Building a major solar park is challenging. The terrain is often difficult to navigate and surface conditions are rarely homogeneous, making it harder to secure the foundations and anchor the frame system. Furthermore, uniform safety standards are few and far between – or are not enforced due to time constraints. This often results in material damage, economic losses and, worst of all, accidents.
Comprehensive in-house installation guidelines for the construction of solar parks
“We find it unacceptable that people are injured on construction sites”, said Michael Manfred Fischer, SMP's Director for Marketing and Sales. “Occupational health and safety as well as the safety of our employees are of paramount importance at our construction sites. We therefore place great emphasis on ensuring that our documentation is immaculate and that each and every workflow can be traced back.” This is one of the main reasons why SMP developed in-house installation guidelines for the construction of solar parks in 2010. This Best Practice Guide is updated on a regular basis and is used worldwide at all SMP construction sites.
Certification in accordance with ISO 9001:2015 and SCC**
SMP Montage has now launched a large-scale quality initiative for the final quarter of 2017. The company, based in Hamburg, is undergoing two comprehensive certification processes concerning industrial health and safety, one of which is the audit for certification in accordance with ISO 9001:2015. “Quality management in the company is essential for carrying out work in a sustainable manner,” explained Fischer, “especially if you are expanding as fast as we are.” SMP Montage is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe – this is due to having a clear strategic focus on “made in Germany” solar park construction expertise. This incorporates the implementation of the latest safety standards throughout the company.
Safety standards at SMP Montage have recently been evaluated and certified according to the internationally recognized SCC**. To obtain the SCC**, the Safety Certificate for Contractors, companies with more than 35 employees who also act as general contractors are to undergo an assessment in terms of the way in which they introduce and maintain comprehensive safety standards.
SCC** certification was originally developed by European companies in the petrochemical industry and encompasses the areas of industrial health and safety and environmental management. Strict assessment criteria must be fulfilled in order to gain certification, with the frequency of accidents occurring within the company being particularly highlighted.
About SMP Montage:
SMP Solar Montage und Planungsgesellschaft, or SMP Montage for short, is a specialist engineering service provider for the global solar industry.
Since 2008, the German company with its head office in the city of Hamburg has been supplying the full range of construction services for large-scale PV projects of 100 kW and more – from site preparation and site set-up to excavation and civil engineering, from mechanical construction and frame assembly to electrical installation and cabling of solar modules to site management and construction logistics. The assembly process for maximum area utilisation in standalone PV parks, which has now been adopted as standard across the industry, was co-developed by SMP co-founder and technical director Marc-Bernd Schipper in 2007.
In April 2017, the Financial Times named SMP Montage as one of their “FT 1,000”, the fastest growing companies in Europe.
SMP has been a long-standing realisation and innovation partner for leading European EPC service providers such as Solarcentury, ibvogt, e.on, and Conergy. In the summer of 2017, the total nominal output of projects completed by SMP exceeded 900 MWp.
Press inquiries:
Nicole Heibrok
BRANDWERT Markenkommunikation
Osterstrasse 44, 20259 Hamburg
Germany
Telephone +49 40 300 317 02
Email: kontakt(at)brandwert.de
