How Early in a Project Should I Commission a Glint and Glare Assessment?

How early in a project should I commission a glint and glare assessment? Like most questions around planning applications, there is no one size fits all answer to this question, however, this article aims to provide some useful context to assist in scheduling a project.

Why Timing Matters

One of the major reasons why commissioning a glint and glare assessment too early in a project’s lifetime may not be recommended, is because of the detailed modelling that is required for an accurate glint and glare assessment to be produced. Inevitably, in the course of a project’s life, changes will be made, these may be changes to layout of the solar panels (or any reflective surface being assessed), changes to the dimensions/specifications, such as a change in elevation angle of a solar panel. If these changes are significant, it may mean that the conclusions of any previously completed glint and glare assessment are no longer valid, and would therefore require remodelling and reassessing, which costs time and money.

The Risk of Assessing Too Late

On the flip side, there is the potential that the results of the glint and glare assessment reveal a significant impact on a receptor which requires mitigation. The mitigation required may be in the form of design changes to the development, which could manifest as a significant hurdle for a project in the later stages, particularly if other disciplines have to be updated because of this.

Finding the Right Balance

As with most things in putting forward a development, a balancing act is required when considering when to commission a glint and glare assessment. But to aid this decision making, Pager Power can provide an early, conservative assessment of particular receptors that have even a moderate chance of requiring mitigation in the form of design changes. Once these change are made (if required), and a design is more finalised, a full and complete assessment of the remaining receptors will be made. If further mitigation is required, it will likely only be small changes such as the implementation of screening.

About Pager Power

If you have a solar project that needs a glint and glare assessment to be undertaken, or need some more advice on anti-glare solutions, please get in touch.

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