Over the past couple of decades, unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs have gradually drifted into the commercial arena from the battlefields. Efforts have been on worldwide to shed the negative image associated with drones by increasing productivity in various sectors, one of them being energy. The demand for solar energy, a type of renewable energy, is rising nationally and globally. The massive and complex structures require regular inspection to keep them safe working conditions. This is where drones come in.

Inspection Of Power Plants And Machinery

Inspection of renewable energy facilities at high altitudes or treacherous terrains is dangerous, and the risk to human life is high and undeniable. Unmanned flying vehicles can inspect a large number of power lines or solar panels in very little time. Thus, it saves both time and money, two non-renewable yet essential resources.

UAVs are very handy when examining hard-to-reach areas, and they can carry out inspections of plants without having to shut down power. They are faster and much more accurate than existing methods of examination. They can also fly on a preset path over many acres of land to carry out an inspection in a single day which would otherwise have taken more than three days if done manually.

Drone Surveillance

Quadcopters are also useful in identifying solar power plant areas that require maintenance. Early detection of problems is vital to developing a plan to fix the issue. It saves time and increases the productivity of the solar power plants. They can also inspect wind turbines by hovering over them.

Wind turbines gather dust over a period, leading to decreased output. Drones can alert ground crew which modules are gathering dust or require attention. That way, the crew focuses their effort on cleaning or fixing the modules rather than wasting time looking for issues.

Power thefts are major reasons for headaches for renewable energy companies and authorities. Surveillance quadcopters should be able to keep a vigilant eye on power plants in real-time. Aerial videos recorded by drones are live-fed to the control rooms to keep any illicit activities in check. Surveillance drones equipped with thermal cameras are very efficient at predicting and preventing fires. Remotely controlled aerial vehicles can detect structural problems with 3D mapping.

Aerial Photography

Major advancements in technology allow a remotely controlled vehicle to have sensors and thermal imaging cameras. Aerial thermal photography can detect defects or damages in solar panels, wind turbines, or dams. It is very important to increase output and prevent any untoward incidents.

Unmanned vehicles are perfect for jobs where human life risks are too great. Hotspots on solar panels tend to reduce the panels’ efficiency. It is possible to identify them using thermo-imaging cameras onboard a UAV. Leaks or cracks in pipelines can be found by aerial scanning too. Chimney stacks in petrochemical complexes are very hard to inspect manually. That is because the power needs to be temporarily shut down the part under examination.

Innovative Solutions

Drones are useful for maintenance and very effective after a natural disaster. After severe weather or natural calamities, you can fly them over the area. And this will help the experts examine the damage to the region and the powerlines. Besides that, these ingenious autonomous devices are very helpful even during the construction of a power plant.

A topographical survey of the land where the proposed power plant is to come up gives engineers and scientists a better idea of the topography, which helps them plan better, thus making the final job much faster and easier.

Overseeing a solar or wind power plant is a tedious job that requires rapt attention for long hours. Manual oversight of construction is not a very popular job. However, one can outsource this to UAVs, which can hover over construction sites for long hours and record live feed of the work. Drones can also help developers meet deadlines by providing essential data. Besides that, it can also help with the otherwise unobtainable data, along with sound economic and scientific advice.

The global energy sector will gain hugely from the introduction of drones. You can do this along with proper and sensible drafting of regulations that will let drones soar rather than cutting their wings off.