Solar Farm Survey Web Map

The productivity of a solar farm, with automated tracking solar panels, relies on the precise alignment of the solar panel piles and the mounting arm. Quality assurance and monitoring of variances triggered by reactive soils, groundwater, flooding and other conditions, are critical to maintaining the viability of the solar farm. Monitoring is carried out though periodic surveys of pile elevations and allows for early detection and remediation of issues. An operator of a large-scale solar farm in Australia had concerns about shifting as a result of periodic flooding and other soil conditions. RPS carried out two annual surveys to assess vertical movement of piles. The first survey provided a baseline and a comparison to as-designed elevations. The second survey was done one year later to detect any change in elevations since the first survey. During both surveys the results were sent from the RPS Australia survey team to the RPS Rhode Island GIS team where they were reviewed and uploaded to an ArcGIS Online web map for the survey team and client to view progress updates and results.