How Owner’s Engineers Drive Efficiency and Quality in C&I Solar Projects

If you are looking to invest in Commercial & Industrial (C&I) solar + storage projects, you may have heard of the term Owner’s Engineering. It’s an essential function that can save time and money on large solar deployments. Planning errors and execution mistakes tend to find their way into projects. They can cause high correction and delay costs. The owner’s engineer acts as a strategic partner throughout the entire solar project lifecycle, safeguarding the owner’s interests by reducing risks, optimizing quality, and controlling costs.

Key Takeaways:

• How owner’s engineering streamlines the complexities of solar projects
• Ways to optimize costs and ensure quality
• Real-world examples demonstrating how Pure Power’s Owner’s Engineering division helps deliver substantial savings and quality improvements.

Understanding Owner’s Engineering Services

Owner’s engineering is a specialized service in project management in which an expert, known as the owner’s engineer (OE), acts on behalf of the project owner. The OE ensures that the project is executed according to the owner’s interests, covering technical, contractual, best practices, and safety aspects, so everything runs smoothly from inception to completion.

Examples of Pure Power’s OE services include thorough reviews of design plans and on-site inspections by experienced field engineers, ensuring that all work meets high-quality standards and aligns with the owner’s goals. The objective is to avoid and reduce the negative impact of mistakes, effectively decreasing CapEx and OpEx for the owner.

As an industry-leading provider, the Owner's Engineering division at Pure Power provides expert guidance in technical risk management and comprehensive support throughout the project lifecycle, including:

• Design and Equipment Review
• Acquisition Due Diligence
• Performance Validation
• Site Visits & Punchlist Generation
• PVSYST and Energy Modeling
• Review of Commissioning Documentation

Providers’ Interests May Not Align with the Owner

Owner’s Engineer vs. Project Manager: The project manager handles day-to-day operations, focusing on executing the plan. The OE, on the other hand, looks at the bigger picture, ensuring the project aligns with the owner's goals. It is not unusual that a project manager needs to be replaced in the course of a project. The OE can secure continuity in such an event.

Owner’s Engineer vs. Contractor: While contractors are responsible for the actual construction and implementation according to the design plans, the OE ensures that the work meets quality and performance standards. A misalignment of interests with the contractor is not uncommon. The contractor focuses on getting the project done quickly and at low cost. The owner, however, will likely be tied to the project for the next 30 years. High quality and low OpEx down the road are much more important to them.

Owner’s Engineer vs. Engineer of Record: The Engineer of Record creates the technical plans and specifications. However, there is often a tendency to follow those plans blindly, losing track of the owner’s objectives. A design review by the OE will ensure that they are practical and cost-effective, aligning with the overall project goals.

Tangible Value for Project Owners

Owner’s engineering services can add substantial value throughout the lifecycle of a commercial solar project. With an additional set of eyes, OE can accomplish the following:

Optimizing Design Costs

Owner’s engineering helps optimize design costs by reviewing and validating design plans to confirm they are cost-effective without compromising quality. For the project owner, this means lower initial investment costs and reduced need for expensive redesigns or modifications during construction. The OE’s oversight ensures that the project remains within budget while still meeting all technical and performance requirements.

Upholding Quality Standards

Protecting the quality standards throughout the project lifecycle is a core benefit of owners engineering. The OE conducts regular quality audits and inspections to make sure all work meets or exceeds industry standards. For the project owner, this translates to a reliable and high-performing solar installation with fewer maintenance issues and a longer operational lifespan, generally leading to a better return on investment. Regular inspections by field engineers will almost always identify an issue with quality or performance. They may even help the contractor save money, by helping them avoid a mistake that would be costly to fix.

Performance Modeling

Pure Power’s performance modeling, through tools like PVSYST and Energy Modeling, ensures that solar projects not only meet but exceed performance expectations, maximizing energy production and efficiency. For the project owner, this means confidence that the energy production and efficiency goals will be met, leading to predictable and optimized revenue streams from the solar installation, essentially maximizing efficiency and ROI.

Performance Analysis

Pure Power’s owners engineering team performs thorough analysis of site performance and validates the design and production model using historical weather data and various industry standard test methods like ASTM E2848-13 capacity test and NREL Performance Ratio test. For the project owner, assessing the efficiency of a solar system by comparing its performance to a production model / historical data would ensure there are no financial risks due to underperformance.  

For Pure Power articles on Performance Analysis visit:

• https://www.purepower.com/blog/under-performance-part-1-the-suns-potential
• https://www.purepower.com/blog/under-performance-part-2-soiling-snow-shade
• https://www.purepower.com/blog/astm-e2848-capacity-test-for-beginners
  

Reducing Financial Risks

Owners engineering significantly reduces financial risks by implementing robust risk management strategies. Pure Power’s OE team proactively identifies financial risks early on and implements mitigation strategies, ensuring financial predictability and helping to secure investment confidence. For the project owner, this means fewer unexpected expenses and a more predictable financial outcome. The reduced risk profile can also make it easier to secure financing and investment for the project.

Streamlined Decision-Making Processes

The presence of an owner’s engineer helps streamline decision-making processes by centralizing authority. Quick and effective decisions mean fewer bottlenecks and delays caused by indecision or miscommunication. The OE brings all stakeholders on the same page and aligns decisions with the owner's objectives, leading to a smoother and faster project execution. For example, when deviations from the plan are needed, the OE ensures that the contractor proposes solutions that are in the owner's interest.

Efficient Problem-Solving

The OE uses its expertise to quickly identify and address issues as they arise. For the project owner, this means that potential problems are mitigated before they can escalate into major setbacks. The proactive approach reduces downtime and keeps the project on track, ultimately saving time and money. Reviewing contract language, for example, can identify problems before they make their way onto the site.

Savings Potential Makes OE a No-Brainer

Pure Power operated as OE on a recent 2MW portfolio project in Illinois. The issue was new inverters without AC disconnects, which resulted in the sites not complying with the NEC 690.15 provisions of the 10’ rule. Supply chain disruptions threatened to push lead times out by 40 weeks.

Pure Power’s OE team identified a critical compliance issue involving inverters and resolved it using existing equipment, saving the client substantial redesign costs and ensuring regulatory compliance. Their quick action prevented costly delays and saved the project nearly $500,000.

Choosing the Right Owner’s Engineer

When selecting an OE, you will naturally look at their technical expertise and track record. In addition, here are a few questions that you can ask during your evaluation:

· What specific solar projects have you managed, and what were the outcomes?

· How do you handle conflicts between contractors and other stakeholders?

· Can you provide examples of how you have optimized project costs and timelines in the past?

· What risk management strategies do you employ to minimize potential issues?

· How do you ensure that the quality standards are met throughout the project lifecycle?

With a proven track record of managing solar projects from inception to completion, Pure Power’s Owner’s Engineering division brings unmatched expertise in technical risk management, cost control, and quality assurance, making it a trusted partner for complex solar installations.

For more information on our Owner's engineering services please visit www.PurePower.com or email info@Purepower.com.