True Designer of Solar Systems
- boutorabi
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 4
By Sam Boutorabi - Founder & Director of ASTRO Renewables Ltd
I’ve been meaning to write about what I believe makes a true solar system designer.
INTRODUCTION
I started out as a solar designer over a decade ago, after completing my MSc in Renewable Energy Systems Technology. My first project? An 8.5316 MW ground mount system. I went on to design a series of large-scale ground mount projects, including a 64.3 MW site, contributing over 500 MW in ground mount construction designs. From there, I moved into commercial rooftops, solar carports, and floating solar, bringing my total contribution to over 1 GW of construction designs. This includes award-winning and flagship projects, some of which were industry-leading at the time, both nationally and internationally.
Today, I’m the founder and director of ASTRO Renewables, an EPC company built by people who live and breathe solar, with hands-on experience at every stage of a project, from sales through to handover and ongoing maintenance.
Over the years, I’ve interviewed, trained, and worked with many designers, and my mindset around what defines a true designer has stayed consistent. This post is aimed at fellow designers, design managers, and directors who want to reflect on their approach or improve how they recognise and empower the right people in their teams.
THE DESIGN TEAM: The Core of a Solar Company
Solar companies are, at their heart, technical organisations selling technical systems. For everything else to fall into place, sales, procurement, project management, O&M, the design needs to be accurate and dependable. That’s why I believe the design team is the central hub of a solar company. Every other department feeds to and from it.
If your company has a true designer, reward them, just like you reward a salesperson for closing a deal. A system that’s been designed efficiently with foresight, care, and technical excellence is worth just as much.
In my opinion, a True Designer is defined by these traits
1. INTEGRITY
A true designer is an engineer first. They must never compromise the design to suit commercial pressures. Some examples I’ve sadly seen:
Oversizing a system to boost sale value, even when the client doesn’t need it
Removing access walkways to squeeze in extra panels, risking H&S
Ignoring real system losses to present a higher yield or PR just to win a tender
Every system should be designed as if you were the client. That’s the standard.
2. ACCURACY
There is no room for error in solar design. Miscalculations can ruin ROI, delay construction, or cause system underperformance. True designers treat every drawing and calculation with extreme care. And they always double check their work.
3. THOUGHTFULNESS
Designers must think about everyone affected by their work:
Health & Safety: Always number one. Poor H&S design can cause injury, fires, or structural damage. Design under CDM regulations and include a detailed risk assessment
The Client: Consider their load profiles, infrastructure, long-term goals, and expansion plans. Get into as much detail as you need
Sales Team: Help them understand the design rationale so they can sell the system honestly and confidently, not just pitch a unicorn
Project Managers & Installers: When your design thinks ahead, it shows. The installers will notice, the project managers will thank you, and the whole job runs better. Smart design is felt on the ground
O&M Teams: Have you made it possible to maintain and repair the system without unnecessary risk or effort?
Handover Teams: Are your as-built drawings accurate? Are all documents in place?
4. EXPERIENCE
I don’t believe you can be a true designer on day one. You need to have seen problems firsthand. Experience teaches you what to look out for, what to question, and what can go wrong. But you can have the intention. When I started, I didn’t have the experience yet, but I always tried to design with the mindset of a true designer. That mindset matters.
5. KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge and experience aren’t the same. I’ve interviewed so called “experienced” designers who couldn’t explain why they used a certain string length. Their answer was, “It’s the template we were told to use,” or, “The software told us.” That’s not design, that’s blind acceptance. That’s copy-paste.
A true designer asks:
WHY? – to grow knowledge
HOW? – to build experience
WHAT IF? – to innovate and think ahead. AI is and will be a big player in this part
6. PROBLEM SOLVING
You will face challenges. A site with a constraint. A project everyone else gave up on. I’ve had MW-scale systems land on my desk after being scrapped by others, and found ways to make them viable. That’s what thinking outside the box really means.
7. EFFICIENCY
There are two sides to efficiency:
Design Process Efficiency: Every click in AutoCAD takes time. Create blocks, templates, and organise your resources. Cut waste. Design smarter, faster
System Efficiency: Smart cable routing, optimised BOM, clean layout logic.
These save thousands across projects. Every £ or minute you save counts. And if your company understands that, they should reward you for it
At ASTRO Renewables, we follow these principles in every project we take on, and we look forward to collaborating with companies that share the same values and standards.
I’ve tried to keep this focused on the core traits of a true designer. If you think I’ve missed anything, or if this doesn’t quite capture it, let me know.
And if you’re a director or lead, ask yourself: Have you created the kind of environment where true designers can do their best work?
It would be great to hear your thoughts or feedback.
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