The future of Unmanned aerial vehicle and the solar industry

Posted by cleanenergysg on February 15th, 2016

There is a topaz stone solar farm in California's st. Louis orbis, in the farm has more than 9 million solar panels, covers nearly 10 square miles of land. 9 million solar panels can provide 160000 U.S. households with electricity. And there are more such farms in the United States. Such a large scale such farms need to invest a lot of the construction and management of resources. Usually the bigger facilities and the higher the complexity of the maintenance and management. Often such facilities located nearby inhabited are rare, if you zoom in Google map topaz stone this kind of farm near the map, you need to in a moment will see residential area on the map.

Considering the size and location, the facilities rely on human to maintain their high cost and the work itself will be very boring. Such as detection of solar panel broken work requires a team of engineers continue to work in front of rows of solar panel. To complete such a work is terrible.

The life of the solar panels in about 20 to 25 years, their work efficiency will be reduced over time, eventually they have to be replaced. America's national renewable energy laboratory studies have shown that the depreciation rates tend to be overvalued, but a growing body of evidence indicates that these panels work efficiency in reducing. German solar monitoring company Meteocontrol examined 30000 solar panel, found that 80% of panel failed to achieve efficiency.

Many these farms environment is not good, logistics is difficult, so the maintenance of the solar energy facilities has become a big problem. Of unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) can in large farms, however, solar facilities maintenance work have very good control effect.

Unmanned aerial vehicle is used to check the solar panels, its efficiency will be much higher than human, work also more accurate, and the work of risk is greatly decreased. Companies usually hire manpower to check the panels, but personal safety, in the vast desert has always been a key factor. Dehydration, heat stroke, trauma, such as accident inspector for panel to form a threat, however unmanned aerial vehicle (uav) is not affected by such threats.