Constructing a photovoltaic power plant (PV plant) is a long-term investment in a fast-paced industry, characterized by high return on investment (ROI), provided that the key steps in its development are addressed carefully. And here comes the role of EPC contractors.

EPC stands for Engineering, Procurement, & Construction.

The EPC companies are responsible for the design, procurement of the appropriate equipment, and the construction of the plant itself. They are the company in charge of delivering the solar plant in its finished form to you – the owner of the assets, including its authorization, and operation.

Steps in EPC Activity

The complexity of PV plant development is difficult to explain within a few sentences. Despite that, we will present to you the main steps in the EPC process.

1. Project evaluation – in this stage, the EPC firm performs an in-depth project assessment, including an energy audit and production capacity analysis of the PV plant
   • Energy audit – analysis of the location potential (radiation, number of sunny days during the year, soil quality, etc.);
   • Simulations – performing a simulation, in which the hours of sunlight per annum on a historical basis (10 years most often) are calculated for the specific region, with the help of which projections are made regarding the amount of energy that can be produced on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis;
   • It is the results from this simulation that enable us to confidently input the assumptions in our financial model with great detail of precision
   • Choice of equipment – after the full project assessment has been done, it is time for choosing the appropriate equipment according to the goals and budget of the client, as well as the region’s production capacity
2. Obtaining permission – acquiring the appropriate licensing and authorization from the responsible institutions is a crucial step prior to the solar panel installment
3. Design – a full design of the PV plant is made with the chosen solar panel models, inverters, and modules
4. Installation – installing the equipment and construction of the PV plant ready for operations
5. Testing and QA of the equipment and the overall plant
6. Operation – the project becomes active, after which the EPC firm can continue to be involved with the project through maintenance, regular checks, and monitoring the PV plant performance even after the construction completion

EPC Guarantees

Despite the production guarantees of the chosen equipment, the reputable EPC companies maintain and guarantee the overall performance of the PV plant.

A metric for measuring this is PR (Performance Ratio guarantee), which is calculated for the initial two years of the project operations. A good PR value is usually above 95%, while the average is approximately 90%.

Who are our EPC partners

The advantages of working with xFigureFinance are not only our expertise and experience, but also the partnerships with companies for all aspect of developing a PV plant – EPC, O&M, lawyers, ESCO companies, solar panels and inverter manufacturers, etc.

The choice of entering in a partnership with EPC companies is based on thorough analysis of the profile of each of the EPC firms. The criteria we have based our decision on are:

• Company history and years of experience
• Past projects and success rate
• Team and expertise, as well as technical skills of the leading members
• Strategic partnerships with firms from the industry
• Partners – equipment suppliers and producers
• Financial health of the firm or its parent-company
• Reputation, reliability, and bankability

All xFigureFinance EPC partners meet the highest criteria for quality and reliability.

Conclusion

Constructing a PV plant is a long-term investment with high ROE provided that the key aspects of its construction are addressed properly.

While working with xFigureFinance on financing for PV plant, the client does not only receive a world-class financial model, which will help him secure the needed capital, but also access to the leading EPC companies as a partner as well.

We know the stages and the details of the process, which EPC contractors are reliable and bankable, what guarantees should they provide to our client, and how to structure the project financing according to the client’s needs and goals.