A photovoltaic system optimized both from a technical and economic point of view: this is what Enel Green Power, the Enel Group company that deals with the development and management of energy generation activities from renewable sources, has achieved thanks to the integrated platform created by Exprivia.

Needs

A platform that is based on a microservices architecture, which uses lambda functions and steps hosted in ENEL’s AWS private cloud, exploiting the Kubernetes service for its simulations, developed in line with the indications of the Scrum-AGILE methodology, to automate the design of a photovoltaic system in the Conceptual Design phase.

Previously, this phase involved the use of numerous stand-alone tools, which could not be integrated and required human intervention: thanks to the new platform, the process is simplified and the risk due to the human factor is reduced.

Exprivia Solution

The platform, called IP Conceputal Design (Integrated Platform for PV Plant Conceptual Design), allows you to:

• create a database containing all the information necessary for the “conceptual” design phase of a photovoltaic system;
• simplify the modus operandi of the specialists of the Client’s Solar Center of Excellence;
• automate the validation, transfer and sharing of data between all actors involved in the process;
• optimize and speed up the technical/economic evaluation of the offers of the various suppliers of components and services for the design and construction of the plant;
• define, study and evaluate a large number of possible scenarios, which would not have been possible to manage in the traditional process;
• obtain technical documents (technical specifications, layout and Boqs) that are necessary for purchase tenders.

Results

The digital transformation that has seen Exprivia as a key player and strategic partner of Enel Green Power, has led to the creation of a digital infrastructure based on:

• an advanced algorithm implemented through a meta-heuristic optimization technique;
• a centralized sharing environment based on Opentext technology for simplified and rapid management of activities between the various actors involved in the process;
• a modular, scalable, integrable, maintainable and extensible microservices structure.

Benefits

The project, which took its first steps 2 years ago, led to the creation of an automated, modular, scalable and integrable process in which new features were subsequently implemented to improve the User Experience and integration between the various modules and to make the tool more flexible in the choice of the configuration of the photovoltaic system.

Thanks to the digital infrastructure implemented, in 2020 Enel Green Power had a new, optimized workflow that minimizes waste and errors.
An extremely flexible and at the same time secure solution thanks to the unique and timely management of the data and the process itself.