Centralize information with cloud sharing! Site DX is transforming solar construction management

At solar power installation sites, efficient information sharing and accurate construction management are required. However, conventional methods have left drawings and progress information scattered throughout, often causing coordination issues between the site and the office. Recently, what has attracted attention is centralized information via cloud sharing. By aggregating construction information using the cloud, solar construction management sites are set to change dramatically. This article explains the benefits of centralized information through cloud sharing and the transformations that site DX (digital transformation) brings to solar construction management.

Current state and challenges of solar construction management

As interest in renewable energy rises across Japan, construction of large-scale solar power plants (mega-solar) is increasing. On sites where tens of thousands of solar panels are installed over vast areas, a wide range of tasks is required, including topographic surveying, progress checks on site formation works, verification of panel layouts, and preparation of construction records.

However, many analog methods remain in solar construction management today, leading to various problems. For example:

• Inefficiency of surveying work: Surveying requires specialized surveying equipment and personnel, and it is time-consuming to, for example, manually record measurement results on paper drawings.

• Delays in information transmission: Work instructions and progress reports are often given by phone, email, or verbally, lacking real-time capability and frequently causing communication errors between the site and the office.

• Burden of large sites: Because the site area is large, site supervisors must walk around to grasp progress, which becomes a major burden.

• Complexity of photo and document management: Organizing construction photos and preparing reports is done manually, creating risks of human error such as missed photos or missing records.

• Mistakes due to insufficient information sharing: When information sharing is insufficient at each stage, discrepancies between design and the site can lead to rework or construction errors.

• Personalized management: A large part of work relies on the personal skills and intuition of experienced personnel; with a shortage of staff and an aging workforce, traditional methods are becoming increasingly inadequate.

In fact, delays in information sharing often lead to construction mistakes and rework on site. For example, if a finishing elevation error in site formation work is noticed late, corrective work may be required in later stages. There are also cases where trouble occurred because site photos were not managed thoroughly and essential records were not retained. Thus, the limitations of conventional personalized and inefficient management systems tend to become more apparent on large-scale projects.

Promoting site DX (digital transformation) is attracting attention as the key to solving these problems. By leveraging digital technologies such as the cloud and smartphones to fundamentally transform business processes, initiatives to make construction management more efficient and sophisticated are beginning.

First, a serious issue across the construction industry is labor shortages and an aging workforce of technicians. Managing vast sites ideally requires many personnel, but the number of young workers is declining and veteran technicians are aging. To manage complex sites with limited personnel, improving individual productivity is essential, making the promotion of labor-saving and automation through DX urgent.

Second, increasing demands for shorter construction periods and cost reductions cannot be overlooked. With rising demand for renewable energy, there is pressure to bring solar power plants online quickly. By using digital technology to shorten surveying and inspection time and instantly share data, it is expected that unnecessary waiting times and rework can be reduced.

Furthermore, momentum for DX promotion from the government and the industry is a tailwind. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s i-Construction initiatives encourage the use of ICT and 3D data in civil engineering and construction. Solar power sites are no exception, and visualization and remote supervision through the latest technologies are expected to improve safety and quality.

In this way, fundamental operational reforms through DX are becoming indispensable even in solar construction sites.

Advantages of centralized information and cloud sharing

The core of site DX is to centrally manage information in the cloud. Drawings, schedules, progress reports, inspection records, photo data—everything related to construction management is aggregated on a cloud platform. This enables all stakeholders, from site staff to head office managers and subcontractors, to always access the same latest information.

Traditionally, different departments and personnel managed separate files and ledgers, resulting in confusion such as “which is the latest drawing?” or “the reported content differs between the site and the head office.” Centralizing information in the cloud eliminates such discrepancies. For example, when construction documents or schedules are updated, uploading the latest data to the cloud immediately shares it with all stakeholders. The effort of delivering large drawings to the site or emailing them back and forth is eliminated, dramatically improving the speed and accuracy of information transmission.

Also, because data are accumulated and centrally managed on the cloud, it becomes possible to create a situation where “the necessary information can be found immediately.” Past meeting records and inspection results can be searched and viewed from the site, making it easy to check historical records. Not only during construction but also during post-handover maintenance and inspections, construction history on the cloud can be referenced, enabling information utilization across the entire lifecycle of solar power installations.

Rapid reflection of design changes

During construction of a solar power plant, design changes may occur due to changes in ground conditions or design reviews. Traditionally, when drawings were revised, new drawings had to be sent by mail or email and replaced on site, which took time to disseminate. With cloud-based information sharing, updating construction documents or instruction sheets on the cloud immediately communicates changes to everyone.

Site staff can always check the latest drawings and instructions on their smartphones or tablets, eliminating the risk of working based on an older version by mistake. Quick responses to design changes prevent rework and reduce the risk of schedule delays. Even minor change instructions are shared with the site in real time, enabling flexible construction responses according to changing conditions.

Real-time progress management and sharing

By using the cloud and digital tools, it is possible to grasp and share construction progress in real time. Site personnel can report daily task completion status and as-built conditions (the finished condition after construction) with photos from smartphones or tablets, and that data is immediately reflected in the cloud.

Managers and clients in remote offices can view the latest progress data and photos from the site via the internet at any time. There is no longer a need to print large amounts of paper materials for each reporting meeting. With progress visualized on the cloud, delays and problems can be detected early and decision-making speed increases dramatically. For example, if work in a certain area is behind schedule, reinforcement personnel can be arranged or schedules can be revised immediately. Constantly sharing the latest information enables integrated management that makes the distance between the site and remote locations feel nonexistent. Furthermore, progress sharing via the cloud makes it easier to disclose information to clients and related organizations, contributing to improved site transparency.

