Solar Site Design and Optimization

Find the best location for your next solar project

The ORCaS Solar Site Search is a custom service ideal for large-scale developers with high project capacity and ambitious development objectives. Deploy automated regional searches that identify new land parcels suitable for solar project development. Evaluate site characteristics, local infrastructure, and proximity requirements for high-voltage integration.

Get rapid insights on project site solar feasibility

Quickly assess prospective solar sites with the Solar Feasibility Forecast. Gain critical insights within minutes and explore high-level optimization options to make data-based decisions. Inform your site selection process, decide which projects to bid on, and vet project concepts before investing in more comprehensive feasibility studies or preliminary site plans.

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Automate and streamline early-stage workflows

ORCaS Layout Analysis reduces manual work and human error by automating initial engineering tasks. The rigorous computation in this analysis enables your team to streamline project setup, speed up early planning phases and lower labor costs. Move swiftly from concept to deployable design.

These analyses are comprehensive, precise, and highly customizable, equipping your team with the level of detail needed for feasibility studies, finalized project proposals, early-stage solar design sheets, project financing, solar equipment procurement, and permitting/approvals.

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Rapidly test and optimize design variants

Simultaneously test multiple design parameters, including:

• Grading criteria
• Slope limitations
• Tracker manufacturer and model
• Foundation specifications
• Panel sizes

Get results on demand, avoiding workflow disruptions for minor changes and enabling flexible, multi-path design investigations.

Refine advanced optimization parameters

Discover more value in your projects through further optimization of critical factors like:

• Steel length and weight
• Grading strategy
• Cut/fill ratio
• Buildability
• Unit labor costs
• Power production efficiency

Ensure accuracy and precision in design

When your design is ready, ORCaS Layout Analysis outputs the complete figures required for construction documents. Build on optimized insights and your team’s final layout to deliver the precise plans required for confident land preparation, pile pinning, and equipment installation.

Leverage ultra-fine grid modeling at 2-foot resolution for projects under 500MW – adjustable down to 0.25 feet. Achieve exact placement of piles and rows, even on complex terrains, ensuring accurate and reliable designs. Avoid costly errors or delays during construction.

Built-in compliance assurance

Stay compliant with ease:

• Designs align with regulatory standards of local AHJ or governing bodies.
• ORCaS maintains a database of major tracker manufacturer specifications, ensuring designs meet exact tolerances.
• Configurable grading algorithms help maintain natural terrain and vegetation, supporting environmental compliance and site stability, with additional benefits cascading across the project’s construction, insurance, and financial backing.

Mathematically verifiable, with proven reliability

ORCaS provides input and output data that is mathematically verifiable for all supported tracker systems. This transparency allows your team to manually confirm calculations, ensuring designs meet all specifications and reliability standards. ORCaS designs have been used in thousands of built solar projects in the US and abroad — a track record your team can trust.