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S O L A R F I E L D I N S P E C T I O N
O P E R AT I O N A L E F F I C I E N C Y
TRADITIONAL COMMERCIAL PV INSPECTIONS
Methods
• I-V curve tracing and site walkdowns
• Handheld thermal imaging
• Incomplete documentationChallenges
• Labor intensive
• Large areas (10–1,000+ acres)
• Safety risks
• Geographically spread out
Credit: Raptormaps.com
DRONE SOLUTIONS SAVE TIME?
• Inspection time minutes/hours versus
days/weeks
• Single person can perform the work
• AI software to pinpoint problem areas
• Easily access remote areas
Performing a solar inspection with hand held IR and test
equipment is like painting the San Francisco bridge. Once
you got done, you’d need to start over!
WHAT CAN YOU SEE FROM A DRONE?
Credit: Raptormaps.com
DRONE IR INSPECTIONS ARE UTILIZED FOR• Routine operations and
maintenance (O&M)
• Commissioning
• Troubleshooting
• Warranty claims
• Asset transfer
Credit: Raptormaps.com
WHO USES THE DATA?
• Financiers
• Asset Owners
• Performance Managers
• Performance Analysts
• Field Technicians
Credit: Raptormaps.com
PV SYSTEM NOMENCLATURE
• Civil
• Physical layout
• Terms like: block, row, rack, table
• Electrical
• Wiring layout
• Terms like: substation, inverter,
combiner box, string, module, cell
Credit: Raptormaps.com
FLYING
B E S T P R AC T I C E S
WHAT MAKES DATA “HIGH QUALITY”
Planning
• Proper equipment
• High irradiance
• Decent weather
Execution
• Low glare, no motion blur
• Collected radiometric jpeg
• Correct ground resolution
• Good flight overlaps
• Complete site coverage
Bonus Optimizations
• Time in field
• Number of batteries
File format: Radiometric JPEG (preferred)
or thermal TIFF
Credit: Raptormaps.com
THERMAL IMAGES: TARGET RESOLUTION
Cell level anomaly identification: 2” (5 cm) /pixel or less
Module level anomaly identification: 6” (15 cm) /pixel or lessCell level with Zenmuse XT 640x512 13mm
g = 0.164 feet/pixel (5 cm/pixel)
p = 640 pixels
� = 45° (0.785 radians)
h = 127 feet (39 meters)
g: target resolution
p: number of pixels
� = field of view
h: altitude
Credit: Raptormaps.com
SOL AR INSPECTION10 ACRE SITE 660FT X 660FT( 2 0 0 M X 2 0 0 M )
C A S E S T U DY
Max Recommended Flight Speed at 39m (130ft) AGL:5 m/s (16.4ft/s) or 18kph (11mph)
CAMERA ORIENTATION: PERPENDICULAR
• Align long axis of camera with the solar row
Correct Not ideal
Credit: Raptormaps.com
THERMAL IMAGE OVERLAP
• 80% front overlap
(direction of flight)
• 20% side overlap
• 5cm/pixel (130 ft AGL)
Flight Direction
80% front overlap
20%
Overlap
SOL AR INSPECTION63 IMAGESNO OVERL AP
6 4 0 X 5 1 2 1 3 M M 1 2 0 F T AG L
1 . 9 8 P I X E L / I N C H
SOL AR INSPECTION~335 IMAGES 80% HORIZ . OVERL AP20% VERT. OVERL AP11- PASSES~10-11 MINUTES
6 4 0 X 5 1 2 1 3 M M 1 3 0 F T AG L
1 . 9 8 P I X E L / I N C H
SOL AR INSPECTION~670 IMAGES 80% HORIZ . OVERL AP20% VERT. OVERL AP22- PASSES~20 MINUTES
3 3 6 X 2 5 6 1 3 M M 1 2 0 F T AG L
1 . 9 8 P I X E L / I N C H 1 2 0 F T AG L
6,345 IMAGES47 PASSES25FT ALTITUDE
1 6 0 X 1 2 0 I R AT 1 . 9 8
I N C H E S / P I X E L
SOLAR SUMMARY
Drones With Thermal Cameras Are Becoming Standard
Practice
• Increasing Efficiency at All Stages of PV Lifecycle
• Rapidly Detect Cell-level to Inverter-level Issues
• Follow Best Practices to Collect High-Quality Data
• Make Your Data Actionable and Accessible
• Machine Learning Makes Your System Standardized
and Scalable- Visit Raptormaps.com for more
information on processing images with applied
machine learning.
Topaz Solar Farm (Credit: First Solar Inc.)
Credit: Raptormaps.com