This document is produced at the end of the first ERP Measure to serve as an update on the progress that has been achieved thus far with the re-deployable hybrid power product development.
Report extract
The industry has seen a significant reduction in the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) from solar photovoltaics (PV) over the past three decades. This reduction has chiefly been due to cost reductions in the solar panels, driven by both technological advances and mass manufacturing. As panel costs continue to decline, the civil, structural and installation costs become proportionately more important over time. In order to continue the downward trajectory in the LCOE from solar PV, innovations in these Balance of System (BOS) items must be conceived and developed.
The traditional approach to construction is to deliver large quantities of materials to the construction site, where large numbers of workers bring them together, often in inhospitable working conditions. A more innovative approach, adopted by Laing O’Rourke and challenging this traditional view, is to Design for Manufacture and Assembly – DfMA – where modules are fabricated off-site and efficiently assembled on site.
Benefits of DfMA include:
- significantly reduced construction programme and reduced risks on-site;
- increased quality and safety due to the majority of the work being carried out in a controlled factory environment; and
- the iterative optimisation of civil and structural elements is enabled.
