Aerial Thermal Solar Drone Inspections

Drones are becoming an increasingly important part of the solar industry. There are a number of ways that drones can be used in solar, but one of the most exciting applications is aerial thermal inspections. Aerial thermography allows you to inspect large solar installations from the air and detect any problems with the equipment. This is a crucial step in ensuring that your solar installation is running smoothly and efficiently. In this blog post, we will discuss aerial thermal inspections and how they can help your business!

Aerial thermal inspections are an important part of any solar business’ maintenance plan. Drone thermography inspections equip UAS aircraft with high-resolution infrared cameras to inspect solar installations from the air. These cameras can detect small changes in temperature that indicate a problem with equipment or modules. With this information, technicians on the ground can quickly identify and fix any problems before they become serious issues. Aerial thermography is also useful for preventative maintenance.

By inspecting equipment and modules from the air, businesses can spot potential problems before they become costly repairs. Drones are ideal for aerial thermal inspections as they can cover wide areas quickly and safely. This helps to reduce the amount of time spent on inspections and ensures that any issues are caught early. Aerial thermography also has the added benefit of being non-destructive, meaning that the drone inspection can be done without causing disruption to the solar installation.

Benefits of Drone Thermal Inspections of Solar PV Assets:

• Speed: Drone inspections are 75% faster than manual inspections, which enables solar O&M providers to inspect more sites in the same period of time.
• Accuracy: Gather accurate information of all anomalies impacting the solar PV system and utilize that operational insight with our actionable deliverables to swiftly conduct remediation actions.
• Safety: Leverage aerial data collection to eliminate the safety hazards of manual site inspections.

These rooftop inspections equip solar design teams with all the tools to survey sites efficiently and completing designs correctly the first time while preventing unexpected costs or project delays later on. The preliminary design is hugely important in influencing the final cost of the overall solar development project, providing further evidence why using drones for site surveys to get an accurate design is the optimal method for rooftop PV system construction.

Solar PV Aerial Thermal Inspection Deliverables:

So what is the best solution? Work with a professional drone company that has expertise in this area who can provide the consistent data you need in a safe, efficient and compliant manner. Nationwide professional drone service firm, Skye Link, utilizes an automated flight software to obtain all thermal and visual aerial images safely and effectively in order to produce client deliverables including

◦ All Inclusive Portfolio Management Software Portal: Organize inspection reports, view raw data/imagery, review dashboard, benchmark your portfolio, add and share files with users,

◦ Editable PDF & DOC report document containing all analytics (summary statistics, classifications, locations, images)

◦ .KML file containing color-coded pins designating defect categories and locations, and displaying original defect image

◦ .CSV (spreadsheet) files (2) containing summary statistics and list of findings

Aerial Thermography Inspection Levels:

Skye Link leverages solar data analytics providers to process data and therefore we are able to offer solar pv drone inspections at any of the following 3 inspection levels depending on customer requirements.

Skye Link Professional Solar PV Inspection Drone Services

Skye Link follows IEC standards for aerial thermography on our comprehensive level and commissioning inspections to ensure the data collection process is standardized for our customers.

Interested in learning more about or obtaining a quote aerial thermography PV inspection drone service? Let’s Connect!

Talk to our professional team to get your questions answered and begin utilizing the power of drones and aerial data to effectively model rooftops and design commercial PV systems.