Overview

The SolarSpace™ Toolbox is a revolutionary solar site design & optimization software solution based on KiloNewton’s in-house SiTE™ (Site & Technology Evaluation) Optimization Services— provided to our customers since the company's founding in 2017 by John Williamson, the former Chief Engineer of Array Technologies.

KiloNewton works closely with leading solar developers, EPCs and EORs to provide optimization engineering services for solar sites.

We utilize proprietary software and algorithms to analyze GIS, CAD, and other terrain and system data to minimize grading & steel and optimize energy production.

Quickly and efficiently.

• Optimizes planes of array,
  
• Analyzes slopes and mechanical tolerances,
  
• Eliminates inter-row shading,
  
• Minimizes grading,
  
• Minimizes steel, and
• Analyzes terrain losses.

The SolarSpace™ Toolbox solves the complex civil & structural site optimization problem that CAD-only platforms (2D or 3D) are unable to deliver.

We offer the SolarSpace™ Toolbox as an ArcGIS Pro Add-in as a single license with two toolboxes:

• SolarSpace™ Select 
• SolarSpace™ Bid

The Select Toolbox is suited for early-stage land evaluation, site selection and development engineering to enable developers and landowners to conduct terrain-based evaluation of site to identify and avoid terrain-related issues at a very early stage in a project's life. 

The functionality in SolarSpace™ Select includes:

• Directional Slope Analysis
• Derives the slope of an elevation raster in the cardinal directions (east, west, north and south).
• Directional Slope Exclusion Analysis
• Analyzes the directional slope of a surface and creates exclusions zones based on a solar array width and length and set slope limits by direction.
• Mass Grading Analysis
• Creates a heatmap of the volume and optionally cost of mass grading per acre or hectare based on slope limitations. This tool analyzes east-west and north-south slope to determine the potential volume of grading per acre (or hectare) to mitigate slopes over the prescribed limit.
• Single Axis Tracker Preliminary Grading Assessment
• Generates cut and fill rasters and optional grading statistics for a given elevation dataset without a defined layout. The tool iterates through potential row placements across the input elevation raster based on the input tracker length.
• Preliminary Terrain Loss Estimate
• Estimates the losses with respect to terrain for single axis trackers without a layout. The tool examines the variation of terrain east-west and slopes north-south to determine potential terrain losses across a given area.
• Derive Buildable Area
• Derives a buildable area based on feature class inputs including the site boundary and as many features as needed as well as their associated setbacks to quickly make a buildable area.
• Single Axis Tracker Layout Tool
  
• Creates a preliminary single axis tracker layout to estimate site capacity.
• Create Sample Piles for Tracker Rows
• Generates sample pile locations for tracker rows based on the input number of rows per full row.
• Create Exclusions from Raster Limits
• Creates exclusion polygons from any raster using “greater than” and/or “less than” values or upper/lower limits.  Values must be within the range of the input raster.
• Directional Graphic Buffer
• Creates buffers dynamically in the cardinal directions from input polygons. Buffers can be variable in each direction.

The Bid Toolbox is suited for bidding & pre-construction stages of solar projects to support developers and EPCs and also includes all the tools of the Select Toolbox.

SolarSpace™ Select includes all the functionality of SolarSpace™ Prospect plus:

• SiTE™ Single Axis Tracker Grading Estimate
• Creates a grading assessment for a defined solar tracker layout using KiloNewton’s proprietary algorithm to minimize grading and steel.
• Revise Grading Based on Top of Pile Elevations
• Revises grading for a project where top of pile/plane of array elevations have been manually adjusted.
• Conventional Single Axis Tracker Grading Estimate
• Creates a grading assessment for a defined solar tracker layout using a “conventional” approach by pinning the ends of each row and defining the plane of array from those points.
• Cut & Fill Assessment
• Generates cut and fill rasters and grading statistics for a given elevation dataset compared to another (existing) elevation data set and allows for the generation of grading statistics by zone.
• Export Graded Raster Surface as LandXML
• Exports a graded raster surface to a LandXML. Piles with a graded elevation field and grading boundaries can be used to make the output more precise at the pile locations.
• Derive North-South Plane of Array Slope from Piles
• Derives the north-south plane of array slope from piles with a field designating the top of pile.
• Derive Plane of Array at Row Ends of Piles
• Derives the plane of array at the end of the rows as points from piles with a plane of array height field.
• Adjust Pile Northings to Plan of Array
• Adjust the northing of piles based on the slope of the plane of array.