Solarport Drives Efficiency with Innovative Gripple Bracing

Solarport decided to switch from heavy steel box sections after working with Gripple’s technical team to explore a lighter bracing system for its ground mount frame. Following a series of trials, Solarport specified Gripple’s 4 mm wire system to offer the levels of bracing performance required.

Solarport is the leading UK designer and manufacturer of large and utility-scale solar mounting structures. Designed and manufactured in the UK, driven by innovation, quality engineering and customer service, Solarport are the experts in cost-effective mounting systems that are easy to install.

Intelligently designed for ease of installation, to maximise efficiency and to utilise any of our foundation options, our utility-scale ground mounts are packed with features that have rapidly made them favourites for solar PV installers and developers. Based in Dorset, Solarport supplies across the UK as well as internationally.

Solarport decided to switch from heavy steel box sections after working with Gripple’s technical team to explore a lighter bracing system for its ground mount frame. Following a series of trials, Solarport specified Gripple’s 4 mm wire system to offer the levels of bracing performance required.

Gripple’s lightweight bracing kits deliver like-for-like performance for Solarport, whilst allowing them to reduce the total steel weight of their frame. This provides benefits including increased transport and logistics efficiencies, as well as significant reductions in embodied carbon.

Solarport’s customers also benefit from rapid installation, which can result in major time and cost savings on a project. As the system is lightweight, it can be easily installed by one person, whereas using traditional steel section bracing methods is a more labour intensive process. The inclusion of the Gripple Dynamic wire joiner also allows contractors to join and tension the brace in seconds, offering a significant saving compared with manual techniques like turnbuckles or u-bolts. Using wire rope also adds flexibility and helps contractors overcome any post alignment issues on-site without the need for cutting or welding steel sections.

Use of Gripple’s Bracing Kits enables more efficient use of transport, as a single van can in some cases carry a full site’s bracing requirements compared to multiple HGVs needed to transport traditional box steel sections.

Christy Tattershall, Business Development Director at Solarport, explains: “We are constantly innovating within our range and we’re looking for a way to differentiate our ground mount system and improve efficiencies. The Gripple Solar Bracing Kits are lightweight, flexible and simple to install with almost no training. They are easy for our customers to handle on-site, and they deliver embodied carbon savings for contractors and the project as a whole.”

Glenn Bills, Solar Business Development Director at Gripple, explains: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Solarport as their approved bracing kits provider. Our Solar Bracing Kits provide bracing performance comparable to heavy steel sections and are increasingly recognised across the world for being lightweight, flexible and easy to use, providing time and cost efficiencies. We are excited about the benefits these kits will bring for solar frame manufacturers.”

A recent major project involving Gripple’s Solar Bracing Kits within a Solarport system was at Yelvertoft Solar Farm in Northampton. Here, contractor Bouygues installed Solarport ground mount frames on a 49.9 MW project. This project included around 2,200 Gripple Bracing Kits.

Using the lightweight Gripple Bracing Kits, Bouygues was able to reduce time and energy spent moving heavy materials on-site. This is due to Gripple’s lightweight kits being supplied in boxes, which can be carried by hand, compared with heavy box section steel bracing that needs specialist materials handling equipment.

The lightweight Gripple kits allowed Bouygues to install 3 MW of bracing per day, as the kits could be installed by just one person. Gripple’s Solar Bracing Kits are made from wire rope and act as a direct alternative to heavy steel bracing. The kits are simple and easy to install on-site, using just hand tools and with minimal training, resulting in major cost and labour-saving benefits for contractors and installers.

Gripple’s solutions help create greener, more aesthetically pleasing environments, as well as deliver major reductions in packaging, vehicle movements and embodied carbon.