Acing Solar Power Maintenance with Drones and Thermal Imaging

The climate changes that we are facing today call for immediate action both on an individual and community level. One of the major endeavours to combat climate change is the use of renewable sources of energy. Of these options, solar power has found a strong foothold in the past few years. On a global level, solar PV plants are finding more acceptance including in industrial applications to make companies carbon neutral.

For a solar power plant that supports massive structures, there needs to be a system in place that makes maintenance of the same easy and accessible. Drones and thermal imaging allow for the same. Maintaining Solar PV plants has become increasingly easier owing to technological advancements in thermal imaging as well. This technology combined with drones not only makes maintenance easier but also cost-effective and safe, especially for large-scale solar plants.

As opposed to manual inspection with handheld thermal imaging equipment, drones increase accessibility covering large areas inlesser time. This helps the solar technicians as well as they do not have to walk through rows and rows of solar farms. Thus, saving time and cost while increasing the accuracy of the data.

Accelerated Efficacy owing to thermal imaging via drones as opposed to handheld thermal inspections has augmented the ease of maintenance of large-scale solar PV plants. With drone accessibility, solar technicians do not have to manually walk the rows of solar farms thus increasing the accuracy of the data as well.

Before the boom in solar power application, the Utility Scale Solar PV Plants were 5Mega-Watt to10Mega-Watt in size. These were easier to manage. Whereas now, the largescale plants are from 1000MW - 2000 MW / 1Giga Watt - 2 Giga Watt in size. The massive size and the maintenance it accounts for becomes difficult to manage manually. A Standard 1Mega-Watt uses around 3 to 4 acres of land to be installed. For larger plants, this area can be thousands of acres of land. This is why drones and thermal Imaging are the advents for Solar PV Plants Operation & Maintenance.

In the case of hotspots, which are small heated sections in a solar panel, drones can help in preventive measures. By recognizing these hot spots via thermal imaging, drones can help prevent fires, burn marks or other major damages in the long run as well.

Various reasons lead to the generation of hotspots like a manufacturing defect, mishandling of the solar PV panels during installation, poor maintenance or inadequate cleaning of the solar panels. Hotspots reduce the solar plant’s efficiency and power generation capacity. In the long run, it can cause huge fires which can cause monetary damages or even loss of life. Thermal Imaging burn Junction Boxes on Solar Panels can be identified along with assessment on reasons for Junction Box Burns which in turn also help in Warranty Claims from the Manufacturers.

Using drones for thermal imaging and photography of utility-scale plants has become the norm for many companies. This allows companies to get an overview of any issues regarding the plant including hotspots and also informs the plant owners about the maintenance quality of the plant.

A plant that is regularly and properly cleaned will generate astute power as opposed to one that is neglected. In many regions, the water quality is not good which can often lead to silt layer formations on the panels. This becomes hard to clean and requires specialized chemicals. Deciphering these issues beforehand with drones and thermal imaging can save a lot of money and loss of energy as well.

Besides this, Drones and Thermal Imaging are perfect to check for shadows around the solar PV plants that may lead to generation loss. Assessment via drone and thermal imagining during peak generation hours can help the owners understand installation issues like poor shadow analysis or environmental issues wherein a certain object is creating a shadow on the solar array. Such small gaps often lead to big losses.

For older plants, the Solar Panel Manufacturers offer warranties on the Degradation of the Solar Panels. This is usually as per industry standards. Drones and thermal imaging also help in determining if the degradation of certain panels is more than others which can be used to invoke the warranties and replacement of panels thus preventing further damage to the plant.

With the increased application of Solar PV plants, Drones and Thermal Imaging have become vital in maintaining plant health.

- Ishan Chaturvedi, Co-Founder & Director, Vareyn Solar