BUILDING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Engineering Design for Royalla Solar Farm

Project Structural, Geotechnical and Durability Engineering of the Solar Panel Support Structures at Royalla Solar Farm
Client Altran Innovation S.L.
Project Value <$1M
Project Overview Structural engineering and design certification for the installation of 2,075 solar structures to support 83,000 solar panels for a solar farm with a 20MW capacity over a 50 hectare site.
JJR Involvement The service provided included a fully certified design, compliant with Australian Standards. The structures were required to be imported from Europe and they needed to comply with relevant Australian Standards.

The following was undertaken:

  • Analysis of the varying geotechnical conditions were encountered across the site according to geotechnical investigations.
  • Design of micropiles (140mm diameter) with directly embedded channels (C-section) to provide reinforcing were determined to be the most appropriate foundation type.
  • Detailed durability assessment and adoption of a 25 year structural design life which allowed for a reduced level of concrete cover to be provided.
  • Design of galvanised steel C-sections were selected as the preferred structural member for the supports. These were modelled using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The structure has been designed to resist various load combinations including wind, snow, earthquake and dead loads.