Emerging Drone for Solar Plant

As we know day by day both Solar energy and using Dorne increasing rapidly.

For newbies here are some primary points about Drone:

A drone, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is an aircraft without a human pilot. Drones can be remotely controlled or can operate autonomously using pre-programmed flight plans and GPS.

Drones can be used for a wide range of purposes, including military and surveillance operations, search and rescue missions, aerial photography and videography, surveying and mapping, and even package delivery.

The basic components of a drone include:

1. Frame: This is the body of the drone and provides a structure to hold all the other components.
2. Propellers: These are the rotating blades that provide lift and propulsion to the drone.
3. Motors: The motors power the propellers and provide lift and thrust.
4. Battery: This is the source of power for the drone.
5. Flight controller: The flight controller is the brain of the drone and helps to stabilize the aircraft in the air.
6. Remote control: The remote control is used to communicate with the drone and give it instructions for flight.
7. Sensors: Sensors such as GPS, gyroscopes, and accelerometers are used to help the drone maintain its position and stability in the air.

Overall, drones are highly versatile and have a wide range of applications, making them increasingly popular and useful in many different fields.

On the other Solar energy and the Photovoltaic (PV) Industry have seen enormous growth over the past decade. In 2019 the solar farm market alone was valued at $61.4 billion, and by 2027 this is projected to reach $261.0 billion.

The decreasing cost of solar energy has led to a surge in the use of solar power by utility companies. Consequently, commercial solar farms have expanded in size and number. However, with this growth comes the need for more frequent maintenance inspections. Traditionally, these inspections have been carried out manually through time-consuming methods. Unfortunately, this approach does not provide as much data and poses a greater risk to the inspector’s safety.

The use of drone inspections is becoming more widespread across various industries as a regular part of maintenance protocols. In particular, aerial photovoltaic (PV) inspections are crucial for enhancing the efficiency of solar panels and preventing potential issues. Early detection of problems allows for timely corrective action to ensure that the panels operate smoothly and efficiently. These inspections are critical for ensuring that the solar energy systems remain in optimal condition, which ultimately helps to maximize their performance and longevity.

Solar drone inspections can detect

a variety of PV anomalies, such as:

? Cell Hot Spots

? Module Cracking

? Module Soiling

? Module Delamination

? Activated Bypass Diodes

? String Outages

? Vegetation Encroachment

? Reverse Polarity

? Tracker Faults

To initiate an inspection, the first step is to choose the drone system and thermal camera. The following step is to create a flight plan that automates the drone inspection process. Flight planning software can be used to guide the drone along a pre-determined path through the solar rows. The flight plan should be tailored to cover the whole solar installation and provide high-quality images and video. Depending on the software utilized, the flight plan can be executed on a mobile device or tablet or uploaded straight to the drone. After programming the flight, the majority of flight planning software systems allow for self-sufficient flight.

We can use?https://ardupilot.org/planner/?open source and the mother of almost all drone flight planners in the industry.

Additionally, you can use?https://dronekit.io/?as a developer tool for creating several different applications for Drones.

A drone that supports both GPS and RTK (Real-Time Kinematics) technology can provide more accurate positioning and improved flight stability.

GPS is a widely used technology for providing location information to drones. However, in some situations, GPS signals can be weak or unreliable, such as in urban areas with tall buildings or in environments with electromagnetic interference.

RTK technology improves on GPS by using a ground station that provides corrections to the GPS signal in real-time, which can greatly improve the accuracy of the drone’s positioning. Dual-band GPS means that the drone is capable of receiving signals from both L1 and L2 frequency bands, which can also improve accuracy.

Having a drone that supports both GPS and RTK can be particularly useful in applications that require precise positionings, such as aerial surveying, mapping, and inspection. Additionally, it can also be helpful in situations where GPS signals are weak or unreliable, allowing for more stable flight and better control of the drone.

Primary services with drones for solar plant:

• Thermal Imaging: Drones can be equipped with thermal cameras to detect hotspots and other anomalies in solar panels. This can help identify defective or damaged panels, leading to improved maintenance and increased energy production.
• Surveillance: Drones can be used to monitor the solar plant for security purposes. They can be programmed to fly over specific areas and record video footage, which can be used to identify any suspicious activity.
• Structural Inspections: Drones can be used to inspect the structural integrity of the solar plant. They can be flown close to structures and provide detailed images of damage or corrosion.
• Vegetation Management: Drones can monitor and manage vegetation growth around solar plants. This can help to prevent the shading of the panels and maximize energy production.
• Site Planning: Drones can be used to survey and map the site of the solar plant. This can help in the planning and design of new solar plants and also assist in determining the best locations for solar panels.
• Photogrammetry is a technique that uses photographs to create measurements, maps, and 3D models of physical objects or spaces. The process involves taking multiple overlapping photos of an object or area from different angles and using specialized software to extract data and create a 3D model.

Once the inspection flight has been completed, the next stage is to post-process the data gathered from the drone’s camera. This task can be accomplished using specialized software intended for solar drone inspections. Drones generate a vast amount of data that must be analyzed and converted into useful formats. While it is possible to manually review the data, artificial intelligence and machine learning have become much more effective and precise than humans in assessing drone inspection data. Post-processing for solar thermal inspections entails collecting and processing thousands of images that can be used to create actionable reports for solar asset portfolio managers. This crucial stage of the inspection process transforms the data into accurate, valuable, and sharable analytic reports that help owners optimize the physical condition of their assets. Finally, the inspection deliverables can be produced using the post-processing results, such as downloadable inspection findings, financial impact reports on anomalies, interactive maps, and customized performance impact reports. To perform a successful solar drone inspection, appropriate hardware and software requirements must be met, including a suitable drone system, a thermal camera, and a well-equipped software application for post-processing the images and video.

For optimal solar drone inspections, certain conditions must be met to ensure accurate data capture, higher quality post-processing, and more detailed data analysis. The ideal conditions should fall within specific parameters, such as wind speeds less than 15MPH (6.7 m/s), clear skies, with a maximum cloud cover allowance of 2/8 oktas, and humidity levels below 60%. Additionally, solar irradiance must be greater than or equal to 600 Watts per square meter (600 W/m2). To measure these conditions, an anemometer can detect wind direction and speed, while a solar power meter records the irradiance levels of solar panels. Inspections should not be conducted during rain, dew, frost, or snow, and should take place during peak sunlight hours. Flights should not happen within 2 hours of sunrise or sunset. Ensuring sufficient weather conditions will lead to better data captured, higher quality post-processing, and more detailed data analysis to reveal defects and anomalies present.

MODULE LEVEL?— external or internal attributes discovered during aerial drone inspections

Missing Module

Physical Object

Vegetation Underperforming String Offline Inverters

Cracking Soiling Activated Bypass Diode

? Cell

? Cell-Multi

? Diode

? Diode-Multi

? Warm Module

? Missing Module

? PID (potential induced

degradation)

? Cracking

? Soiling

? Delamination

? Weather Events

(lightning, hail

or wind)

OBSTRUCTIONS?— commonly caused by objects

obstructing the full radiation levels being received

? Vegetation

? Shading

? Physical Object

STRING LEVEL?— the most severe,

but easily detectable anomalies

? Offline String

? Circuit

? Underperforming

String

? Reverse Polarity

? Inverter

? Combiner

Inspect structure integrity in another whole area.

We can use CNN, thermal detection, radio mapping, 3D imagery and many more with this.