-Point Attachment:

2. Cantilevered carports (with a single roof strut located at the rear of the structure in the single-row version ("L" variant) and typically in the middle of the structure in the double-row version ("T" variant)

• The main advantage of this type of carport is the unrestricted manoeuvrability for drivers taking advantage of the 'covered' external parking area, as they do not have to be careful of mechanical obstacles in the form of the struts at the front of the carport when entering the covered parking area; the only thing they have to be careful of is the opening of the doors and possible damage to the paintwork.
• The disadvantages of this solution are mainly due to the structural and physical variables: the distribution of pressure forces and the weight of the roof with photovoltaic panels (which in our latitudes in winter are often additionally loaded with snow), which are supported on only one side of the structure, logically require a specific structural design corresponding to the much more demanding statics of such a system, and at the same time a much more robust design of the foundations in concrete blocks or steel piles embedded in the ground; the cost of the earth part of such a solution can easily reach 40–60% of the cost of the superstructure.

Visualisation of a Cantilevered Carport:

Deciding on a specific variant and form of carport design for a car park is, therefore, often not an easy task. We would be delighted if you would contact us for a consultation at this stage of considering your future carport system. Together with our suppliers, we will not only offer you a suitable and tailor-made solution, but also arrange all pre-implementation engineering tasks. This includes the eventual addition of photovoltaics, EV chargers, or battery storage with a control system optimising the operation of the entire facility.

We always strive to provide our clients with the optimal solution to meet their current and future needs. This is doubly true for carports, and we believe that our experience is a valuable asset for our clients in this segment.