Solar park project in Congo - a leap through clarity [Case Study]

1. Project Context

A large-scale photovoltaic (PV) or solar project with a capacity of 266 MW is being developed in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This capacity will be spread over two different sites that are approximately 150 km apart.

Key facts

• Total capacity: 266 MW PV
• Size (area): 2× 200 hectares
• Project stage: Site preparation works (clearing and leveling, access roads, fencing, etc.)

Stakeholders

This large-scale infrastructure and renewable project typically involves a broad mix of actors: investors, lenders, owners, engineering firms, EPC contractors, suppliers, O&M teams, public authorities, chiefdoms, and environmental agencies. An off-grid developer also participates to supply nearby villages with energy.

SitePlan

SitePlan, a surveying and documentation app for construction projects, turns any smartphone into an accurate measurement tool, with or without a GNSS antenna. Teams record points, lines and areas, stake out utilities, and take georeferenced photos. All data syncs live to the project plan and can be exported in formats like PDF, DXF/DWG or CSV.

2. Objectives

The overarching aim of introducing SitePlan is to have a good understanding of the various aspects of a rapidly evolving project, whilst on-site preparation work is currently underway. Hence the objectives are two fold:

• Accelerate Site Appraisal: to simplify the orientation of team members and first-time site visitors.
• Set up Remote Management and Monitoring: to establish a centralized and simple online communication platform for data sharing between all team members and satellite offices.

Before the one-week site visit, selected team members were added to SitePlan and asked to explore the tool. Old site photos were uploaded, and the site layout PDF was quickly georeferenced.

“Magnifique” - Site foreman and first-time user of SitePlan

3. Results

Direct results

Exemplary results:

• New employees were able to find their way around the digital map as soon as they arrived.
• Coordinates were checked and confirmed on site.
• Photos and measuring points were clearly assignable - no more data loss.
• Previously scattered WhatsApp photos have been centralized - the database is now consistent and complete.

4. Additional benefits: Extra value delivered by SitePlan

Immediately after introducing SitePlan to the project, additional use cases emerged. In total 18 different use cases mapped via SitePlan [click here] - across several work packages. This enabled communication and data sharing and contributed to the Remote Management, Monitoring & Verification (RMMV).

Examples from site

Site Establishment: Verification of Site Coordinates:

Multiple corner-coordinate sets were circulating early on. After mapping them in SitePlan, the team noticed existing concrete pegs didn’t match any official set. Using the app, they navigated to the correct corner roughly 30 m away and installed a new peg on the spot.

“This is God-sent.” - CEO of the project developer

Social Scope - farmers indemnifications:

Due to the offset between previously installed site pegs and official coordinates, a strip of additional farmland needs to be compensated. In SitePlan, the area was measured very easily which is for instance helpful in determining the additional required budget.

Quantity Surveying: Preliminary as-built documentation:

Before the visit, some site-prep works were already built. With no drawings available, the team used SitePlan to measure the as-built access road and facilities area. Most were first-time surveyors, yet captured everything quickly. A complete measurement report was then generated in the web app within minutes.

“Thanks. This is so efficient.” - Construction Manager, when presented the as-built report

Photo documentation of a ravine obstruction:

SitePlan’s filters let users find photos by location, date or photographer. This made it possible to map the ravines crossing the site and generate a PDF photo report the same afternoon for the remote team to review fence, road and gate alignment.

Visualizing and georeferencing the Master Plan sketch:

A master plan was created based on the recorded data (e.g. road layout, terrain contours) and georeferenced in SitePlan. This made it possible to visualize expansion plans (up to 1 GW) and simplify stakeholder discussions.

“Wow! Amazing” - CEO of the developer

5. Conclusions

With the introduction of SitePlan, significant progress was made in several areas during this early phase of the project. Most importantly, it has brought relevant site-development data to a central online shared platform and made communication across teams radically simpler, and more efficient.

We are developing power infrastructure in remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Managing early-stage projects from North America, I needed reliable site updates. On a recent project in DR Congo, our team switched to SitePlan to collaborate and document progress. Before, I relied on photos and updates sent through messaging apps with no reliable timestamps or location data. Now I review geotagged, time-stamped documentation from 10,000 km away. The tool has helped us avoid countless headaches.
- Jake Stanley - Chief Operating Officer, East African Power

Performance

6. Best Practices & Findings

This rollout shows that early adoption of SitePlan strengthens data sharing and communication. Yet even when introduced later, it is also a powerful tool to clear backlogs and accelerate progress.

What worked particularly well:

• Early roll-out reduces the backlog of processing scattered photos and prevents surveying errors.
• Short screen recordings help teams learn the core functions quickly.
• Intuitive Smartphone logic follows common smartphone patterns, new users pick it up fast.

Particularly valuable for:

• Remote locations (in emerging markets) with limited geodetic data benefit strongly from SitePlan’s accurate, self-contained workflow.
• It improves communication between multidisciplinary teams.
• Automated PDF reports and shared points/photos give fast visuals for quicker decisions.

Outlook: Deployment & Integration

The team has received SitePlan API documentation for integration with the off-grid developer’s existing suite of applications. It will also be used to add 360° photos taken with GoPro cameras.

“Fantastic!” - co-chair of the developer