The Role Of EPC Contractors In Solar Energy Development
EPC is the abbreviation for Engineering, Procurement, and Construction of solar systems ranging from smaller solutions to diversely large solar plants. The role of an EPC contractor is to provide engineering designs, procure equipment, and utilize them offering the functioning product for the client’s asset. Solar EPC services in the solar industry necessitates more sophistication since solar installation is a long-term investment. Solar EPC contractors can play an important role in going solar.
The term EPC is equivalent to turnkey, in the solar energy industry. It incorporates a comprehensive range of solutions right from coordinating government approvals to the final commissioning, installation, operations and maintenance of the solar plant.
Responsibilities of Solar EPC Contractors
- Designing a detailed blueprint of the solar plant
- Obtaining necessary equipment
- Constructing the solar plant
What should you expect from Solar EPC Contractors?
When it comes to erecting your solar system, solar projects embrace a wide range of components. And for each component, options are many in terms of quality and cost. A professional EPC partner defines an exhaustive scope of supplies and services, from solar panels to connections. This safeguards your plant for the long run. A non-professional solar partner will not hand over contracts only in terms of solar capacity, without any information about number, capacity and make of solar modules, inverters, etc. A professional EPC partner keeps into consideration the quality aspects of each EPC process.
The duration of solar projects follows a simple norm. For a 100-kW project, 90 days are required from the date of order and advance payments. A professional EPC partner would respect the deadline and clearly mention a timeline in the EPC contract. Also, they will mind a penalty that is, typically 0.5% per week.
A professional EPC partner guarantees the specified amount of electricity generation, and a good contract successfully covers that. Now solar energy is based on sunshine, and sunrays cannot be guaranteed.
Savings and paybacks run in parallel with solar projects. A professional EPC partner shows a graph of savings and payback based on electricity generation.
The EPC process has terms and conditions associated with it, and the payment amount can get tricky if you do not pay proper attention to taxation, returns, and exclusions. There might be hidden exclusions or confusing clauses in the EPC contract, like unloading of equipment, documentation, and fees for statutory clearances that one needs to be beware of. A professional EPC partner will make everything transparent and all-inclusive.