Integrated use of photo and location data

In DX, the use of photos and location information is also an important point of site management. Traditionally, site photos were pasted into paper ledgers or files were sorted into folders for management. With digital tools, photo data can be automatically organized at the time of capture and shared with stakeholders.

Photos taken with a smartphone automatically include GPS coordinates and timestamps, making it immediately clear “when and where” a photo was taken. These photos can be linked with drawings and maps on the cloud, allowing intuitive understanding of which part of a large solar site the record pertains to. Even elements that become invisible after completion, such as buried wiring or foundation pile positions, can be reliably recorded if photos with location data are stored in the cloud.

Moreover, if surveying data and inspection results are also stored and linked in the cloud along with photos, advanced management becomes easy, such as checking quality by cross-referencing design drawings, site photos, and numerical data. It is even possible to overlay past photos at the same point using AR synthesis to compare with the current scenery. This makes observing long-term changes and creating report materials easier, further expanding the ways record data can be used. Centralized management of photos, location information, and measurement data on the cloud also greatly contributes to preventing omissions in site records.

Eliminating personalization and preventing construction errors

Sharing and standardizing information on the cloud also enables eliminating the personalization of construction management, which is a major benefit. Traditionally, surveying and inspection know-how tended to depend on certain skilled individuals. With DX tools, non-specialist personnel can perform a certain level of measurement and recording. For example, by using a high-precision GNSS receiver attached to a smartphone with a dedicated app, necessary points on the site can be measured with centimeter-level accuracy (half-inch accuracy) even without a licensed surveyor.

Also, by using AR (augmented reality) technology to overlay design models on the screen of a smartphone or tablet, it is possible to compare the design with on-site conditions. Displaying the panel racking installation positions as AR during foundation works and confirming whether ground markings align allows intuitive detection of deviations compared to traditional manual methods using tapes and transits, reducing human-error-related mistakes. AR visualization is also useful when clients or designers visit the site, as it helps share the completed image. Showing a 3D model overlaid on the actual scenery makes it easier for all stakeholders to share a spatial image that is hard to convey on drawings, preventing rework caused by discrepancies in understanding.

By breaking away from personalized management and enabling anyone to perform quality checks and surveying with digital tools, reliance on specific personnel is unnecessary. Even if personnel change, handovers are smooth if data accumulated on the cloud and standardized workflows exist. Because the organization as a whole can share information and knowledge, risks such as “only this person understands the site” are eliminated. Above all, early detection and correction of errors are expected to lead to improved construction accuracy.

Effects on labor saving and efficiency

Introducing site DX is directly linked to labor saving (fewer personnel operations) and increased efficiency at construction sites. Surveying and as-built inspections that used to require multiple people can be completed in a short time by a single site technician with a smartphone in hand. Time previously spent on daily photo organization and report preparation can be greatly reduced through automatic cloud sharing and data linkage.

Because more sites can be managed by limited personnel without relying on the manpower of skilled workers, chronic labor shortages can be addressed. At the same time, real-time sharing reduces unnecessary waiting times and rework, contributing to shorter construction periods and cost reduction. If digital technology increases each person’s productivity, large-scale projects can be executed with a small crew without sacrificing quality. In solar power businesses, DX-driven efficiency leads to business advantages such as earlier commissioning and improved profitability.

LRTK: a cloud-integrated, simplified surveying, smartphone-compatible DX tool

One solution that strongly supports such site DX is LRTK (El-Ar-Tee-Kay). LRTK is a smartphone-based site DX platform that provides all necessary construction management functions in one package through a compact dedicated RTK-GNSS receiver device, a smartphone app, and a cloud service. Combining cloud integration for information sharing, simplified surveying, and smartphone compatibility, it supports digitalization of solar construction management.

Its main features are as follows:

• Cloud integration: All surveying and recording data acquired with LRTK are automatically synchronized to the cloud and can be viewed and checked from a PC via a browser. Real-time collaboration is possible, allowing office engineers and clients to immediately review information captured or measured on site and provide appropriate instructions or feedback.

• Simplified surveying: By attaching a compact RTK-GNSS receiver to a smartphone, anyone can easily perform centimeter-level positioning and surveying (half-inch accuracy). Coordinates can be recorded with a single button in the app, and acquired data are instantly saved to the cloud, eliminating the need for handwritten notes. Tasks that previously required a surveying team can be completed by a single site person with LRTK, making it realistic to carry out surveying and inspection alone.

• Smartphone compatibility: Designed for intuitive operation on smartphones, it is easy for site workers to adopt. By combining the smartphone’s high-performance camera and LiDAR sensor with LRTK’s high-precision positioning, users can easily perform 3D scanning and AR-based surveying and design verification. You can check construction locations by displaying 3D models of drawings as AR on site, manage captured photos and point cloud data on a map to compare with past conditions, and complete advanced checks, recording, and sharing with just one smartphone.

Using LRTK, the entire process of “measure, verify, record, and share” required for solar construction management can be completed on site. Because various DX functions described in site DX are realized in one integrated tool, implementation is simple. Even on vast solar power plant construction sites, LRTK becomes a reliable partner supporting efficiency and quality improvement. LRTK also complies with the guidelines of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s i-Construction initiative, strongly supporting digitalization in the construction industry. When considering DX for site management, why not utilize such smartphone-based cutting-edge technology?