Can drone IR cameras detect faults in solar PV plants?

The objective of this research is to compare the fault detection analyses performed, for two different solar PV plants, using alternatively an unmanned drone and a manned aircraft as aerial platforms, equipped with different IR cameras to provide reliable and comparable thermal images over the same inspected sites.

Can drones detect a PV array?

But rapid advances in infrared (IR) inspection with drones make it possible to obtain an overall picture of the status of an operational PV array. Such information can be also used to identify candidate PV strings or PV modules for further detailed analysis using mobile PV test centres.

Can a UAV be used for PV inspection?

Generally, UAVs used for PV inspection are equipped with a thermal camera (which may or may not complement a standard RGB camera or other sensors) to identify defects that can produce heat anomalies on the solar panels.

Can unmanned aerial vehicles be used for PV inspections?

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been recently proposed for PV inspections. In the past decades, research made significant steps forward concerning the development of UAVs for monitoring applications, including the inspection of power transmission lines , gas and oil pipelines , precision agriculture , and bridges .

What F 30 Hz is recommended for PV system inspections?

f 30 Hz or higher is recommended for PV system inspections. RADIOMETRIC CAPABILITY: All thermal cameras can provide an image of the relative intensities of thermal energy within their fields of view, but some cameras take that a step further and provide cal brated, non-contact temperature meas

Are aircraft-based inspections better than UAV surveys for solar PV plants?

Airplane-based inspections are more convenient than UAV surveys for PV plants > 40 MW. The continuous increase in the number and scale of solar photovoltaic power plants requires the implementation of reliable diagnostic tools for fault detection.