Why the engineering assumptions behind a quotation matter as much as the headline €/Wp.
A solar mounting structure can look like one of the simpler packages in a PV project. Steel, coating, foundations and fasteners: get the tonnes and the €/Wp, compare suppliers and make a decision.
In practice, two quotations can describe very different structures even when the headline scope looks the same. The difference is usually in the engineering assumptions behind the price.
| Before comparing price, make sure the suppliers are pricing the same project. |
Start with the site, not the steel grade
A mounting structure has to be designed around the project it will actually serve. Wind and snow loads, seismic conditions, module dimensions, table configuration, inclination, ground conditions and foundation assumptions all influence the final system.
Those inputs determine the sections, steel grades, connections and quantities required. This is why a lighter structure is not automatically better – or worse. It may reflect more efficient engineering, or simply a different design basis.
Before comparing tonnes or €/Wp, the first job is to make sure the suppliers are working from the same assumptions.
Corrosion protection should also follow the project
Coating is another area where apparently similar offers can hide important differences. Hot-dip-galvanized and pre-coated solutions use different manufacturing and corrosion-protection routes. Either can be appropriate depending on the component, environment and project specification.
The buyer therefore does not need a coating lecture. The useful question is whether the proposed protection system is appropriate for the project conditions and properly integrated into the structural and manufacturing solution.
Kıraç Metal can propose different corrosion-protection routes, including HDG and ZM-coated solutions, according to the requirements of the project.
Good engineering still has to reach the site
Once the structural calculation is complete, manufacturing consistency becomes the next part of the equation. Hole positions, forming tolerances, connections and dimensional accuracy affect how efficiently thousands of components can be assembled in the field.
A small repeated manufacturing deviation can become a significant installation problem on a utility-scale project.
Kıraç Metal manufactures structural-steel systems in Eskişehir, Türkiye, and holds EN 1090-2 certification up to EXC2 within its applicable scope. For a buyer, that is more useful than a general claim about manufacturing quality: it provides a defined execution framework behind the structure being supplied.
Foundations can change the economics
The superstructure and the ground cannot be designed independently. Pile type and embedment depend on the actual site. Where driven piles are used, geotechnical information and pull-out testing can materially change the final solution.
That is why a structure price based on an assumed foundation depth should not be treated as a final project comparison. The cheapest initial assumption can become expensive once site conditions are known.
Make the quotations comparable
Before choosing between mounting-structure offers, align the fundamentals:
- module and layout;
- wind, snow and seismic design basis;
- corrosion-protection route;
- foundation assumptions;
- engineering and documentation scope;
- delivery basis, commercial boundaries and quoted tonnage scope.
Unless otherwise specified, or where customer-supplied quantities govern, Kıraç Metal’s standard basis adds 1% spare steel and 2% spare hardware to project tonnage and price. Its tonnes/MW therefore include steel, hardware and those spares; a steel-only figure can look lower simply because the quoted scope is different.
Once those items are consistent, the commercial comparison becomes much more useful. That is the point of Kıraç Metal’s project-specific approach: the design basis comes first; engineering and production follow.
Working on a fixed-structure PV project?
Send Kıraç Metal the project location, MWp, module information, preliminary layout and available site/design data. We can review the design basis and prepare a project-specific structural and commercial proposal.