PVcase

How Valmont Solar Reduced Earthwork CAPEX by 46% with PVcase

Valmont Solar leveraged PVcase software to validate their single-string solar tracker design on steep, complex Brazilian terrain, resulting in a 10% reduction in earthwork volume, a 14% decrease in earthwork CAPEX impact, and a 30% improvement in feasibility assessment, ultimately achieving a 46% reduction in earthwork CAPEX compared to conventional multi-string tracker approaches.

How Valmont Solar reduced earthwork CAPEX by 46% with PVcase

Discover how Valmont Solar used PVcase to validate their single-string tracker's performance on steep Brazilian terrain, achieving a 46% reduction in earthwork CAPEX.

Customer

Valmont Solar

Industry: Renewable energy
Employees: 11,000+

Key Results

  • 10% less earthwork volume
  • 14% drop in CAPEX impact of earthwork
  • 30% streamlined feasibility on complex land

The Customer

Learn more about Valmont Solar

Valmont Solar is a globally operating entity, part of the Valmont Industries Group—an 80-year-old leader with a vast manufacturing network. Since 2014 in Brazil, Valmont Solar has been a key player in the country's first utility-scale solar plant. The company has nearly 3 gigawatts of installed projects in Brazil and almost 1 gigawatt across other South American nations, confirming its position as a strong and experienced partner in the solar market.

Challenges

Steep terrain, higher risk, tighter margins

Valmont Solar faced a new industry reality: easy land is gone. In Brazil's distributed generation (DG) market, developers are increasingly forced onto complex, steeply sloped terrains. This topography increases project risk, making ground preparation a major cost driver. Conventional multi-string trackers used by competitors require excessive cut-and-fill operations, spiking CAPEX.

Scarce, irregular terrain

The distributed grid market in Brazil is characterized by complex, steeply sloped, and remote terrains, a result of the development of easier sites.

Excessive earthwork

Competitor designs using long multi-string trackers require more and costlier cut-and-fill operations on sloped sites, drastically increasing CAPEX.

Need for validation

Valmont Solar needed a precise solution to assess the earthwork impact of their shorter, single-string tracker design compared to the market standard, directly linking design optimization to reduced CAPEX.

Market volatility

Regulation and network limitations in Brazil make CAPEX reduction crucial for project viability and faster return on investment.

“Reducing earthwork volumes with PVcase means fewer machine hours, less fuel, and fewer opportunities for construction delays.”

— Ramon Gomes, Executive Director, Valmont Solar

Solution

Precision design in AutoCAD to cut earthworks and de-risk buildability

Valmont Solar needed a design solution to expertly navigate irregular sites and validate the superiority of their single-string tracker architecture. They leveraged PVcase Ground Mount's advanced capabilities inside AutoCAD to prove the efficiency of their technology on steep slopes, transforming unviable land into profitable assets and reducing earthwork costs.

High-resolution terrain modeling

The team used PVcase Ground Mount's ability to import and work with highly accurate terrain data to create a precise 3D representation of the sloped site.

Optimized slope-aware layouts

The solution enabled generation of slope-segmented layouts that adhere to the flexible constraints of Valmont Solar’s single-string tracker.

Advanced ground grading analysis

Valmont Solar controlled ground grading simulation based on the tracker's pile height tolerances, resulting in a calculation of the minimum necessary cut-and-fill volumes.

Direct CAPEX quantification

With PVcase, the team accurately generated and compared total cut-and-fill volumes for both Valmont Solar and competitor designs, translating the civil engineering benefit directly into quantifiable CAPEX savings.

Ground Mount

Design construction-ready projects 90% faster. PVcase Ground Mount, built on AutoCAD, automates utility-scale solar design, adapting complex layouts to real-world terrain with unmatched accuracy.

Results

Turning “too steep” sites into viable projects

By implementing PVcase Ground Mount, Valmont Solar eliminated guesswork from site assessment, expertly modeling projects on complex terrain and proving the economic and operational superiority of their short-string tracker architecture.

33% less earthwork volume

The single-string tracker design, validated with PVcase, required 33% less total earthwork volume (cut and fill combined) compared to the competitor's longer multi-string configuration.

46% drop in CAPEX

The earthwork portion of the project's overall CAPEX was reduced by 46% using Valmont Solar’s optimized design with PVcase.

Faster project certainty

With PVcase, Valmont Solar lowered financial exposure and risk of deviations during pre-construction design, leading to faster project certainty.

Lowered construction volatility

Reducing cut-and-fill volumes stabilized the project budget, mitigating volatility and freeing up capital for other needs.

Streamlined feasibility

Fast and accurate analysis enabled Valmont Solar to quickly model and validate project feasibility on sites that would have otherwise been unviable due to terrain and earthwork costs.

“This is the promise of precise design optimization: you gain control over cost categories that traditionally feel uncontrollable.”

— Lucas Fagundes, Project Engineer, Valmont Solar

Validate your tracker and terrain strategy before construction

See how PVcase Ground Mount enables you to quantify earthwork risk, optimize layouts, and protect CAPEX on complex sites.

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