Sanlam

Having successfully delivered complex Solar PV projects in partnership with Rhino Energy (eg. bespoke solar carports for Nedbank) Caracal Engineering was contracted to design, manufacture, and install a 4060.8 kWp Solar PV Carport for Sanlam, a financial services company. The project took place at their headquarters in Bellville, Western Cape.

Project timelines were tight, making our team ideally placed for the job because we are used to delivering against seemingly impossible tasks and odds. In this case a 4MWp solar carport structure and system was required to be designed, manufactured and installed in four working months. 

There were foreseen and unforeseen challenges that our civil and mechanical engineering experience enabled us to navigate, with success. 

These included that a phased construction approach had to be taken, limiting access and having a bearing on the speed of construction. In addition, the overall length of tables resulted in alignment challenges for modules while there were height differences of each base due to the slopes across the site for stormwater management. 

In response:

• The phased approach was managed by means of completing all the civil and foundation works as the primary activity. Once completed, we allocated additional and more specifically trained resources to the relevant activities.
• The length of the tables was managed by ensuring that the foundation works were conducted as accurately as possible. We utilised drone mapping, along with our internal survey equipment and trained on-site staff to utilise the equipment, where required. This gave us centimetre accuracy across the site and a maximum tolerance of 20mm on the survey works. With all the foundations completed as accurately as possible, this translated into better alignment of structures and in turn, panel alignment.
• Notably, due to the table lengths, we internally stripped and reinstalled tables that were not up to our internal standards.
• Height differences across the site were managed by means of increasing the concrete stub heights and keeping the overall structure consistent.
• The means of standard foundations and having the reinforcing cages prefabricated off-site added an on-site health and safety risk management benefit. A bespoke lifting beam was fabricated by our team to consistently, safely and speedily erect the frame structures. This allowed for improvement of the construction speed.

In addition: 

We continually monitored and controlled the programme, adding resources when available and upskilling teams for specific tasks that could be improved and replicated. This specialisation approach ensured that each team held the other accountable for their quality of work.

From a resource perspective, our project engineer was initially on-site weekly to manage critical site activities, thereafter visiting the site every two weeks for quality and programme maintenance. Intern civil engineers and quantity surveyors also joined the team to support the site manager. They greatly assisted in accelerating the speed of implementation as they came from a less experienced background, but with good theoretical backing – enabling us to onboard new ideas in order to speed up the work. 

Progress updates were submitted weekly in multiple forms, which kept a tight hold on the actual vs. planned progress. Use of a drone provided visual progress inputs, which were shared at multiple times in any given week.

Two unforeseen challenges emerged during construction and installation. There was firstly extremely heavy rainfall during the foundation excavation works of the second working area. Secondly, the client needed to make changes to the implementation method as well as to restrict areas, due to other site works.

In response:

• The heavy rainfall caused damage to the open foundations as well as increased the size of the foundations due to a collapsed side wall. This was overcome by planning the concrete pours weekly and in ensuring that foundations were not opened if they could not be cast within a week.
• The foundations that were completely saturated and/or where the groundwater table had risen were left to last for implementation. We instead tackled the larger items. By the time we were given access to the restricted areas that were used by another contractor building the plant room, we had the teams set up in a way that we could complete the project in the shortest possible time.

The project was well received and expectations were well met. Caracal’s end product for Sanlam was an impressive Solar Carport structure and system. It is one that reflects the strong ability of the team to design and deliver against any unplanned odds.